An Unlikely Hero
by Genatools
Summary: Hector Rivers, a young man torn from his own world wakes up on Remnant. He takes on the soul of Ozpin after the fall of Beacon, and is determined to make sure that Salem's plans fail, no matter the cost. The longer he is on Remnant, he realizes more, and more just how unlikely his situation really is. Canon compliant up until after Volume 5.
1. Rwby: Oh Gosh prologue

RWBY: An Unlikely Hero

Prologue

Here i am, a 18 year old guy sitting at my computer bored and procrastinating on doing my online math homework when I get this idea. I'll pass the time writing a RWBY fanfic! "Why not? I already got a bunch of ideas in my head. Like a Saiyan in remnant, or some funny guy, or some other shit that I can come up with on the fly." I say to myself as I start typing on my laptop while sitting on my bed. If I look close enough I can see my reflection staring back at me, my short black hair, and my VERY dark brown eyes that looks black from farther away my black and red glasses im wearing. It gets relaxing just being able to sit down while thinking of some ideas. But then 10 minutes pass...15...18...

"FUCK I CAN'T EVEN TYPE PAST THE FIRST PARAGRAPH." I yell to myself. Luckily my parents aren't home.

"How the hell do people type like 9000 damn words a chapter? I barely got 100." As you can see it's not going very well so far.

"Alright I give up i'll continue this when I feel like it." I dismiss as I climb into bed wearing my favorite soft pajama pants and my old blue wrestling shirt that I wore a lot in high school. Which was weird since my schools color for the sports teams was red so I dunno what that's all about but I wear it anyway since it's comfy.

"Watch my dream be me just randomly waking up in the world of RWBY, or better yet me just magically appearing in there. Ha that'd be so cliche but i'd be so down for it because I literally have nothing else to think about. I hope my semblance would be something like the kaioken from dragon ball z, gosh that'd be so cool even though it'd probably hurt like a mother fucker considering how goku looked after he used it against vegeta, I'd definitely yell kaioken everytime I use it, and see how they contemplate what the hell I just said-… I'm talking to myself again aren't I… Dammit i'm just going to sleep. Take me darkness of sleep." Yeah I know, i'm weird.

I open my eyes to see a bright light and i quickly use my hand to cover them. But something feels different… My bed isn't under me anymore, and im a lot colder then I was a few seconds ago. After blinking my eyes a lot and getting adjusted to the light I finally turn my head to see where the hell I am.

"Okay why and how the fuck did I end up outside on the grass." I lift my upper half up into a sitting position and look for my house, only to see that it's nowhere in sight.

"Uhh The fuck? Where the hell am I?" I say while panicking and standing up quickly. My mind is racing with possibilities until I i come to a dead stop and calm down.

"OOOOOH i'm dreaming aren't I? Damn that scared me. Well i'm creeped out so it's time to wake up."

I pinch myself only to wince at the pain.

"Huh? I don't usually feel pain in my dreams."

I close my eyes pinch myself again harder only to feel pain again. I open my eyes to find myself still in the same place as before.

"Okay WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!?" I yell to myself getting stressed out once again. My mind races with possibilities, until I stick to one particular thought that I was having earlier.

"No… nononononono That did not actually happen did it." I pinch myself one more time just in case. I look around

"OKAY apparently my little playful thought of me being in RWBY ended up fucking coming true who woulda thought!? So what arc did I just happen to wake up in? Initiation? Vytal tournament? OH MAYBE I'M IN THE FROM DUST TILL DAWN STORE IN THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE GOD DAMN SERIES?" I look down to inspect myself and see that i'm still in my pajamas. "BUT HEY at least I still got my fucking blue pajama pants and my favorite sleeping shirt on me as im probably in the middle of A FUCKING GRIMM INFESTED FOREST." Shortly after screaming off some steam I remember that Grimm are attracted to negative feelings.

"Oh great that's even better I'm ringing the dinner bell to. I wonder if I turn around they'll be a bunch of- ***Growwwl***." I slowly turn around to see a beowulf staring into my soul, growling menacingly and all my anger and frustration gets converted into fear. It looks exactly as it does in the show but instead even scarier because it's in real life. Its glowing blood red eyes stare into mine, and its sharp white claws digging into the ground as it prepares to pounce. I step back instinctively and out of fear and the Grimm senses it.

"O-Okay so this cliche is happening now. Please tell me i'm a super op oc because if im not this is going to end up with me being eaten alive slowly and painfully." I say, while shivering. The Grimm takes a step forward, I take a step back, It takes another step forward, I take another step back until I feel treebark scrape up against my back. I Gasp at the sudden contact. The Grimm takes more steps forward until suddenly bursting into a sprint and pounces. "AAH" I yelp comically as I wildly throw my right fist forward hitting the Grimm right in its bone skull helmet, half expecting it to do nothing and to begin to get ripped apart and half expecting to MAYBE push it back. The area around me grows silent and my fist feels sticky. I open my clenched closed eyes only to widen them at the sight of the beowulf's head being missing from its dissipating body. My jaw drops as I look at my fist covered in the dissipating black blood that courses through a Grimms veins.

"OH HO HO SO THATS HOW ITS GONNA BE." I say triumphantly as I start laughing all my previous fear off.

"Now this is just amazing, somehow an ordinary human like me was able to just one shot a anime monster with my bare hands. Fuck is this how Saitama felt when he first started one shotting things?" I ask no one in particular as I flex my muscles.

I continue laughing until I hear another growl, but instead of being afraid like before I raise my hands and position myself in my old fighting style I had when I used to take self defence lessons, with my right hand next to my head and my left in the front just a couple inches away, my left foot in the front and my right in the back while bouncing slightly getting excited to feel like an anime character ready to tackle his first obstacle.

"Bah this stance is so boring I gotta get a new one if i'm going to be in this world any longer." I scold myself momentarily forgetting about the pack of beowolves slowly surrounding me entirely.

"Okay just like old times, the ol' quick one-two then a round house leading into a tackle and then some other shit that I forgot. Okay I can do this, I can do this. Wait that only works against people these are monsters... Meh I'll wing it." I take a deep breath as I start concentrating barely noticing the dark red aura now surrounding my body flaring before fading away. Knowing what this means because of Binge watching Rwby in a day all the way to volume 5. How I got my aura already is beyond me, must be a part of being a OC.

One beowulf charges in but this time i'm ready to fight back. With a quick jab with my left leading into a hook from the right I send the beast flying into a tree before I can even raise my leg to roundhouse kick it. Seeing my opportunity I rush to it before it can react and stomp on its head crushing it, the black blood sticking to my foot. The other 5 remaining beowolves charge all at once this time, intending to tear me apart before I can even begin to fight back. My eyes widen at this sudden change of tactics but instead of staying on defence like before, I test my offence and start charging back. Using my right fist I punch the shit out of the closest one as hard as I possibly can, caving in its head and sending it back several feet, I look to my left and kick it in the gut so hard I feel my foot stab itself into its belly, looking left again I see another one with its jaws open and about to bite, but luckily I raise my left forearm just in time to block the attack, feeling its teeth sink into my aura, another beast from my right mirrors its ally and bites down on my right arm holding me in place. The biggest beowulf, which is most likely the alpha i'm guessing since it has extra armour on its chest and arms begins to charge at me from the front, intending to bite my head off. With both my arms pinned I do that last and best thing I could think of… With a yell I slam together my arms on the alphas head cracking its bone helmet as its teeth just barely miss my neck. I then proceed to use the two motherfuckers who bit my arms to beat the one big ass motherfucker, not ending my assault until all three are dead and dissipating. I take in a deep breath and fall on my back letting my body rest in the black blood of my enemies.

"Hah... hah... okay stamina needs to be worked on." I note to myself as I am heaving on the ground.

' _Yes indeed you do_.' A unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time voice says to me in my head.

"Uh what? Am I going crazy?" I ask as I sit up quickly.

' _Hello I am Professor Ozpin!_ ' The voice greets in a polite manner.

"AH WHAT THE FUCK?!" I yell as i begin searching the area around me before I realize something. "Ooooh… Oooh… Oh. Headmaster Of Beacon, the one with Silver or white or grey or whatever the fuck color it was?" I ask out loud to the voice in my head.

' _Correct. Hello Hector, It is nice to meet you_.' Ozpin politely greets.

"Uh hi… So are you the reason I woke up in the middle of the woods?"

 _'_ _Actually no i'm just as perplexed as you are. The last thing I remember was being in the basement of my tower.'_ Ozpin mentions

"Oh so that's when I am… Right after the fall of Beacon… Cool." I confirm to myself as I bring a hand up to my face pinching the bridge of my nose. "This is the time when everyone got fucked up and a kingdom fell. Wait how did you end up in me? What's so special about me? And HOW in the hell do you know my name?" I inquire my new roomate.

 _'_ _Well your body type and mental capacity is similar to that of my last form, so I fit right in comfortably. Tall with a lean build, although your intelligence could use some work._ ' Ozpin half answers, kinda ignoring my other questions intentionally.

"Ha ha very funny now how about that other question?"

 _'_ _Well... your memories are our memories now.'_

"Well isn't that wonderful. Does this mean you now remember all the times I jerked off? And all the other embarrassing thing of a male teenager does that he wants no one but himself to know? And what abou-"

' _Well yes and no, I know some of it but please don't think about those things with me in your head I don't want those mental images, you hormone infested child._ ' He scolds as he cuts me off.

"Oh no no no mister you decided to get in my head so you know what? You get to see all the fucked shit I think about so get used to it." I state earning a groan from him as I start walking in a random direction.

 _'_ _Where are you going?_ ' He asks in my head.

"Somewhere where there's people I hope. I gotta get some shoes since I Literally own nothing but the clothes on me right now."

' _Do tell how you're going to pay for those shoes'_ I stop in my tracks for a moment thinking before finding a solution

"Uuuh weren't you like the richest guy in Vale?" I ask in a hopeful tone.

 _'_ _I'm not giving you my information.'_ He ends my suggestion right away.

"Oh come on we're like, the same person now don't be like that." I plead hoping for him to give in.

 _'_ _How are you so calm about this? Usually when my soul enter another body that person starts panicking, some go insane, some try to 'cut me out' but you my good sir are a new one. All you were worried about is if your… Lewd memories and thoughts being shared with me.'_ He ends with a bit of hesitation.

"Well I talk to myself all the time so now I have an excuse for it. Besides this is the start of a new adventure! I'm surprised you didn't already know, can't you see my memories? You should know i'm not from this world." I question very curious.

 _'_ _Well you are an oddity indeed. The only memories I have of your past are from when you woke up a moment ago.'_ That concerns me.

"Wait you were there when I was fighting that pack of beowolves? Why didn't you say anything or warn me?!" I ask angrily.

 _'_ _I wanted to test you. You passed.'_ Ozpin answers calmly as if nothing is wrong.

"BITCH I COULD HAVE DIED!" I yell angrily into the sky.

 _'_ _You were fine stop complaining.'_ Ozpin says with authority, cutting me off from my whining. _'Now how about you tell me where you're from.' He asks with genuine curiosity._

"Oh i'm from a boring blue ball of dirt and water called Earth where the biggest threat we have is each other and world leaders. It's pretty boring and I don't feel like telling you my life story because 1. I don't want to and 2. It'd probably just be boring and depressing to you." I answer easily with a shrug.

' _Well I can already tell you don't like opening up so i'll leave it be for now. I have all the time in the world until you die so I can wait.'_

"Wow that's fucked up Oz. Maybe I will open up one day who knows just takes time to soften me up" I say with a chuckle. After a couple hours of walking I groan loudly in frustration as i've been walking in the same direction with no results. "Where the fuck am I?"

 _'_ _Why don't you use your scroll?'_ Oz suggests.

"I have one of those?" I put my hand in my pocket and take something out. It was indeed a scroll. I remember that they looked like this from the show. "Well why the fuck didn't you tell me that I had one of these things?!"

 _'_ _I thought you knew already it was in YOUR pocket_ ' Ozpin snarkily remarks

"I'm not going to get used to you anytime soon." I respond causing Ozpin to chuckle a bit. I take out my scroll and start messing with it looking for a map app. I open up a search engine and type "Map" and end up with hundreds of results. I make a choice and randomly select one of the engines and a what pops up surprises me. An entire map of remnant with no indication of where I am. "Uh Oz where are we?" I ask confused while swiping away at every location that popped up ' _We're in Mistral'_ He confirms for me _'We need to get to Haven and find Qrow.'_ I gasp excitedly while jumping up and down in sudden excitement. "How could I forget?! I'm in the same world as everyone from my Favorite show! This. Is. AMAZING!" I yell in excitement. _'Quite but I must ask how you know of them.'_ Ozpin asks ending my excitement.

"Oh yeah basically from my world this world was just a animated show. Forgot to mention that, I got up to season 5 before I got dropped into this world, huh now that i think about it if you just got in my head we must be near the end of season 4." I answer calmly.

 _'_ _Hmm interesting. What will happen in the future then?'_ Ozpin inquires after a moment of thinking.

"Uh I would gladly answer that but I don't know if that would cause some time rip paradox that could create a black hole or some shit so im going to keep it to myself for now."

 _'_ _Fair enough'_

* * *

Qrow was sitting at an empty bar until someone walked up behind him. "Geez took you long enough to get here I fell asleep waiting for you." A young man wearing a black long sleeved shirt that hugs his frame perfectly with Blue jeans and black boots says as he sits down next to him. "Who are you? Also I don't think they allow kids in here." Qrow asks with an arch of his eyebrow.

"Well my good sir I am- Shut up i'm getting to that- Someone who may or may not be sharing a body- Okay Okay fine i'll say it." He clears his voice. "My roomate in here wants me to tell you "I'd Like my cane back."" He finishes causing Qrow to smle a nod his head in understanding. Qrow searches into one of his pockets and pulls out a grey and gold colored handle with a lever. "Good to have you back Oz." He says as he tosses the handle to him, he catches it and the cane extends into its full form.

"Well this is a thing." I say with intrigue. It feels like i've missed this thing even though I just saw it with my own eyes just now for the first time.

"Well if you're old enough to have two souls you must be old enough to drink." Qrow asks with a smirk holding up his cup.

 _'_ _Please don't Hector you know you're underaged'_ Ozpin pleads with me with worry eteched into his voice.

"I would but Ozpin's pretty much yelling at me not to so i'll just watch you." I submit to him. I'm not much of a drinker anyway only small sips here and there.

"Huh suit yourself, What's your name kid? I don't think I caught it." Qrow asks as he sits starts drinking from his cup.

"Names Hector Rivers Jr but some people just call me RJ and please don't call me that Hector is fine. Before you ask im 18 with barely any history of fighting and then this guy shows up in my head and I'm Just like what the fuck is this and I became a badass." I say while putting my legs up on the countertop causing Qrow to chuckle a bit. _'Please never describe our meeting like that ever again.'_ Ozpin exclaims.

"Well kid i'm going to get drunk so before I do, this is where everyone else you'll need to get acquainted with." He says while giving me his scroll number and sending me an apartment number and room number. "Just ask for Ruby Rose and i'll pop in for ya." He explains as he downs another cup of whatever the hell he drinks. I get excited for a moment. _'I get to meet everyone Oh my god!_ ' I stop myself before I get too excited, luckily Qrow didn't notice as he was too busy drinking.

"Wow great plan old man cant wait to put it into action." I say before He hits the back of my head with his free hand causing me to recoil and yelp in surprise.

"Don't call me old. You were on my good side for a sec there" He says as he begins to drink again.

 _'_ _You're going to be here a while so you might as well get comfortable. I'll let you know when it's time to go.'_ Ozpin says to me in my head.

"Yeah okay."

* * *

After about an hour later Qrow is reduced to a giggling mess muttering 'I found him' leaning on my shoulder for support as we walk in the hallway on our way to the room. We make it to the room and I set Qrow against the wall. I knock on one of the double doors and wait for someone to open it.'Okay Okay i can do this don't freak out' I think to myself. _'You must like these people so much'_ Ozpin lightly teases. _'Shut up! You don't know what it's like meeting your favorite characters from your favorite show! I don't want to mess this up!'_ I yell in my thoughts until I notice that the door is now open… With a very familiar Blonde haired blue eyed guy looking back into my brown orbs... While a ginger and a guy whos dressed like a green ninja also looking at me. I suddenly get very nervous.

"Can I help you?" Jaune asks with the same exact voice as i heard in the show looking up at me.'Wow I really am tall'. I stand up straight and give a toothy confident smile.

"Uh yes hello i'm Hector good to meet you all is there a Ruby Rose here?" I say really fast all in one sentence with a goofy smile on my face.

"Why." Nora asks making it sound more like a demand then a question.

"Well…." I raise my arms up to my left as Qrow comes up and wraps a hand around my shoulders laughing and saying "I found him" again only much louder this time. "Awkward introductions aside this is why im here." I explain as I let Qrow stumble inside and fall on the couch."I did it! WOOO!" Qrow yells. "What is going on out there?!" I hear as The same Ruby from the show i've binged watched a couple times comes into view complaining about not being able to read her comics in peace. Qrow burps in response and laughs some more. Ruby looks at me then back at her uncle and facepalms as she realizes what the situation is.

"Qrow did you get drunk again?" She asks while facepalming.

"Maaaaybe." Qrow responds as he lifts his arm up only to let it fall back over the edge of the couch.

"..."

"What? No i'm not saying that. Why not? Because it's weird dude how would you like it if someone you just meet just makes a comment about your eyes." I stop myself as I look around to see everyone in the room besides Qrow looking at me like i'm crazy.

"Who are you?" Ruby asks breaking the silence much to my gratitude.

"I am Hector Rivers, But you may know me as- Drum roll please- *Qrow falls off the couch* Professor Ozpin." I say surprising everyone in the room.

"YEAAH!" Qrow yells out as he lifts his head and then lets it fall to the ground making Nora gasp.

* * *

"Did he age backwards?"

"He's possessed!"

"Or reincarnated!"

"Ooo Isn't it weird?"

"No, no, yes and yes." I say while rubbing my temple while leaning back in my chair from everyone up in my face. _'Geez they are a lot more annoying in person'._

"Okay okay let's all just take a second and remember that this is very overwhelming for _EVERYONE_." Qrow says with emphasis on the last word much to my gratitude. Everyone looks back at me before jumping away giving me space.

"Oh thank god they kept spewing questions at me as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom." I smile at him and Qrow smiles back before taking his seat next to me on the other couch. I look around to see everyones eyes on me pausing on Ruby for a sec before she smiles and nods her head. I nod back. "Okay well this is new just last month I was in the woods hunting so I could feed myself and now i'm in a room surrounded by trained huntsman and huntresses." I say as I look up at the ceiling.

"Well uh we've never met a person with two souls before so you know, first times all around." Ruby says trying to lighten my mood.

I chuckle a bit at what she said before Qrow clears his throat and gets everyone's attention. "Not to break up the whole getting to know you game but we need to have a talk. Mind showing us Your little parlor trick kid?" He asks looking at me. I look back at everyone and nod.

"Okay this feels weird every time I do it and i'll still be here when I do it. So yeah there's that." I close my eyes and open them with a green flash.

"It's so very good to see you again students." My body says in a different voice then my normal one.

"Wait what just happened" Jaune said breaking the short moment of silence.

"Professor Ozpin?" Ren asks unsure.

"Correct, as I am currently the one speaking Hector is still very much present mentally. He's currently complaining about how weird this feels having his body move and talk on its own." Ozpin says with a short chuckle causing everyone else to chuckle along. "He has merely handed over the controls so to speak." _'Oh yeah just laugh it off while you can.'_ "This must all be very perplexing." _'Not for me I already know whats going to happen for the next month or so.'_

"And alarming and bizarre and reaaally kinda hard to believe overall." Nora cuts in making ozpin laugh lightly.

"It's good to see you children still have your sense of humor." Ozpin says with a smile. "I know you've all been in tremendous hardship already… im sorry." Ozpin says sadly, his smile fading into a frown.

"I mean it's not your fault." Ruby says attempting to cheer him up

"It's all my fault. I've told you once that i've made more mistakes than any man woman or child on this planet, I wasn't exaggerating." Ozpin reveals making the room go silent. "Im cursed. For thousands of years I have walked the surface of remnant, living and walking in the body of a like minded soul. The professor Ozpin you all met before was not my first form, and clearly wasn't my last. It's an extraordinarily strenuous process. On everyone involved." _'Mhm I bet.'_

"So who- what are you?" Jaunce asks still confused trying to understand what Ozpin is revealing.

"I am the combination of countless men who've spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant." Qrow walks over a gives him a cup of coffee. "With every rebirth my soul is eventually merged with another, and I am changed, but my memories stay with me. This curse was bestowed upon me by the god's because i failed to stop Salem in the past. But we must stop her now." Ozpin says with a downcast look on my face.

"And how do we do that?" Ruby asks

"We start my ensuring the safety of the Relic Of Knowledge." Ozpin states ' _Yeah great plan Oz so far so good. We're doing a great job of defending it right now huh.'_ I say sarcastically.

"This is perfect!" Nora says excited cutting off any further thoughts. "We were stuck at a dead end but now we can just take our Big cute boy Ozpin to lionheart and have him set things straight!" She ends with a jump and places her hands on her hips.

"Please don't call me that." Ozpin Request _'Pfft What I like it Oz just let her have her moment.' 'Shut up'_

"We're not sure that's the best idea." Qrow says causing a disappointed Nora to stomp back to her spot on the couch.

"But I thought all the headmasters all took their orders from you." Ren asks looking at me.

"That was the intention, four lieutenants I can trust, especially during times of reincarnation. But Qrow told me about your earlier conversation with Leonardo. He isn't just behaving irrationally, he's disobeying specific orders I have left him. Something is wrong. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I don't want to rule out any possibilities either. No one outside of this room knows that I am paired with Hector, and I think it may be best to keep it that way."

"Play things close to the chest until we get a better hand." Qrow agrees

"Precisely. Now we have two steps ahead of us. The first is enlisting the aid of more huntsman. ' _Ooo can I guess the second please?' 'No be quiet.' 'Aww'"_

"But the Mistral Council-"

"Doesn't own every huntsman in the kingdom, and i've been here enough times to know where we can find some more." Qrow cuts off Ren answering his question before it can be asked.

"So long as they're trustworthy." Ozpin adds

"Hmph you can trust them to put up a good fight, I'll throw together a list tonight." He finishes putting his feet on the coffee table for a moment before it breaks startling him. ' _Oh thats an Ooof right there'_ I think to myself _'Indeed it is_ ' Ozpin agrees with me.

"Good luck with that." Nora pitches in.

"After that we can move on to step two." Ozpin says as he walks forward.

"What's step two?"

"Getting you four into fighting shape!" Ozpin says as he whips his cane out extending it. _'Pfft' 'What?' 'The way you said that was so weird, you really need to work on that.'_

"But uh we already know how to fight." Ruby brings up. She leans back as Ozpin sticks his cane into her face.

"You can only fight well as long as you have Crescent Rose. You're still lacking in hand to hand combat." Ozpin scolds.

"Well uh yeah." Ruby says defeated but with a smile on her face as she raises her hands in surrender. Ozpin moves his cane to jaune next.

"Mister Arc, i'm glad to hear you've improved but i'm sorry to say you have yet to unlock your semblance." Ozpin brings up causing Jaune to look disappointed as he looks away and down. _'Well that wasn't very kind you could been nicer about it._ ' "ALL of you still have a ways to go before you can become any real threat to Salem and her forces, And though Hector can give me temporary control He'll need to further strengthen his body and his aura. ' _Oh yeah… Forgot about that._ ' "He'll inherit my muscle memory with time but practice will expedite the process. Even if I think he'd rather use his fists then my cane." Ozpin remarks smirking

"But if Qrow is out looking for huntsman who's going to train us?" Ruby inquires.

Ozpin smiles _'Please do the superhero landing._ ' I beg him as he jumps into the air flips a couple times and lands in the pose I wanted him to on the chair before he stands. _'Oz you're my best friend now, If I could hug you I would.'_ "Well I believe I was the headmaster of Beacon Academy." He pauses for a moment to look at their awestruck faces. "We have approximately one month before classes resume at Haven. If Salem were to plan an attack it would make sense for it to occur prior to the students return. It's not much time but it's better than nothing. Just don't expect me to go easy on you. Or you." He finishes with a pat on the chest before letting me have control again. I barely manage to catch myself before I fall off the chair.

"Oh Gosh…Now the adventure begins." I say with a hand on my forehead sitting back down.

* * *

 **AN: The brand new fanfiction story of Rwby"Oh Gosh begins. I chose to place myself at the end of volume 4 because i've noticed most of the other fanfics start up in the beginning and continue through the first three volumes. So I got this idea to write in the first person perspective of a self insert Oc. No my name is not actually Hector its my dads. Regarding pairings I have no idea what to go with so ill leave that to the first suggestion I get. I will continue this in the future but I before I do I want honest reviews and advice on where I can bring this in the future chapters. This is my first story so i'll take all the advice and ideas I can get and combine that with my own plan and see what I can come up with. This will keep going until the end of volume 5 which at that point im probably going to wait until volume 6 comes out and go from there. If you ended up reading this far THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY TO READ MY WORK :D! Please Review and share your thoughts! I promise that this will get better the further you get into it.**

 **Edit 7/6/2018: At this time I was not very serious about writing, one day I will rewrite these earlier chapters. But around the battle of haven arc is when I get much more serious about this, and despite my past self saying that I wasn't going to do a canon divergence I end up doing it and apparently it helped me gain about 80 followers since I started doing it. If you managed to get to the end of this chapter I applaud you because I know it must've been cringey to read at a lot of moments. Thank you for reading. - Genatools**

 **Disclaimer: I don't Own RWBY, its rightful owners are Roosterteeth and Monty Oum. R.I.P**


	2. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 1

**AN- Thanks for the helpful Reviews!**

 **Wisdomdragon27- Thanks for The vote of confidence!**

 **Guest- I'll definitely try to fix those errors in the future. Thanks for the insight!**

 **I honestly was a bit nervous to read the reviews being both scared and excited to read them but they definitely did not disappoint! As far as pairings go I went for the suggestion of focusing on the characters and story first before I think about a pairing so for now its gonna be all about the story. And now we begin.**

* * *

Chapter 1- Time to get stronger, and make friends!

6am

"Oh gosh" I exclaim as I am laying on my back recovering from Ozpin's "warmup" That totally sapped me of energy. "How the fuck do you walk after this? And WHY so damn early?"

 _'_ _Well you were the one who suggested working on your stamina.'_ Ozpin remarks, disregarding my other question entirely.

"Yeah I did say that, what I didn't expect was to be doing two hundred pushups, situps, and squats THEN running a damn marathon through Mistral." I complain.

' _You're going to end up fighting against people who can do this without breaking a sweat. Besides This is only the first day so you have about twentynine more days to get used to this and I still have to train the others later.'_

"Dude you're going to end up finding a new body to take over if we keep this up."

 _'_ _I'm not taking over your body, you're doing this of your own free will'_

"No im doing this because i'm listening to a fucking voice in my head that's apparently the soul of Beacons recently deceased headmaster."

 _'_ _You're just being a baby. Come on it's time for the actual training._ '

I groan as I start fake crying into the grass. He gives me a piercing headache to "Motivate me." "Okay okay im getting up, geez I hate it when you do that." I stand up stretching my arms and legs before reaching up and standing on my toes to stretch my back. "Y'know where I come from people dont wake up In the morning to do fucked shit like this." I sigh. "What's next you crazy bastard?"

 _'_ _Get in your fighting position and i'll point out whats wrong with it.'_ Ozpin instructs.

I get in the same position as I did in the forest against the pack of Beowolves, with my left fist in front of my face and my right near my chin. My legs spread apart slightly with my left leg in front of the other with my knees bent slightly.

 _'_ _Incredible.'_

"I know righ-"

 _'_ _Everything about your stance is wrong.'_ Ozpin scolds as I drop my position and hang my head.

"You don't gotta be such an ass about it." I mutter quietly knowing damn well he could hear me.

 _'_ _Well i've learned that you like being told things 'straight up' as you would call it.'_

"Never say it like that again, and yeah I do there's no point in sugar coating it, I am a hands on learner."

 _'_ _Precisely. Now take your position again but get lower to the ground, You're tall so your enemies will take advantage of that and go for your long legs, bring your fists closer to your body if you try to strike like that you won't have the power behind the strike to cause any real damage.'_ I do as he says and take a lower position with my legs spread out more just a bit until I get an idea. I push my left leg and put my right leg parallel to my body, I put my left arm forward but not too far and bend my elbow curling my fingers, My index and middle fingers a bit higher than the others, finally I put my right arm next to my body bent with a tight fist finishing my stance. _'What an interesting stance I don't believe i've seen it before. What's it called?'_

"I call this- drum roll please- The Goku stance!" I answer with a bright smile on my face.

 _'_ _... The what?'_ Ozpin asks again mildly perplexed.

"The Goku Stance! It was the stance of the main character from one of my favorite shows when I was a kid."

 _'_ _... You just made that up didn't you."_

"What? How could you accuse me of such an atrocious act, i'm hurt." I say feigning sadness putting a hand on my chest for dramatic effect.

 _'_ _Oh dear... Well at least this stance is better than the other atrocity I witnessed earlier.'_

"Thanks Ozzy boy! Now what should we do first."

 _'_ _Never call me that again, See that tree?'_

"Yeah."

 _'_ _Punch it.'_

"Really that's it? Okay then." I walk up to the tree and get in 'The Goku Stance' and take a deep breath before punching as hard as I could. Only to hear a loud crack, but not coming from the tree. I broke my own hand while doing zero damage to the tree. "OWWW FUCK FUCK FUCK SHIT AAGGGH HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN I PUNCHED A DAMN WOLFS HEAD OFF BEFORE!" I yell as i'm running around holding my wrist before kneeling down.

 _'_ _Beowolf and you didn't use your aura this time.'_ Ozpin says sassing me.

"I would've loved to know that before I broke my hand asshole." I bitterly say back.

 _'_ _Well how else would you learn? I thought you were a 'hands on learner'.'_ Ozpin remarks.

"Please shut up and tell me how to fix this." I say while shaking my broken hand.

' _I ask that you don't do that, we do share the same body.'_

"OH you feel that huh?! Aww that just SUCKS." I yell as I rapidly shake my hand causing me to wince and my hand to start hurting more "So worth it." I mutter painfully.

 _'_ _If you're finished you need to activate your aura._ '

"Okay yeah I can do that." I say as I start concentrating on my energy tensing up. After a couple minutes of nothing I give up. "Dammit I did this so easily before how is it so hard now?"

 _'_ _Before you had a definitive goal, which was to save yourself, lots of people unlock their auras that way. What you need to do is focus and relax, look into your soul and allow it to heal and protect your body. After you learn that we can start on using it offensively and see about your semblance.'_ Ozpin instructs.

I get excited hearing about finding my semblance so I do as he says and start focusing on an energy within myself. My heartbeat rises as my body starts to glow a faint dark red before I collapse on my hands and knees panting. "Fuck I was so close."

 _'_ _Actually i'm quite impressed. Not many are able to get their aura on the first tr_ y. _'_

"What do you mean I didn't-" I stop myself from saying anymore and notice that my hand no longer feels pain. "What? How? I don't feel any different." I start focusing on the same energy again and this time my whole body glows the same dark red brightly for a moment and I feel a rush of energy flow through me. "Oh this is the good shit!" I yell as I get into my stance and go up to the same tree to punch it again.

' _Take a deep breath, Focus your aura into your fist, set your goal through the tree and not just the surface and th-'_

"HAAA" I yell cutting him off punching through the tree with my right fist getting my arm stuck. "YES!" I yell in excitement and pump my other fist into the air as I try to pull my arm out… To no avail. "Oh no." I put my foot against the tree and pull harder only for it to start to hurt. Now out of breath I hit my head against the tree in defeat.

 _'_ _I was going to warn you by not focusing too much in one area or you'll go right through the tree until you cut me off.'_ Ozpin remarks.

"Shut up with your sassy ghost ass and help me get out of this."

 _'_ _Actually I think this is great training for you, you can get yourself out of this situation by either calling the others on your scroll and explain to them how you got in this situation, or you can try to get out of this situation yourself. I'll meditate as I wait.'_ Ozpin suggests as he begins "Meditating".

"What NO OZPIN DON'T YOU DARE GO TO SLEEP AGAIN I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!…. Ozpin? Hellooooo? Goddamnit." I look around hoping to see any nearby hikers that can come help me get my arm out but of course there are none. I get to trying to get my arm off myself not wanting the others to see me like this.

* * *

2 hours later

"Hey did you any of you see where Hector went? He should've been back by now." Ruby asks the others as they sit around the table getting ready to eat Rens' famous breakfast pancakes.

"I'm not sure he did mention to me he was going to train with Ozpin when I woke up to use the bathroom earlier." Jaune speaks up.

"I'm sure he's fine, he has our headmaster in him!" Nora says while excited to eat her best friends/crushes pancakes.

"If I learned anything yesterday it's that anything is possible, Ruby maybe you should give him a call just in case." Ren suggests

"Yeah can't hurt to just check up on him." Ruby says as she takes out her scroll and dials Hectors number. When he picks up she hears very heavy breathing.

"H-Hey Ruby! Whats up why'd you call?" I ask being sounding very exhausted.

"We were just wondering when you and Ozpin are coming back it's been a while since you left to train." Ruby explains.

"W-Well y'know Ozpin here heheh he's a rough trainer UUUGGGHH." I groan out with strain and frustration as I try pulling my arm out again.

"Huh? What was that? Are you okay?" Ruby asks worried.

"FINE TOTALLY FINE, UUUGGGGHHHH… Okay I need help." I finally give in slumping my head against the tree in defeat.

"...What's wrong?" Ruby hesitantly asks putting the phone on speaker for everyone else to hear.

"I uh- Okay how do I say this umm… I may have gotten my arm… stuck in a tree when I punched it." I blurt out finally slumping my head against the tree again. After about 15 seconds laughter erupts from the scroll as Ruby and Nora fell off their chairs holding their bellies as they laugh their asses off, meanwhile Ren and Jaune are trying their best to hold it in only letting chuckles out. I head my head against the tree again.

 _'_ _I'm proud of your decision.'_ Ozpin declares _'OH NOW YOU WANNA WAKE UP HUH?'_ I yell at him with my thoughts.

"Yes yes it must be hilarious now please fix yourselves up and come help me, i'll send you my position." I hang up the scroll cutting off their laughter.

"Oh my gosh that guy is amazing!" Nora says calming down

"Who's gonna go get him?" Ren asks

"I'd go but I don't know if i'd be able to hold it together when I see him." Ruby says still on the floor giggling.

"I'll go get him." Jaune volunteers as he walks to the door. "Want me to take a picture?"

"YES PLEASE." Nora begs

"I'm not sure he'd like that." Ren speaks up concerned

"Please do." Ruby votes while recovering from her fit of giggles.

"Sorry Ren you've been outvoted." Jaune declares as he walks out the door closing it.

When Jaune makes it to me I smile weakly at him with my arm stuck in the tree all the way up to a little before my elbow. I scowl at him when he takes out his scroll to take a picture trying to hold in his laughter.

"I hope Ozpin kicks all your asses later." I say with hopeful vengeance as Jaune starts laughing uncontrollably.

"How'd you end up like that?" Jaune asks between laughs.

"How do you think? I was training with this asshole." I put my finger up to my head with my free hand. ' _I'm sure i'm not that bad of a trainer.'_ Ozpin says to me _'You're right. You are what I consider an asshole.'_ I respond back bitterly.

"Okay bud lemme help you out there." Jaune says after he finishes laughing and grabs on to my sides. "On three, one, two, THREE." He yells as we both pull as hard as we could. But of course to no avail. "Geez how'd you get THIS stuck?" Jaune asks tiredly.

"I refuse to explain How i've been trying to pull myself out for the past 2 hours." I respond back equally as tired. We try pulling my arm out a couple more times over the next couple of minutes to no avail. "Okay this is not going to work." I conclude.

"I could go get more help if you want." Jaune suggests.

"No no no not necessary." I plead. "Having one person seeing my like this is already too much." An idea pops up in my head when I Jaune has his sword. "Jaune Take out your sword I got an idea." Jaunes head snap to me and his eyes widen.

"WHAT!? i'm not going to be able to cut off your arm!" He says loudly visibly shaken.

"What? No not like that dumbo I want you to cut the tree around my arm so we could pull it out easier." I correct sternly while clutching my arm protectively.

"Oh that makes more sense." Jaune sighs in relief as he takes his sword out. "Okay just in case use your aura im going to cut it down right above your arm. Jaune instructs

"Got it." I say activating my aura. I give him a nod and he slashes perfectly through the tree right above my arm. "Yes! Good job man-" I shudder as I notices the tree falling… toward me. I catch it with my hands an Jaune rushes to help. "Okay, not as good of a job as I thought." I groan through my teeth my face going red. We push to tree of to the side and start huffing after sitting down.

 _'_ _Well this certainly was a learning experience now wasn't it?'_ Ozpin speaks up.

"If you count getting my arm stuck in a tree for two hours as a learning experience then yeah great training session. Ya fucking dingus." I mutter out those last words. I turn my head to face Jaune.

"Uh what?"Jaune looks at me with a confused look.

"I didn't mean that to you man don't worry." I point to my head and Jaune nods with understanding. "Let's head back I'm starving!" I say while standing up to go back with Jaune following.

"I hope Ren kept Nora away from you food." Jaune says with a smile.

"Oh she better not have c'mon let's go!" I say bursting into a sprint. Catching Jaune by surprise.

We run through the hall and I burst through the door. "Nora I swear to god if you ate my food I will kick your-" I stop dead in my tracks at what i'm seeing… Nora In my chair about to take a bite. Time slows as I dive forward with my hands out taking the plate out of her hands and land sliding against the floor a couple feet. "HA VICTORY!" I yell in triumph as I raise my hand with the plate in it over my head.

"NO! I was so close." Nora exclaims hanging her head in sadness.

"I am starving." I say as i'm about to take my first bite. Before I could put it in my mouth my eyes flash green as Ozpin takes over my body and puts down the fork. "It would not do any you good to eat pancakes right before training Hector, besides I still have to train these four." Ozpin says in my body as he stands up. 'What? NO I WAS SO CLOSE. How could you do this to me you traitor!? I THOUGHT WE HAD SOMETHING!'

"Let us begin." Ozpin says smiling much to my dismay gaining everyone's attention.

"Wait wait please just let us look at the picture Jaune took of Hector before we go pleeeaseee." Ruby pleads giving Ozpin the puppy eyes.

 _'_ _Okay please start the training I can wait a bit longer.'_

"I'll allow it only for a minute though." Ozpin declares _'YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT'_

"Yes!" Ruby and the others group of around Jaune as he brings up the picture of me with my arm stuck in the tree flipping off the camera with a dark look on my face. Everyone besides Ren is now laughing their asses off as they look at the picture.

"Ho- I mean how did you get stuck like that?" Ruby asks while being a giggling mess.

"Well at first he broke his hand because he forgot to activate his aura." Ozpin adds fuel to the fire making Ruby and Nora and Jaune laugh harder and breaking Ren where he is now laughing. _'Oh I am so jerking off tonight and you're gonna be there to watch the whole thing unless you cut this shit off right now.'_ I threaten causing Ozpin's smile and happy look fade and replaced with a look of fear and disgust. "Okay I think we've teased Hector quite enough now." Ozpin says taking the scroll from them and deleting the picture. _'That's what I thought. Now it's time for MY nap.'_ I say triumphantly Oblivious to the new smile on Ozpin's face. "Come along now students let us begin." Ozpin says leading RNJR out to the training area where we originally started earlier. "Now Miss Rose as I said yesterday you're lacking in hand to hand combat, and since sparring with me directly may not be a good way to teach you there is someone who can be a good sparring partner for you. Someone just as new to this are of combat as you." Ozpin finishes with a smirk on his face.

"Really? Who?" Ruby inquires Ozpin answers him by letting me have control again… Only there's one problem. I'm still asleep. I fall forwards on my face and awake in a panic.

"Huh wuh the fuck just happened?" I question as I sit up to see RNJR all looking at me chuckling at my actions, I quickly get up and dust myself off. "Damn you Ozpin. Okay what'd he say while I was sleeping?"

"He wants you to train with me in hand to hand combat since apparently we're both bad at it." Ruby says getting in her fighting stance.

"Oh gosh I have to fight Ruby? I can't just look at her face! Wait isn't she also like 20 times faster than me? Ozpin The fuck?" _'This will help you to since you're just as inexperienced as she is in this department.'_ Ozpin explains. "Hey here's an idea how about instead of training her in this why not train her to use her eyes? Y'know so she can just LOOK at Cinder or any other Grimm and kill them?" I bring up. _'You're not getting out of this and yes we will get around to that but not today, now fight I wish to see who would come out the victor.'_ Ozpin says. Oh I can just feel him smiling. Ruby drops out of her fighting stance and tilts her head in confusion at me talking to myself. She looks over at everyone who just puts a finger to their heads and Ruby nods in understanding making an O shape with her mouth.

"Okay Ozpin has given me no other choice." I give in finally getting into my new stance. "Just go easy on me please?"

"Nope i'm bad at this to so I wanna see where I stand against you." Ruby says with a competitive smile on her face.

"Oh that's just fun." We stay still in our stances waiting for one to attack the other. After about 30 seconds I speak up. "Sooo are you gonna attack first or- AH" My stance breaks completely and I yelp comically as she dashes through at speeds my eyes can barely keep up with as she jumps up and punches me in the nose then jumps to the side before I can retaliate wearing a cocky smirk on her face. It didn't hurt because of my aura but I was definitely surprised. "Oh so thats how its gonna be." I turn to face her again getting back into my stance I ripped out of an anime from my world. _'Okay she moves so fast that I can barely see her I gotta find a way to counter that.'_ I think in my head, but Ruby doesn't allow that for very long as she dashes forward again with the same move as before but this time I keep my stance and throw a jab out barely missing her but forcing her to back off. Before I can celebrate my little victory she comes in again and starts being more aggressive as she starts punching and kicking, I barely hold my guard before I push back halting her assault making her almost trip and quickly nail her in the face using the same strength as I did against that damned tree. Launching her backwards several feet before she uses the momentum to flip back onto her feet. Now she has an angry look in her eyes, and i've just realized what i've done. "Okay listen you can't blame me for that, I was defending myself." I say with a weak smile. She dashes back in using her semblance and kicks me in the gut knocking the wind out of me and making me slide backwards on my feet several feet before going on my knees.

"Yes!" Ruby cheers at her victory.

"I'm not done yet so don't celebrate." I say while panting. My body starts to gain an aura similar to my usual one but much different. It's now larger and more wild with a different brighter shade of red. My muscles get a little bigger and I feel my strength return stronger than ever, even my eyesight gets better. "OOOOH SHIT NOW YOU FUCKED UP!" I shout realizing instantly what this is. "Kaio Ken!" I shout excited barely feeling the pain that shot through my entire body.

"Kaio what- OOF." Ruby gets out before I dash at her with my newly gained speed and power and punch her in the same place as she did to me before knocking the wind out of her and making her roll across the floor. "Okay I give up." She chokes out as she lies on the ground holding her belly.

"Oh gosh I'm so sorry!" I say running up to her and kneeling on one knee. "Are you okay?" I ask concerned if I just broke my favorite character.

"Yeah i'm fine. You just knocked the wind out of me." She says with a weak smile as I help her up. "Is this your semblance?" She asks while she looks at my new red wild aura.

"Yeah I must've unlocked it just now heheh." I say sounding unimpressed. ' _OH MY GOD I ACTUALLY HAVE THE KAIO KEN YESSS!'_ I shout in my mind conveying to Ozpin how i'm really feeling. I let my aura relax as my I turn my newly found semblance off. As soon as I do I fall backward in a fury of muscle spasms and pain. "Thish ish the worsh PAAHAHAIN." I say through gritted teeth.

"Oh my god Hector are you okay." Ruby asks worried. _'NO I AM NOT OKAY, I'M NOT._ ' I answer in my head directed to her. Ruby kneels down next to me and holds me down trying to keep me from flailing. Ren, Nora and Jaune all come to help as they hold me down and let my Kaio ken induced seizure die down.

"It must be a drawback from his semblance but I've never seen it this bad before." Ren says as I pass out.

"Yeah that was scary." Nora says concerned for my health.

"He'll be fine I hope it must be because he just unlocked it. With training he should be able to control it better and this shouldn't happen again." Ren says

"How did he unlock his semblance so fast though?" Jaune says with a downcast look on his face. Ruby places a hand on his shoulder and gets his attention.

"Don't worry Jaune i'm sure it helped having one of the best huntsman's ever soul in his body helped. You'll unlock yours soon enough." Ruby says cheering him up.

"Yeah I guess you're right."

"Now let's bring him inside and let him sleep he must be exhausted after all that." Ren adds to the conversation bringing everyone back on the current situation. He has me up with his shoulder under my arm holding my unconscious body

"Yeah of course I'll help." Jaune says as he rushes to help Ren.

* * *

 _'_ _What was that?'_ Ozpin asks me.

 _'_ _Wha? I can still hear you when i'm unconscious? How is that even possible?'_ I question

' _I have my ways. Now explain to me what our new semblance is, judging my how you reacted when you first unlocked it you must know what it does.'_

 _'_ _Ugh this is like doing homework. Hold on lemme think.'_ I say while trying to let my part of our mind go to sleep. A very unamused Ozpin catches on to what i'm doing and gives me another piercing headache causing my actual body to groan in pain. _'OKAY OKAY JUST STOP THAT. fuck I hate that you can do that.'_

'Explain.'

' _Basically from what I remember the kaio ken amplifies my strength and speed as well as some of my senses in short bursts. I could use it to double, triple, quadruple and so on and so forth as long as my body can handle it.'_ I explain using my headcanon from what I remember from the actual show.

 _'_ _How do you know this?'_ Ozpin asks

 _'_ _I got it out of a japanese cartoon.'_ I answer honestly.

 _'_ _Oh is this from where you come from?'_ Ozpin deadpanly asks.

 _'_ _Possibly. Can I sleep now? You've been keeping me up since like 3 in the morning.'_

' _Technically you are sleeping. At least physically. Why not stay and we can get to know each other?'_ Ozpin suggests.

 _'_ _Yeah that's a no Oz.'_

 _'_ _Hector we share the same body it would be good for us to have trust in each other, usually I won't ask so much since I can just look into them myself but you are a special case. You intrigue me.'_ Ozpin presses the matter

 _'_ _Why do you even care about my baggage? I don't even belong here I shouldn't even BE here. You were supposed to end up in some farm boy named Oscar but for some unknown reason you got in me instead. All you need to know is that I went to sleep and woke up on this damn rock for some reason and then you popped up in my head.'_ I respond with my voice just dripping with hostility.

 _'_ _Very well.'_ Ozpin submits not wanting to anger me further.

I don't say anything as I let my mind go to sleep with my body. I don't know why I snapped at him like that. Usually I just try to dodge the topic entirely like I have been for the past month before I got here. Emotions suck.

* * *

A few hours later.

Team RNJR was sitting around the table eating lunch in silence.

"So guys what do you think about Hector?" Ruby breaks the silence with her question.

"I think he's funny although he does curse a lot but I can get past that because of his personality. He's also really handsome so that's a plus. But that whole two souls thing gets confusing sometimes." Nora answers happily.

"He is definitely intriguing. The way he acts is so carefree but he can also be very serious when he has to even if he has yet to show that side of him yet. His semblance seems to very dangerous for his body so I wonder how he will get past that." Ren answers next. Everyone looks to Jaune next who's currently trying to think on some words.

"He's uh cool I guess? I havent really talked to him much besides getting him out of a tree." He answers honestly with a laugh. "How about you Ruby?"

"I like him! His semblance has so much potential and the way he fights is predictable and unpredictable at the same time I don't know how he does it! Besides now I have a new friend." Ruby exclaims excitedly.

"I wish he could see me that way to one day." A new voice joins the conversation. Ozpin in my body joins the table and sits in the empty spot next to Ruby.

"Um are you Hector or Professor Ozpin right now?" Nora asks confused on How to greet him.

"I assure you this is Professor Ozpin." Ozpin says with a chuckle. "As I said before I wish Hector could see me as a true friend. I can tell that he is hiding something and feeling something but masks it with humor and curse words i'm afraid." Ozpin says downcast.

"Before we talk about him can't he hear us? I mean he did say that he would be able to hear us still even with you in control." Ren asks.

"Not at the moment know, he is currently still resting recovering from earliars training sessions. But his body recovered enough for me to be able to take control and walk around." Ozpin explains.

"Why won't he tell you himself?" Ruby asks joining the conversation.

"I tried asking him to open up to me but he got hostile and asked me why I care, It's been over a month since I joined bodies with him and I thought we were making progress." Ozpin reveals but keeps Hectors origins secret.

"What do you want us to do?" Jaune asks

"I request that you… assist me in getting to know him. During his rant he said he doesn't belong here. I aim to make him feel otherwise but this is something I won't be able to do alone. He needs friends and he admires all of you greatly. I think it would help him come out of his shell so to speak."

"Yes of course!" Ruby speaks up immediately. "I can relate to not having many friends so i'll gladly help him out! I Ruby leader of team RNJR name Hector as our newest member." She declares happily.

"Oooo I wonder how many pancakes he can eat at once!" Nora joins in.

"I'd like to get to know him myself." Ren adds

"Same here, no teammate of mine is going to be feeling sad anytime soon while i'm around." Jaune adds

"Then it's official! Welcome to the team Hector!" Ruby says looking at Ozpin then realizing that I'm not actually there at the moment. "Oh i'll give him the news later." Ruby says sheepishly.

"I thank you all for your eagerness. I'll have to get back to bed before he wakes up now. Enjoy the rest of your day." Ozpin says to everyone as he dismisses himself from the rest of the group.

"AHH what are we going to call ourselves now?! Ruby shouts as she realizes she needs a new name for her team. " Team RNJRH? No, Team RNHRJ? No." she goes on listing names that just don't work well.

"Doesn't his last name start with R?" Ren brings up.

"*Gasp* I got it! Team RRNJR! Perfect! Thanks Ren!" Ruby exclaims

"It sounds exactly the same…" Jaune whispers to Ren.

"Let her have this." Ren says back. Not wanting to rain down on her parade of happiness.

From around the corner I stand their chuckling quietly to myself at their antics. "Thanks guys, now im getting butterflies." I mutter quietly so only I can hear. I woke back up and went to see what the commotion was all about only to see Ruby struggling to find a new name for their team since I was just added into it. _'Oh my god that just adorable!'_ I think to myself. "So what's this about me being added to your team? I speak up so they can hear me. Startled they look at me leaning on the door frame only to slip but catch myself and stand there with a smile plastered on my face like nothing happened.

"Oh well since you're new to our group we decided as a team" Ruby starts

"There was no vote." Ren corrects

"AS a team we've decided to add you to our time soooo… WELCOME!" Ruby exclaims as she runs up grabs my arm and brings me to the rest of the group.

"Wow that is cute of all of you to do." I say not really knowing how else to describe it. _'Of course this happens like in every other fanfiction ever.'_

"Yep!" Ruby exclaims brushing over the fact that I just called them all cute.

"We are gonna eat SOO many pancakes together!" Nora yells hugging my arm.

"Alright I choose to spend tomorrow with Nora primarily first." I decide planning to spend a day with each of them to get to know them better then what I know from off a screen.

"YES!" Nora says excitedly as she pulls me down next to her. "REN get the pancakes!"

"Wait we're doing that now?"

"Of course silly! We're starting now and ending when we're full. I have to test you" Nora says giddily.

"Already on it." Ren says as he's somehow in got in the kitchen without any of us noticing but I shrug it off since he's basically a ninja.

"Oh you are ON I am starving! Get ready to lose your title!" I challenge

"I am undefeated and that will not change today!"

"Prepare to lose your title as pancake queen!" I shout playfully as Ren sets down plates full of pancakes up to a full and a half high. 'How he did that i'll never find out'

"Ready. Set. BEGIN." Ren says as he starts our little competition. I drop my fork immediately knowing i'll need more than that to actually be able to beat her so I use my hands to start grabbing whole pancakes and shove them into my mouth chewing a little bit before swallowing. I look a my opponent whos already halfway done. 'Holy shit so THAT'S what dat mouth do.' I pick up the pace shoving pancakes in my mouth as fast as I could. My hands are sticky with syrup and bits of pancakes.

"Nora wins." Ren says impassively since that's exactly what he expected.

"Howy phit Ho?" I ask with my mouth full.

"Swallow."

"Oh i'm sorry you didn't hear that? I said Holy shit how?" I say again more clearly since I swallowed.

"No one can beat THE PANCAKE QUEEN!" Nora shouts in triumph. "I loved your strategy though just grabbing them and shoving them in your mouth. AWE just a wonderful sight." Nora compliments.

"Ruby you've been quiet what's up-" I stop talking as I see what she is doing. Sitting there covering her mouth so she won't laugh with her other hand holding her scroll up recording everything that has just transpired. "Since you're my leader I'll give you a couple seconds to run before I start tickling you for revenge." I say darkly. Ruby dashes away laughing to some other part of the apartment as I jump over the table chasing her, knocking over vases and breaking the coffee table after I dove to try and catch her. "I WILL DESTROY AS MANY THINGS AS I HAVE TO AS LONG AS YOU ARE ONE OF THEM." I shout getting frustrated with her speed.

"Too bad you're too slow." Ruby jabs as she dodges another one of my attempts.

"UGH!"

"He fits in perfectly with us." Ren says to Jaune laughing.

"Yeah, but I wonder when he's going to do when he finds out I was recording to."

"How is he running like that after eating all those pancakes?" As if on cue I rush to the bathroom passing them and throw up the contents of my stomach.

"See what you did Ruby?!"

"Hows that my fault!?" Ruby says stopping in front of me.

"Oh I don't know maybe because YOU KEPT RUNNING FROM YOUR PUNISHMENT." I shout as a I catch her before she can run away again and start tickling her sides making her laugh and giggle uncontrollably.

"Ah- OKAY Okay Im sorry Im sorry! HAHA!" She says between giggles as she tries to pry away my hands.

"Oh it's too late for apologies now. You'll have to call again later after the beep in a couple minutes.

"Yes he definitely fits well with us now." Ren says

"Hey Jaune dont worry buddy you're next but I have a different Idea for you." I say looking at him while I stop tickling Ruby.

"Oh gosh no." Jaune says with fear in his eyes.

 _'_ _You certainly are a treat Hector.'_

Chapter End

* * *

 **AN- Damn this took more effort then the last one. Thank you everyone who has followed my story and for the positive reviews. I wasn't expecting this much positivity when I first posted this story. I will begin writing the next chapter next week because this weekend i'm going to be working a lot, but that just means i'll have some new ideas for the next chapter. Thanks everyone for reading my story!**

 **P.S: Don't worry I'm not going to make this story take place all in that room and the training area until the fight at the end of volume 5 I plan to make it fun. Stay tuned for next chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Rwby in any way shape or form.**


	3. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 2

**AN: First thanks to the reviewers from last chapter.**

 **Guest: It's no problem to me that you gave me a long review, in fact I thank you for the helpful advice. It's good to see that people are willing to give me advice on how to improve myself and i'll definitely make good use of it.**

 **Guest 2: I was just thinking the same thing when I read yours. I have to take my time more so I won't make as many errors and possibly make it more entertaining to read.**

 **I've also noticed that I never really gave Hector a proper appearance besides describing some of his features and clothes so that will change this chapter.**

 **Without further adieu Let us begin!**

* * *

Chapter 2: A day in town. (Volume 5 Episode 5)

I awaken from my slumber and go into the bathroom to freshen up for the day. I walk in do my little morning stretch cracking a few bones in my back and shoulder and then set my hands on the counter. I look up and stare into my own dark brown eyes that look black from a distance. My Black hair is now longer and more wild covering most of my forehead and passing my ears. The color of my skin has darkened a bit due to being out in the sun more, now a darker shade of tan then before I woke up here. My body is now more toned and larger due to Ozpin's crazy ass training. Amazingly I have no scars from the battle I had with the pack of Beowolves when I first got here. I chuckle at the memory of using two regular Beowolves to kill one larger alpha Beowolf. I brush my teeth and take a shower which I barely fit in due to my height being 6 foot 2 inches. I start to wash my hair as I think about my what to do for the day.

' _I'm sorry for the burden i've bestowed upon you.'_ Ozpin says suddenly feeling guilty.

"Eh it's fine no need to apologize, I did kind of ask to be here so it's not your fault." I say while running a hand through my hair.

I finish washing up and step out of the shower wrapping a towel around my waist just in case someone walks in. I lay out the clothes that I have which is just the same clothes I wore when I met qrow but now a bit ripped up. "I think it's time for some new clothes." I think out loud.

' _I'm inclined to agree with you. They do seem to be a bit ripped up.'_ Ozpin agrees.

"I mean if you think that a long sleeved shirt now having one short sleeve and the other one is gone and my white socks now being black somehow then yes, you're right." I say with sass.

' _We can postpone training for today and we can go get some new clothes, maybe we can get a haircut to.'_

"Nah I like my hair the way it is, but to clothes shopping I am happy. I'll leave a note telling the others where we've gone."

' _Are you sure we should not invite them to come with us instead? You never know what we could run into.'_ Ozpin suggests.

"Well if we get in trouble think of it as training, can't rely on them forever y'know. Besides i'd get a chance to use my Kaioken again." I say with a smirk.

' _Don't you remember the last time you tried using that? Also you just unlocked it last week I don't suggest over doing it.'_ Ozpin remarks.

"Yes I remember feeling that burning pain in every single muscle I have. But don't worry I just used too much power at once without training it. When I used it for the first time I got too excited and used a 10x power boost and that's a no no i've learned." I explain

' _Very well as long as you don't kill yourself I suppose it wouldn't be a problem. But when we get back you will be training to master it.'_

"Deal!"

I walk out of my bedroom grab something to eat and head into the living room and write a note to my new team ' _Went to go buy new clothes, don't miss me too much ;) -Hector and guy who lives in my head.'_ I leave the note on the coffee table that's missing a leg but is somehow still standing. I leave the room for what seems to be the first time since I got here.

* * *

I am walking through Mistral looking for a clothing store. But since the show never really showed us Mistral I am currently at a loss as to where to go and what stores are good or bad. After half an hour of walking aimlessly I give up. At least the scenery was nice.

"Okay I literally have no idea where i'm going. So you wanna like give me directions?" I ask with a twinkle in my eye.

' _One of the traits a huntsman must learn is how to adapt to areas he or she is not accustomed to.'_

"I am adapting, I'm asking the couple thousand year old guy who lives in my head for assistance. You did say I have to be a teamplayer." I reply triumphantly. Being a smartass.

' _Well… I suppose you're not wrong. Take your next left and a clothing store should be on your right.'_ Ozpin instructs.

"Thanks Ozzy!" I say calling him by the nickname I've given him with a smile as I walk dramatically around the corner. I see a store with a sign above it that read "Huntsman's Clothing". Being the smart boy that I assume it's what Ozzy was talking about so I walk towards it.

"Stop right there!" Hostile unfamiliar voice calls out and I get dragged into an alley next to the store.

"Give me your money and no one will get hurt." The voice demands

"Oh is this happening? This is actually happening isn't it!?" I ask the man attempting to rob me with a plastered smile across my face. I look at the much shorter man with the gun pulled on me. He has extra droopy furry dog ears on his head so I assume he's a faunus.

"What are you talking about just shut up and give me your lien!" He demands again shoving the gun into my chest.

"Holy shit this actually is happening right now! Dude out of all the people in this kingdom you decided to rob ME of all people, that is just golden." I say as I snatch the gun away and throw it then push him into the wall with my forearm in his neck.

"You know when I woke up this morning I was just going to take a stroll through town and buy myself some new clothes since as you can see, I am in need of a new look." I say while gesturing to the ripped clothes i'm wearing.

"I-Im so-rry." The smaller man chokes out with fear and with difficulty due to the forearm in his neck.

"That's all I needed to hear friend!" I say as I drop him from his position on the wall. "Don't go robbing people again or else Imma have to hurt ya. See ya!" I shout as I round the corner and finally walk into the store.

' _You handled that situation quite well, I'm impressed.'_ Ozpin praises.

"Meh it's not like the bullet would've hurt me anyway. I had my aura on this time."

' _Improving already.'_ Ozpin sarcastically praises.

"Hey I detected sarcasm there, and stop talking to me when i'm in public people are looking at me like i'm crazy." I say nothing the looks i'm getting from the other customers

' _They wouldn't be wrong.'_ Ozpin lightly jabs.

"Ha ha." I fake laugh in response. I walk up to the male section of the store and start to look around. Seeing know one else around I talk to Ozpin again.

"So I have this idea in mind. Your favorite color is green, mine is red, since we live in the same body why don't we combine them? It'll be like Christmas colors!"

' _I thought you said you didn't want me to talk to you in public.'_ Ozpin remarks

"Don't be a smartass. What do you think?" I ask again.

' _Well I don't know what Christmas is. Is that some sort of fashion in your world?'_ Ozpin asks perplexed.

"Oh right I forgot you don't have Jesus here."

' _What's a Jesus?'_ Ozpin asks perplexed again.

"Nothing to concern yourself with. Basically Christmas is a holiday where we give gifts to each other for the morning and then go our separate ways for the rest of the day. At least that's what my family did." I reminisce at the memory, most of the time I got video games then spent the rest of the day playing one of them. What a fun day.

I pick out some clothes, pine colored jeans, black combat boots, new black socks just in case I had another accident, a simple white short sleeved T-shirt and a garnet colored leather jacket with green accents that match my pants. The jacket has one pocket the left part of the chest and of course the standard pockets that all jackets come with. I go to the changing room and get dressed. I stand there looking at myself in the mirror unzipping my jacket then zipping it up then leaving it partially zipped up.

' _What are you doing?'_ Ozpin asks

"I don't know if I like the jacket unzipped or zipped so i'm trying all of the possible looks. What do you think." I explain.

' _You look ridiculous either way. But If I must I believe unzipped is better.'_

"I was just thinking the same thing Oz. It's like we share thoughts or something." I snarkily reply.

' _Possibly'_ Ozpin plays along much to my amusement.

"Where is he!" I hear a voice call out from behind the door.

"Uh oh I think our buddy from earlier got friends. You think they're looking for me?" I rhetorically ask. "Hey-" I call out as I walk out the door only to shot at instantly but thanks to Ozpin's reflexes I managed to dodge the bullet just in time. "That's not a very nice way to say hello."

"You terrorised a faunus associate of ours. You will be killed human." One of the men threatens.

"Well to be fair he tried to rob me." I say trying to reason so we don't end up destroying the store.

"Of course you'd try to lie your way out of this, humans are disgusting. Now give us everything on you and this will be easy." The leader of the group speaks up.

"Oh so that's how this is gonna be? First off why would I give a fuck if you have an extra set of ears or a tail or whatever the fuck you guys grow on you. Secondly don't mess with me I have a 1000 year old guy with more combat experience then any person you know living in my head." I warn.

"Wha- are you crazy? Do you really think we'd believe that?" One of the perplexed men say.

"Nah but it was worth a shot." I count them in my head. One by the door with a bat, one on my left and another to my right both wielding bats as well and the last one is right in front with nothing of me ranting on on how humans suck and faunus are cool or some shit I don't know i'm out of ideas. I dash to the one in front of me first and kick him in the gut knocking the wind out of him and leaving him writhing in pain before he can react fast enough to adjust his aim and fire. The two from earlier are coming at me from behind now. "Guys I just one shotted him how do you think you're going to win this with those little stick things." I taunt while crossing my arms. ' _Wow I really got a lot faster and stronger in a day. Wonder if that's part of being an op oc'_ I think to myself as the two strike at me from both sides only for the bats to be broken by my forearms, then use my elbows and hitting them right on the tops of their head knocking them both out, I get shot in the back by the one in the door but my aura protects me. I turn to him with a dark look in my eye and start stomping toward him. He shoots 3 more shots all hitting my aura and falling harmlessly on the ground before throwing the gun to the ground and goes for a punch. I catch the highly telegraphed punch. "Dude seriously? I just tanked four gunshots and you go for a punch? That's funny man." I taunt while laughing. "Alright wake your friends and get out of here I got training to do." I say as I let go of his fist leaving him dumbfounded as he just lets himself slide against the wall and sit down. I walk toward the owner who still has his hands up for some reason. "Do I still have to pay for these? I did kinda save your shop from a robbery." I ask with a smile. He gives me a thumbs up and I take my leave with my new clothes still on. "Why does every store owner never talk? Only the ones at bars or clubs do." I ask no one in particular.

' _You handled that well.'_ Ozpin speaks up.

"Of course I did. I got your reflexes and i've watched enough movies to know what's going to happen during a robbery." I reply with a pep in my step. "When do we start training?" I ask curious.

' _As soon as we get back. I want to make sure the others are around in case you give yourself another seizure.'_ Ozpin explains.

"Meh I'll be fine I just gotta take it slow." I shrug off

Transition

After walking for a couple minutes with my hands in my new pockets. But as I am walking I start to smell something. Like something burning? "Is it just me or is something burning?" I ask Ozpin since he shares the same nose.

' _I believe our nose is correct, I smell the same thing.'_ Ozpin confirms my thoughts.

"So is that a building or is someone just bad at cooking? Ah what am I saying it's probably a building." I claim.

' _Then let's go confirm your thoughts.'_

I follow the smell making turns into alleys and around corners until I finally see smoke in the sky confirming my original claim. "Of course it's a building why wouldn't it be." I say sarcastically. I break into a sprint to go help whoever may be inside but I'm stopped by an officer before I'm able to get to the entrance.

"Woah there bud this building is going to collapse any time now you have to stay back." The officer warns.

"No please my daughter is still in there!" A faunus woman with short bunny ears screeches trying to get past one of the officers but is being held back. "Get your hands off me!"

"Okay I'm going to get in there get the kid and get out and you're not going to stop me." I snapped at the thought of these officers who are meant to protect people just letting a child die because it looks too dangerous.

"Sir I can't let you in-" The officers voice cuts off as I headbut him making him fall backwards holding his now bleeding nose in pain.

"Mam I'll save your daughter if its the last thing I do!" I shout as I run into the building. As soon as I do the scorching heat of all the flame and smoke around me hits my whole body as I enter. I run around the building checking every room that still has a working door and listening for any calls for help. I hear something collapse and I go check it out to find that the entrance I came through is now caved in leaving me trapped. "Oh of course that would happen." I spat out angrily at my bad luck.

' _Perhaps this child is on the next floor.'_ Ozpin suggests.

"If the stairs still work sure I'll check."

' _You don't have to use the stairs we're low on time.'_ Ozpin says giving me an idea.

"Ooooh Okay hold on to something!" I shout out pointlessly as I ready my legs into the highest jump I've ever prepared to do. I jump and slam through the ceiling onto the next floor.

"YAHH" A high pitched voice blurted out of fear.

I look around the room and see the little girl with the same ears as her mom trapped in the corner of the room with a desk on top of her leg.

"There you are! Listen I'm going to lift this desk and you're going to crawl out get on my back and hold on tight." I instruct not waiting for a response as I get in position to lift the desk up burning my hands on the metal parts of the desk. "Geez what is this thing made out of." I grunt out as I struggle to lift the desk up fighting through the pain, after a couple of moments I get the scorching hot desk up off the girls leg and she crawls out quickly. I drop the desk and wrap my arms around the little girl and pick her up, she buries her face into my chest and grabs my shirt. ' _It's not what I planned but this will do'_ I run around the building for what feels like hours looking for a way out but every corridor is now caved in or on fire. I curse under my breath after every realization hits me. ' _I can't let this little girl die.'_ I get into a position and aim myself toward a wall that I hope leads outside. "Listen whatever you do do not get let go." I say to the now crying girl I have in my arms. She nods with her face in my chest and I feel her hold on tighter. I yell as I charge with my shoulder out and bash through the wall that leads into another room. "Fuck!" I yell out a curse as I just got bashed my way into just another burning room. My face is red from the heat and my body is sweating like no tomorrow but its so hot my sweat is evaporating too quickly you do any sort of cooling down for my body. My aura is broken due to the amount of heat and falling debris that landed on me. I look around desperately before I notice that one of the walls in the room is made of brick. "This must be the only thing between me and outside." I mutter to myself . "Listen I have to bash through one more wall but this time you need to hold on even tighter." I instruct to the terrified girl who is already holding on to me as tight as she can. I step back and prepare myself for a broken shoulder. I pool all my remaining strength into my legs as I charge hitting the wall full force but not breaking it. I step back in pain and sorrow at the realization that the wall didn't even crack. I curse under my breath. I have one more idea in my sleeve though. I step back and get into position once again. "Kaioken!" I shout out my red aura barely visible due to the lack of aura I have and the color of the room from the flames. Every muscle in my body screams out in protest under the combined pressure of the heat and the pain my semblance causes myself. I charge again through the pain and bash through the wall into the much cooler air outside. I twist my body so my back faces the ground so the girl doesn't get hurt from the landing. I hit the ground with a thud and get up immediately and start running although I hurt my leg from the fall.

"Holy shit he made it…" One officer says in awe not believing what he's seeing.

"Over hear!" The officer I headbutted earlier calls out to me from behind cover.

I run to the cover and as soon as I do the building completely collapses causing all the ash to be pushed out making a fog of sort. I get up and look for the woman from earlier to find her sitting down crying thinking her child perished in the collapse. I turn off Kaioken and try to pry the girl off my body but she still clings to me. I find it adorable now since we got out safely.

"Hey kid you can get off me now we made it." I say to her causing her to look up at my face then looking toward her mom. She jumps off me and into her mom and they start crying together. I smile and turn to leave.

"Thank you so much huntsman!" The mother calls out grabbing my arm. I turn to see her with a surprised look.

"It's not a problem. I wasn't just going to stand here knowing there was a girl inside a burning building." I say with a smile standing up clutching my side.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" The mother asks extending her hand.

"If I did this expecting a reward I wouldn't be a huntsman." I politely decline her offer as I shake her hand.

"Honey what do you say to the young man who saved you?" The woman says to her daughter.

The girl I saved runs up to me and hugs my legs. "Thank you mister! Come visit me later please!" The girl says excited

' _Oh thats is just too cute.'_ I think to myself"Of course." I say as I ruffle her hair a bit. "I gotta go now though if my team doesn't hear from me they'll freak out." She lets go smiling brightly nodding.

"My store is where we'll be staying now. It's called "Cherry blossom" Its a flower shop. It's the least I can do for you. Just in case you have a special someone." She lightly teases with the offer.

"Of course If that ever happens I'll stop by." I say unaffected.

After conversing with the two for a couple minutes longer I take my leave promising the little girl whose name is Cherry that i'd visit her again one day. I am on my way back to Haven now walking with a small limp but my recovered aura is taking care of that.

' _You did a great thing today. Im proud.'_ Ozpin praises.

"What can I say? I'm a nice guy." I say with a smirk. My smirk quickly fades as I realize something. "Oh gosh I have to train when we get back don't I." I say hanging my head as I walk through the courtyard.

' _I believe we had enough training today. You deserve the rest of the day spending it with Miss Valkyrie like you promised before.'_ Ozpin reminds me.

"For some reason I feel like that is going to be so much worse."

' _Possibly'_

I shake my head amused as I make my way to the room we're staying in. I hear voices inside so I assume everyone is wide awake now. I slam the door open scaring everyone. "Surprise!" I yell out with my arms open wide.

"What happened to you?" Ren asks after he recovers.

"What do you mean? I just had a good morning out hanging with Ozpin."

"You're covered in ash dude." Jaune informs

I look down to see that My whole brand new outfit is covered in soot and ash and I slap my hand on my face in disappointment and sorrow. "But I just got this." I say on the verge of tears.

"Oh my god what happened?!" Ruby asks worried.

"Well…" I tell them everything that transpired that day starting from the note I left to the conversation I had with the family of two I had after I saved the kid from a burning building. "... And now I'm here." I conclude as I sit in the fountain in the courtyard with all my clothes on in an attempt to clean them.

"You had an eventful morning." Jaune speaks up after a couple of moments.

"You used your semblance and didn't almost die? Good job!" Nora says giving me a high five.

"You did a very noble thing. Congratulations." Ren says with a nod.

"Yeah why did that guy try to punch you?" Ruby asks giggling at that part of my story.

"I don't know honestly but at least I have new clothes!" I say while gesturing to my body that is submerged in water.

"Don't think this gets you out of the plan I have for us today!" Nora says excited pointing a finger at me. I Look to Ren.

"She came up with it right before you barged in earlier." Ren adds.

"First we're going to eat pancakes again, THEN we're going to watch a movie with Ren and THEN-." she stops when my eyes flash green signalizing Ozpin is now in control and I stand up.

"Not quite yet Miss Valkyrie, while you may have time to watch a movie we have yet to begin training for the day. After we're done then I'm sure Hector would enjoy your company." Ozpin says with a slight echo to his voice coming in for the save. ' _Thank you so much.'_ I say with gratitude.

* * *

Ozpin gathers everyone in the training room. "For today you will be training to take down a single very powerful opponent. Since it's me you're up against you have to get one solid hit on me. The training ends with one of one landing a hit or you all are too exhausted to continue." Ozpin explains while he stands alone against Team RNJR." I will be using what I have to avoid your strikes and will fight back. Understand?" Team RNJR all nod and gets ready to attack while Ozpin in my body simply stands there cane in hand with one hand behind his back. They all disperse and attack from all different directions and attack at the same time only to see there attacks all faze through him as his afterimage fazes away. Ozpin hits the back of Rens head with his cane and jumps away getting back into his original stance.

"This is going to suck isn't it." Jaune complains

"If we work as a Team I'm sure we'll manage." Ruby says igniting her team's spirits

After hours of trying to hit Ozpin Team RNJR are all on the ground panting and exhausted unable to continue.

"I believe our training is now complete for today." Ozpin says ending the training session. He is barely winded at all still standing in the same position as before. Only slightly breathing heavily because of the body he's using. He lets me get control again and immediately I fall to my knees panting dropping the cane.

"Ozpin please… Ho god… Dont do that to me." I manage to get out.

I stand up uncomfortably and walk toward the others. "So how about that movie?" I suggest. Everyone puts one thumbs up in agreement. I help them all up and we all walk back to the room. When we enter I fall on the couch.

"What are we watching?" I ask with my face in the couch.

"We are watching a scary movie now make some room." Nora demands pushing my legs off the couch.

* * *

The movie was not scary at all to me but to everyone else it was terrifying. Nora held on to Ren out of fear and Jaune was biting his nails while Ruby brought her knees up to her face and me? I almost fell asleep. I sneak my way out and go back into the training room.

"I really want to master this semblance of mine." I say out loud.

' _The movie wasn't THAT bad.'_ Ozpin says

"Where I come from people don't sit there and wait for danger to come. Nah we run or try to kill it." I explain

Without any further interruptions I train on my own while using my semblance at the same level from in the burning building. It's now night and everyone else is either eating or waiting for dinner. As I'm training I think about the situation I'm in, how vastly unprepared for the future I really am. Just over a month ago I was sitting in my room thinking about writing a fanfiction on my favorite show and then I just wake up in it being one of the key characters in it. Ozpin stays quiet not wanting to interrupt my thoughts. I punch the bag of sand weakly and then lay my head on it on the verge of tears. I really miss my family. I never thought I'd miss my old life.

"Are you okay?" A familiar voice calls out.

I quickly wipe my eyes and turn off Kaioken and look at Ruby, her face littered with concern. "Yeah yeah I'm alright." I say with a roll of my shoulder putting on my usual mask since I don't feel like talking about emotions.

"Well you sure are getting better fast, I remember how just last week you almost died after using your semblance and now here you are using it like no problem." Ruby compliments.

"Well it still feels like I'm on fire when I use it but I got used to it." I say with a shrug placing my hands behind my head.

"Have you ever fought before?" Ruby asks hesitantly

"A serious fight no, But I was trained a small amount to defend myself against people when I was like 12 but nothing big. Nothing like this." I explain.

"Well you look like a natural." Ruby says with a smile. The smile is contagious so I smile back.

"Heh that's probably I got Ozpin in my head." I say with a chuckle and pointing to my head. Ruby nods in understanding.

"Oh! I almost forgot what I came here for, dinner is almost ready you should come eat with us!" Ruby offers.

"Yeah I guess I will I havent really talked to you guys much besides yesterday and when I tried to beat Nora in a pancake eating contest." I remark making Ruby snicker a bit. My face falls as I think about everything everyone has been through. Whether I like it or not They're real now and real people have emotions. Ruby turns to lead me back. Emotions suck.

"Wait." I call out making her stop and turn toward me. "I know about what happened to Beacon and the friends you lost. Ozpin here thinks a lot about them. How are you always like this? Always so cheery and in a good mood. You lost two friends and people have tried to kill you and now all this is happening. To be honest If didn't have this act on all the time I'd be breaking down everyday." I say shyly and actually show emotion other then Joy for the first time since I got here. I didn't raise my voice at all like Oscar did because I'm not a dick. I look into her surprised eyes before they soften.

"I wonder the same thing sometimes. How do I do this or why do I do this. Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina were some of the nicest people I have ever met. But that didn't save them. Pyrrha thought that If there was even a tiny chance at saving someone that it was a chance worth taking and because of that she died fighting a battle she knew she couldn't win. And Penny… was killed to make a statement." Ruby reveals. I already knew this but couldn't help but feel sorry for her for the way she said it. It's completely different then from when I watched it on my computer.

"I'm sorry I brought up those memories." I say feeling bad that I recreated this scene.

"I am scared too. Not just for me. What happened at beacon shows that Salem doesnt care if you're against her or not. She'll kill anybody and that scares me most of all. Penny and Pyrrha… I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt, that I haven't been thinking of them everyday since I've lost them, that I didn't wish that I'd spent more time with them. If it had been me instead I know they would have kept fighting to so that's what I chose to do. To keep moving forward." Ruby finishes teary eyed and looks at me. I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her and pull her into a hug. She accepts this hug and after she breaks away she looks up at me with a smile and wipes a tear away.

"I've lost people to. I wondered how I kept going but now I know. If I stopped trying to live on then I'd only make it worse." I reveal opening up for the first time.

"Come on let's stop being sad and get back before Nora eats everything again." Ruby suggest grabbing my arm and pulling me along with her.

"Oh gosh here we go again." I say with a smile as I sit down with the others. I'm in a much better mood now as I eat everything in front of me asking for seconds. I joke around with everyone and end up becoming better friends with Jaune and complement Rens cooking. Nora challenges me to an arm wrestle after we all finished but I declined because I don't feel like getting my arm broken. The night ends with all of us going to sleep with full bellies. "Well looks like I'm here to stay now" I mutter as I lay on my bed.

' _It seems you finally decided to open up a bit.'_ Ozpin remarks

"Yeah yeah don't mention it I knew you were there the whole time." I say back embarrassed at the realization that Ozpin heard all of that.

' _Just remember if you ever need to let something out you can always rely on your team or myself if you wish. We're all here for you.'_ Ozpin says. Im comforted.

"I'll make a note of that." I say with a smile as I close my eyes and sleep overtakes me.

* * *

 **AN- Personally this was the hardest chapter to write. I had the first two in my head done but I never thought past them until I got inspired by some of my real life friends. I won't give up on this story until it is finished. It may be completed after about 15 chapters give or take. I have an idea for the next chapter and I will take my time making sure every bit is written well. Stay tuned for the next chapter of Oh Gosh! Please leave a review and tell me how I can improve the way I write or maybe give me an idea of what I can do with this in the future chapters.**

 **Disclaimer- I don't own RWBY ain any way shape or form**


	4. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 3

**AN: First Thanks to my reviewers of last chapter.**

 **Guest- Thank you. And the reason this story is always in Hectors perspective is because I don't want to just write what happened in the other characters storylines unless I have to like I did in the prologue. For example If I wrote from Yangs perspective last chapter I would just be writing what you could just watch from the actual show. Don't worry there will be other point of views in the future so bear with me for now (Possibly this chapter). Thanks for the review!**

 **Kage-kitsune9001- I'm glad someone noticed those :). Remember that Hector is not a saiyan nor does he have any sort ki control. I'm already pushing it just giving him kaioken out of nowhere just because I personally love that ability. So bringing in a beam attack would not make a lot of sense unless I pull some stuff out of my butt but maybe in a future story I'll bring one in. Thanks for the review!**

 **To all my new followers welcome and thank you for the follow and/or favorite and thank you to everyone who spent their time reading this far into my story. Every time that notification pops up that I got a new follower or someone favorited my work just makes me feel so happy :D. You guys keep me going.**

 **I plan to make this my best chapter so wish me luck from the future!**

 **Onto the show!**

* * *

Chapter 3 New people! (Volume 5 chapter 6 & 7)

Qrow has spent the last week looking for hunters to aid him and the others for the battle to come. But every time he got close to finding one they'd either be dead or missing. He was confused, and defeated. He stood by looking at the Mistral Bounty Missions list and stared at all the huntsman's names below. All of which stating that the huntsman was terminated or the mission was in progress starting weeks ago, some even months. Qrow pulled out his scroll and looked into his contacts list consisting of all the huntsman he knew about and crossed another name out. He scrolled up to look for any more that may be available but sighed disappointed in himself that he couldn't find even a _single_ one. He took out his flask of only god knows what and took a big gulp of it then wiping his face and making his way to a balcony facing a beautiful view.

"This isn't right. I understand maybe one or two of them but… _all_ of them?" Qrow says as he hangs his head.

"Can't find anyone?" A familiar voice calls out from behind him. Qrow turns his head to see Hector there leaning on the door frame.

"Hector… what're you doing here?" Qrow asks surprised at his sudden appearance.

"Well you haven't been back in a while so I took it upon myself to see what kind of trouble you need help getting out of." I joke with a shrug. I walk over and take a spot next to him leaning on my back with my hands on the railing.

"Heh well it's not that kind of problem. I just don't get it. How could every huntsman here be either dead or missing. It just doesn't make any sense." Qrow says taking another sip of his flask.

I ponder with my next words, debating whether or not I should bring up Lionhearts cowardly betrayal.

"Maybe someone gave them away." I let slip out cursing in my head. Qrow perks up and looks at me with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?" He asks in a more stern voice, his gaze turning into a threatening glare. Seeing thats its too late to turn back I continue.

"What you said is true. Maybe one or two huntsman but all of them? It just doesn't add up. What I'm saying is that maybe someone from the council or someone _very_ close to us is not as trustworthy as they deem themselves to be." I say gesturing with my head to haven. Qrows shocked expression turned to one of understanding as he relaxes his glare.

"And here I thought you weren't that bright. I'll look into it." Qrow says putting a hand up to his chin thinking.

"I'm smart when I need to be." I say with a smirk crossing my arms. I have this question that I've been wanting to ask and take the chance here to lighten the mood

"So what's in the flask? I see you with it and drinking from it all the time." I ask pointing to the flask he has in his other hand.

"Why don't you find out? Like I said when we first met if you're old enough to have two souls you're old enough to drink." He offers handing me the flask.

I hesitate a first. I've never been much of a drinker in my old life, I always found the taste of the alcohol appalling only drinking when i'm pressured to do so or I'm just being stupid. But this was just a sip so I take a gamble. Oh that was a mistake. As soon as I took my first gulp I felt my nose open up and a hot sensation go down into my stomach and I start coughing and gagging immediately as I hand back the flask.

"Holy shit man what's in that thing pure peroxide?" I say as I spit out whats left in my mouth making Qrow start to laugh uncontrollably.

"You're close." He says with a wink as he takes another sip from the flask.

"Well i'm going to head back now to pump this shit out of my stomach so take care. They made a lot of food so We're gonna have a big breakfast." I say taking my leave. He waved me goodbye without looking. I put my hands behind my head and walk blindly until I notice the air around me change. Its… hotter now? The wind is blowing and It sounds like I'm in a forest. I open my eyes and see three women staring at me with shock. One with beautiful flowing blond hair and lilac eyes. I recognize her immediately as Yang on her motorcycle, sitting behind her is none other then the ice queen herself Weiss, with her snow white hair and usual ponytail on one side of her head, and of course there's Raven, her hair looks just like Yangs but black and she has her hand on her sword ready to attack. I remember what was supposed to happen at the time I showed up to talk to Qrow. ' _Ooooh I forgot this happened.'_ I think to myself as I struggle to get something out.

"Uuuhh hi." I say with a awkward wave as I walk backward back through the portal. I jump away immediately much to Qrows confusion. He turns around expecting Raven to be there but instead he sees the last thing he'd expect.

"Oh." His eyes widen at the sight of Yang riding in on her motorcycle with Weiss behind her.

"So who was that guy?" Yang asks with a smirk.

Transition

Team RNJR are all preparing dinner expecting to have to feed a bunch of huntsman. Nora is cutting carrots occasionally throwing a piece into her mouth, Jaune is setting the table, Ren and Ruby are cooking some food. Although Ruby is burning her meal. Everything is peaceful until I come flying through an open window mumbling something and run into the bathroom, moments later I start spilling my guts out.

"Great! Now all we need to do is wait for is Qrow." Ruby states as if nothing was wrong with what just transpired, she also burns the food she's cooking despite Rens warning. Qrow enters the room announcing that he is back and has something that she needs to see.

"Be right there!" Ruby says as she picks up a tray with a two teacups and that thing you pour tea in them in with **(AN- I have no idea what they're called and i'm too lazy to look it up.)** and walks around the corner.

"So we didn't know how many people were coming so we just cooked all of it." Ruby says with a smile. She drops the tray shattering the cups as soon as she looks up, her face turns to one of shock as she sees Yang and Weiss in the doorway in front of her. Ruby starts to tear up and breath heavily as she struggles to find something to say. Yang takes a couple steps toward her with a neutral expression on her face.

"Yang I- I'm so sorry I- I should've stayed and I should've talked to you more and I wasn't sure If you wanted me around and-" Ruby gets cut off as Yang suddenly closes the distance between them and hugs her little sister tightly.

"I love you." Yang says as she starts to cry out of joy of seeing her sister.

"I love you to." Ruby manages to choke out as she starts crying into Yangs shoulder.

After a couple moments of silence out of respect for the reunion of the two sisters. I burst out of the bathroom.

"Okay now that that's over lets get some food in my belly- Oh shit nevermind didn't know this was reunion hour." I say quickly as I turn right back around and back into the bathroom. Everyone stares in the direction I was in dumb founded for a couple moments.

"Okay can someone tell me who that tall guy is?" Yang asks everyone in the room breaking the silence.

"Well… i'm sure he'll introduce himself once he collects his thoughts." Ruby says

* * *

Two minutes earlier

"Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck." I chant to myself as I run into the bathroom slamming the door shut and stand over the toilet spilling out the contents of my stomach. "They came this early? Holy shit Im not prepared for this."

' _What seems to be the problem?_ ' Ozpin asks nonchalantly

"Well besides the fact that I'm pretty sure I drank hand sanitizer you should know exactly what the problem is Ozpin. Why are you even asking me that?" I snap back irritated whispering loudly so the others don't hear me.

' _You get to meet two more members of Team RWBY I thought you'd be excited at this opportunity.'_

"I had preparation before this just happened all of the sudden. I knew they'd come into the picture sooner or later but this early? We still have like a lot more days until Salem's goons attacks."

' _A huntsman must be prepared for anything. You should've prepared.'_ Ozpin recites as he done SO many times before.

"Yeah yeah shut up I have a plan."

' _Oh really? When did you have time to think of this plan.'_

"About Now ish. Now listen here we're going to…"

* * *

Present time

RWY and RNJR are now sitting at the table eating and catching up until I come bursting out of the bathroom once again gaining everyone's attention after telling Ozpin my plan he reluctantly agreed to.

"Hello new people! I'm sure some of you are wondering who I am." I begin gesturing to Yang and Weiss.

"Does he always do this?" Yang whispers to Ruby.

"Only when he meets new people but it's funny when he does it." Ruby whispers back.

"Oh dear here we go." Weiss says placing her hand under her chin and her elbow on the table.

"Lady Blonde and Lady White," Ruby giggles at the nicknames I have given them for this intro. "Who stands before you is a young man who lives with not one but TWO souls!" I exclaim putting a hand out with two fingers up and standing at the end of table. "A young man with extraordinary abilities and a one of a kind semblance! Who learned how to fight as well as a headmaster in ONE month and some number of days that I forgot to count! My name is Hector of the house Rivers and with me is my trusty sidekick!" I end placing my hands on my hips expecting Ozpin to introduce himself. But of course he doesn't. I clear of throat. "And. With. Me. Is. My. Trusty. Sidekick." I say again slower then before emphasizing each word. "Damn it that's your cue! What do you MEAN you didn't know this was a part of the plan you hear my thoughts! Okay okay let's try this one more time and DON'T screw up this time." I shout at Ozpin Irritated before I clear my throat ignoring the highly confused looks from Weiss and Yang.

"MynameisHectorofthehouseRiversandwithmeisMYTRUSTYSIDEKICK." I blurt out really fast all in one breath placing my hands on my hips before Ozpin takes his cue and takes control, my eyes flash green confusing Yang and Weiss even further.

"Professor Ozpin." Ozpin says in an unamused voice. ' _YES THANK YOU'_ My excited voice fills his thoughts. ' _We're never doing that again.'_ We switch back so i'm back in control and I have a goofy smile on my face.

Team RNJR start laughing while Yang and Weiss stare at me wondering if what they just witnessed actually just happened.

"How could seven kids possibly make so much noise?" Qrow complains as he rounds the corner making everyone at the table completely quiet.

"You're Professor Ozpin?" Weiss asks me breaking the moment of silence.

"Yeah I'm not good at explaining this so I'll let Ozpin do it." I say as Ozpin takes control again.

* * *

After everyone sat down on the couches Ozpin a _really_ long explanation about the maidens of the seasons and Salem and how he ended up sharing a body with me. Yang and Weiss take a moment to process all of this. ' _I swear I didn't know that clock was there until this moment.'_ I think referring to the clock clicking obnoxiously in the silence.

"So… the maidens, magic, Salem its all true?" Weiss asks breaking the long silence.

"Uh huh" Qrow mumbles loudly.

"Miss Xiao Long is this more or less what your mother told you?" Ozpin asks.

"For the most part." Weiss answers for Yang.

"You forgot something. You forgot to tell everyone about what you did to Qrow and my mother." Yang mentions making Ruby gasp.

"What is she talking about?" Jaune asks

"Oh great." Qrow says sarcastically.

"Hmm that's not a secret I thought she would give up so easily. She must trust you a great deal." Ozpin begins then sighs before he continues. "My ability to reincarnate though a curse isn't without a few key benefits. Much like the maidens I too possess a certain magical power. Using this power I was able to gift the Branwen twins-" Ozpin's body shakes slightly as I take back control, much to his and Qrows surprise. I've gotten better at doing so since I have nothing better to do while he is in control.

"Okay Ozpin you really need to learn how to explain things faster. Basically He gave your mom and uncle the ability to turn into birds so they could see more and not be stuck to the ground all the time and honestly I don't see why that's a problem. It's not hurting anyone." I finish for Ozpin. Everyone gasps at the revelation.

"Professor Ozpin gave them the ability to turn into birds." Ren clarifies

"Okay NOW you're just messing with us." Nora speaks up

"What else is new." Jaune mutters disappointed.

"He's telling the truth. We saw it. Yang's mom changed right in front of us." Weiss confirms.

"Why would you do something like that? I mean what is wrong with you!?" Yang shouts angrily.

"Woah don't shoot the messenger geez. And from what I can remember they actually asked for it. Isn't that right?" I say nudging with my elbow Qrow who is standing besides me.

"That's right we did. We made the choice, we wanted this." Qrow says backing me up.

Ozpin takes control back with a flash of green in my eyes. 'Oh I didn't know you could play this game.' I say to him in our thoughts

"Granting this power to them was not a trivial task, and I can assure you it was not done frivolously. I required assistance in gathering information on Salem's plans, as well as searching for the maidens when their hosts were unknown." Ozpin explains holding his cane down in front of him.

"Okay so has this been done with others? Like General Ironwood? Or Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby asks

"As helpful as that might be unfortunately it is not that simple. My power is finite, and if i'm being honest, dwindling." ' _Well if you didn't give four girls magical destructive powers just because they were nice to you maybe we wouldn't have this problem.'_ Im ignored of course. "The amount I gifted to Qrow and Raven was all things considered, rather miniscule. You see centuries ago I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women who I hoped would use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens." Ozpin explains

"Miss Xiao Long, it was never my intention to lie to you. To any of you. There are just some matters that I prefer to "Not tell a damn soul" as I believe that's how Hector would put it." ' _Im touched'_ "Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later,one of them chose to abandon her duties, in favor of her own self-interest. Now, all of you have a choice. If anyone wishes to leave, now is the time. There is no shame or disgrace in abstaining, only in retreat."

' _You know no one is going to leave right? Nobody ever leaves. I mean if I wasn't stuck with you I might leave but since that's not the case I'm here to the end.'_ I say honestly in the comfort of my own head.

Everyone looks to each other pondering and thinking on their choices but ultimately no one stands up to leave.

"Very well."

Yang stands up worrying her sister and surprising the others.

"If Ruby sticks around, then I will to. If there's one thing I know about her it's that she always knows what the right thing to do is. But, if we're going to help, if we're going to keep risking our lives, no more lies. No more half truths." Yang ends her speech looking at me."

"Understood." Ozpin responds with a smile.

"So… what do we do now." Jaune asks after a couple of moments of silence.

"That is a difficult question, one that I believe that is a question best answered tomorrow." Ozpin says before walking over to Yang. ' _Well that's a great way to gain their trust.'_ I remark sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" Jaune asks perplexed.

"The road ahead is undoubtedly full of hardships and peril. However, it has been far too long since you all have been together. Please take tonight, enjoy this moment." Ozpin says putting a hand on Yang's shoulder before his eyes flash a dark red signifying my aura as I regain control. I blink a couple times as my vision comes back to me.

"Oh hey I'm back." I say as I look at my hands before retracting the cane and putting it in my pocket which I have no idea how it fits in there. Everyone chuckles slightly at my silliness.

"Ooooooh. Raven!? Qrow!? They're birds! Cracked it!" Nora shouts enthusiastically as she leans back into her chair.

"Did you actually just get that now? After everything that was just explained." I say baffled at Nora's ignorance.

"Since that whole ordeal has been dealt with there's just one more thing that needs to be addressed." Weiss says looking at me.

"Okay you're looking at me so I'm guessing it's probably about me?" I ask.

"Who exactly are you? And please no immature introductions like you did before."

"What? How could you say that? I spent an entire 2 minutes coming up with that just for you two." I say slouching my shoulders feigning hurt.

"Explain yourself." Weiss demands.

"Geez so this is why you're called ice queen."

"Hey!"

"Alright I guess you all deserve that for dealing with me. Basically I was in my house on my computer like any normal 18 year old-No combat experience by the way-, I went to sleep woke up in the woods and then this fucker was in my head." I point a finger to my head and everyone nods in understanding. "Oz told me to find Qrow and I did and here we all are. I've been training with Ozpin every morning then he would train the others with my body. That good enough for ya?" I end with my arms crossed sitting on the end of the couch.

"That still doesn't explain _who_ you are. You just explained _where_ you came from." Weiss says prying for more information.

"Didn't I already introduce myself earlier?"

"If you call that fiasco an introduction."

"Well there you go!"

Everyone's heads move back and forth as me and Weiss go at it as we slowly raise our voice and get more irritated with each other. This was bound to happen let's be honest. Team RNJR and Yang whisper amongst themselves wondering if they should get involved before we end up hating each other.

"Weiss this is the most he's ever talked about his past lets just go one step at a time." Ruby pleads for my sake.

"I just want to know who I will be risking my life with, he's just being difficult."

"Oh I'M the difficult one!? You ever think about how i'm feeling here? I was living a normal life with my family and all of a sudden Im thrown into a war I didnt even know existed! So i'm sorry if I seem a little secretive." I shout angrily half lying not wanting to reveal my actual origins. My outburst surprises everyone, even Ruby and she's the one I opened up the most to. I quickly look away and put my back to them preparing to leave.

"Listen. I'm sorry for not trusting you but you have to understand. The last people we were so trusting with ended playing a big part in the fall of Beacon. I just don't want to make the same mistake again." Weiss says in a much softer calmer voice. I turn back around with a sad smile.

"Its alright I didn't mean to snap like that." I say accepting the apology.

"Hector… Are you okay? Like actually okay and not pretending to be okay." Ruby asks moving to my side.

"Heh you sure you want me to be honest about that?" I ask looking down to my side at the much shorter hooded girl to my side.

"Well how about we don't make people sad. Instead of that how about you tell us how you got so tall?" Yang suggests lightening the mood for everyone.

"Haha well I drank milk like every single day that's the only way I can explain it since my parents are much shorter than me. I'm 6'2" The last time I checked by the way" I answer now in a much better mood.

"See I told you it worked." Ruby says to Yang triumphantly.

"Well it didn't work for you obviously." Yang fires back.

"Gigbisha Shut up! Some people just grow faster, Besides I still have time to grow." Ruby says confidently trying to make an excuse for her height.

"Yeah you got about a year left I think you should start accepting that you're just short." I say joining in on the teasing High fiving Yang.

"Hector! Not you to!" Ruby exclaims defeated.

"Sorry couldn't help it. Now I'm going to eat some of that food before Nora does." I declare as I walk toward the table to eat.

* * *

Third Person POV

"I like him!" Yang declares as soon as Hector leaves.

"I wish we didn't meet on bad terms." Weiss says with regret in her voice.

"He'll get over it. From the time I've known him I don't think he's the type to hold grudges." Ren states.

"I'm just surprised he was able to fight back and win against the Ice queen." Nora mentions sitting on the couch upside down.

"The Weiss has met Its match." Yang says wrapping an arm around Weiss's shoulders.

"If you still feel bad Weiss you can go apologize to him later while he's training. He always welcomes the company." Ruby suggests.

"And how do you know this?" Yang asks arching her eyebrow.

"Because I go to talk to him sometimes during his training. He's fun to talk to." Ruby says nonchalantly.

"That will have to be addressed later." Yang whispers to herself making a mental note to ask Hector about that later.

"Perhaps I will later on today." Weiss says.

"Ooo the Ice Queen is being melted." Nora says teasingly.

"What? No! I just want to express my guilt to him and ask for his forgiveness personally." Weiss says getting flustered at the thought.

"I'll come to! I wanna see what he's made of." Yang declares bumping her fists together

"Fine come along. How will we know if its Hector or Professor Ozpin?"

"You'll know trust me." Ruby says with a snicker.

* * *

A couple hours later

Hectors POV

After Finishing my meal Ozpin told me it was time to train. Its near the end of my training session now and Ozpin has been really pushing me recently as the days get closer to the incoming attack. I'm improving but not as fast as I would like. I refused to use of Ozpin's cane as a weapon but just in case I keep it on me in the case my life is in risk, Ozpin can take control and he would have his weapon on hand. I got really hot and sweaty so I took off my jacket so I'm currently in just in my white t-shirt and the rest of my other clothes. My shirt is stuck to my body showing off the results of my training only after a few weeks. Who knew you would get so ripped so fast if you're in an anime.

"Geez Ozpin you have no mercy today. Didn't you say you were going to let us all relax today?" I groan out as Im on my 100th pull up.

' _You're almost done. You've picked up on my reflexes exceptionally fast.'_

"I feel as though you're being too nice or this training is about to get even more exhausting."

' _The latter would be more accurate.'_

I let go of the bar with a huff. I stretch my muscles for the last workout of the session before I hear a wolf whistle behind me.

"Hey there muscles." Yang calls out from behind me as I finish my stretching. Weiss looks into my face being respectful, but Yang of course isn't hiding the way she's looking all over my body. I'm not used to female attention such as this so I blush lightly.

' _This would make for a great workout.'_ Ozpin thinks

"Agh Oz why would you say that." I say embarrassed not understanding his meaning.

' _What? Sparring with Miss Xiao Long would be a great workout.'_

"Oh right of course that's what you meant." I say out loud calming down with a sigh. "Whats up ladies?"

"I wanna see how you do in a fight. I heard you prefer using your fists like me so It would be great training for you, and I'm a little rusty." Yang says rolling her shoulder.

I nod in understanding although I'm nervous as fuck. ' _I have to fight Yang? Okay this is both exciting and terrifying but leaning more toward terrifying. If I win holy shit but I could also end up losing horribly. This would be a good way to gauge myself to see how far I've come brom fighting beowolves.'_ I think to myself as I look to Weiss expecting and explanation to why she is here as well.

"After you two are done I wish to speak to you privately regarding the incident we had earlier." Weiss says as she takes a seat on the stairs crossing her legs regally.

"Well then how do you want to do this? Semblance or no semblance?" Yang asks not waiting for me to reply as she takes position across from me getting in fighting stance.

"Holding back won't do me any good so how about until one of us can no longer continue or when one of us gives up. Semblances allowed." I say getting into 'The Goku Stance' I've become accustomed with.

"You sure about not holding back? I don't want to break you _too_ bad." Yang teases. Two can play at this game

"I just don't want to you to feel like I'm pitying you." I fire back much to Yang's amusement.

"Hah lets see if you fight as well as you talk."

"Come see for yourself."

We Inch closer to each other testing the waters. ' _I can't let this fight drag on or her semblance will screw me. Also anything to do with her hair is a big no no.'_ I think to myself as we get closer and closer. Right before our hands touch she throws a telegraphed right which I duck and try to counter with a gut punch but she dodges and jumps back. She wears a smirk on her face which I reciprocate. She dashes forward getting more serious and throws a powerful left hook which I block and strike back with my own punch aiming for the guy this time connecting launching her back a few feet. ' _She's still holding back.'_ I deduce from the smirk she is still wearing.

"What was that punch? I thought you said we weren't holding back." Yang says with a wink.

"I was just checking how much you could take before I get serious."

"Well you better start getting serious or else I might get bored."

I respond with a attacking strike of her own slightly catching her off guard but she still manages to block in time. ' _He's pretty fast for a guy his size.'_ She notes to herself as we start to get serious. We go into a stalemate as we both constantly block and dodge each others strikes although the stamina difference is clearly in her favor. I start to lose ground as she lands more of her strikes. I land some myself but all I manage to do is charge her semblance. I get knocked on my back and slide across the floor after a devastating right hook to the face while at the same time firing her Ember Celica. My aura is low and I'm tired but I still have one more trick up my sleeve.

"What's wrong bud all out of gas already? That wouldn't be good in bed." Yang teases making me blush.

"Geez I knew you liked teasing but not this much." I mutter as I get up and back into my stance my redness fading back to my normal skin color. "I got one more trick up my sleeve though." I say with a cocky smirk.

"Oh? Please show me and try to make me sweat." Yang says beckoning me with one hand.

"You'll be doing more then sweating when I turn this on." I say with a wink surprising Yang with my comeback. I get in position to power up my semblance. "I spent a while getting this down but just for you i'll push it."

"I feel so special."

My body tenses up as my aura grows larger and more wild, its color changing to more of a blood red. Yang gets confused at what this could be but senses my aura getting stronger and notices my muscles grow larger.

"This semblance of mine used to almost kill me everytime I use it but in the past weeks training with Ozpin 5 hours a day I've become accustomed to it. Now watch this. Kaio Ken!" I shout as my aura explodes with power.

"Kaio wha- OOF" Yang gets cut off as I dash toward her with speed that would rival Ruby and land a powerful liver blow. I dash behind her with great speed and sweep her legs and kicking her away sending her into the wall cracking it. She gets up and powers up with her semblance with a huge smile on her face, her blonde hair is now glowing and her eyes turn red and she speeds toward me meeting me in the middle of the room. Weiss goes up a couple of steps just in case. Me and Yang shake the building as we match each other blow for blow. My muscles burn with pain and threaten to tear as I push my KaioKen further to match Yangs growing power. Time slows as we both throw a punch at each other at the same time, our faces full of joy despite the pain I feel all over my body and our bodies rushes with adrenaline. We collide with each others faces and both sent sliding across the floor in opposite directions. I drop out of Kaioken and Yang also drops out of her semblance and we both start laughing with the result.

"After all that its a draw huh?" I say while panting as I prop myself on my elbows and look at her.

"Yeah I guess so. You have my approval now though." Yang says getting up and walking over to me.

"Approval of what exactly?" I ask arching my eyebrow.

"Oh nothing." Yang answers with a roll of her eyes holding her hand out to help me up.

"Oh great that's not suspicious at all." I remark sarcastically accepting the helping hand up.

"You two almost ended up destroying the place! It was a sparring match not a death match." Weiss scolds us as she stomps up to us angrily.

"Well neither of us died so it wasn't a deathmatch." Yang remarks being a smartass.

"Yeah what she said." I join in

"Ugh whatever I hope you two enjoyed it." Weiss says sarcastically . "YOU come with me." She says pointing her finger into my chest before walking away onto the balcony.

"Did I do something wrong?" I whisper to Yang.

"Nah that's just how she is."

I shrug as I make my way to the balcony behind Weiss and lean against the door frame

"Sooo what's up?"

"I… would like to apologize for my earlier behavior." Weiss begins

"Didn't you already apologize earlier?"

"Just shut up and listen." Weiss demands and I raise my hands in surrender and nod my head.

"I haven't been the most trusting of people recently besides my team and what remains of JNPR. I'm sure you've heard about what happened at what Beacon." I nod my head. "After the fall I was pulled home by my father and long story short I didn't enjoy his or my brothers company, the only one I was really able to trust was my butler Klein. I'm not saying everything but thats the root of my distrust of people." Weiss explains.

"I like your scar." I say right after she finishes.

"What? Did you not listen to anything I said!?" Weiss shouts at me angrily.

"Oh no I heard everything. I just knew already." I explain.

"What? HOW!?"

"Did you miss the whole explanation from earlier? Ozpin is in my head and we share memories, I just wanted to see how much you would say." I explain.

"Why You… Okay I understand that. Then since that's out of the way I would like to apologize again for my behavior earlier and making you upset. I admit it was a terrible first impression." Weiss finishes with a regal bow. She yelps surprised as I pick her up into a tight hug and swing her around excitedly.

"I accept your apology!" I exclaim.

"Y-yes thank you, now please let me go you're all sweaty and smelly." Weiss pleads blushing slightly as she tries to pry my arms off her, but her arms are stuck from my grip.

"But I have to get all this happiness out of me and you seem to be the perfect outlet." I say squeezing her tighter.

"Seems like you two made up." Yang says laughing at the predicament. She was curious at what the shouting was so she came to investigate.

"Please help." Weiss begs.

"But you look like you're having so much fun! How does it feel to be forgiven?"

I let go of Weiss and she pushes me away before dusting herself off but jokes on her, sweat can't be dusted off.

"Yuck your sweat won't get off."

"Well yeah you can't just wipe off sweat from clothes Weiss."

"Oh ha ha." Weiss fake laughs and crosses her arms.

"Well as much as I'd love to hang out with you ladies I am tired as shit, so I must take my leave and shower as Weiss suggested without saying it and then head to bed. Today has been an eventful day." I say giving a mock bow and walking backward back into the training area.

Third person POV

"He's fun." Yang says giggling at Hectors antics.

"He is worse then Ruby when we first met." Weiss remarks

"Why? Didn't you two blow up when you met?"

"Ruby didnt hug me and swing me around while all sweaty and smelly like he did."

"I don't know Weiss didn't look like you didnt like it with that blush you had."

"I was hugged and swung around all of the sudden I was Embarrassed!" Weiss exclaims

"I'm just messing with you Weissy. Let's head inside now Im sure the others are worried about the Building shaking and Hector coming back all bruised up." Yang says walking back up the stairs.

"Yes I'm sure you can explain to them yourself what happened."

* * *

I walked into the bathroom shut the door and sat on the toilet. "Holy shit man I just did that." I say looking at my hands. "I fought evenly with Yang and I became friends with the Ice Queen herself. How did I not die of nervousness." I say to myself.

' _I was rather impressed myself I could feel your nervousness and was afraid you'd embarrass yourself in front of them.'_

"Come on Oz I had that the whole time." I say confidently as I strip naked getting inside the shower.

' _The only reason you were alright was because of the adrenaline rush you got from the sparring match you had with Miss Xiao Long.'_

"I was missing the peace and quiet I had in my head when you weren't talking." I deadpan.

' _You know I can tell when you're lying.'_

"You know I can tell when you're lying." I mock childishly. "Seriously though that was an intense match I had with Yang Im surprised I was able to get a draw with her. It felt like I was in an anime fight."

' _Yes although while it was impressive you continued to use more and more power from your semblance even though you knew it would make her stronger.'_

"You should know me by now Oz I like to make things interesting."

' _I know that too well.'_

I finish showering after washing my hair and wrap a towel around my waist. I open the door and see Ruby standing there with her own towel and clothes, upon seeing my current state she gets red and looks away. ' _This is such and anime moment'_ I quickly walk past her and into my room peeking my head out before I close the door.

"This never happened."

"Nope."

I shut the door and dry myself off then putting on my new sleepwear that look similar to the original clothes I woke up in. I get in bed and pull the sheets up, I shut my eyes and try to let sleep take over me.

' _When are you going to tell them the truth?'_ Ozpin speaks up suddenly.

"What do you mean Oz? I'm trying to sleep."

' _Hector… Im thousands of years old with magical power. Did you really think that I wouldn't find a way to access your hidden memories?'_

"I don't know you tell me."

' _It doesn't have to be soon but you should eventually tell them.'_ Ozpin suggests to me.

"How do I even start explaining that? "Hey guys I'm actually from a different reality and I woke up here all of the sudden, oh and also none of you are actually real your lives are all part of a tv show for everyone in my worlds entertainment." How do you think they'd react to that?"

' _While they should know that truth soon as well it's not what I was referring to.'_ Ozpin says.

"THAT is something I will reveal on my own terms." I bitterly snap.

' _Hector… I'm sorry for what you've been through.'_ Ozpin says attempting to comfort me.

"It's fine man, I knew you would find out eventually being in my head all the time and being all magical and shit but please don't tell them."

' _You know as well as I do even if I wanted to you've learned how to take back control.'_ Ozpin brings up.

"Ha guess you're right. Well I'm going to sleep now, thanks for not being a dick." I say moving to my side.

' _Anytime. Sleep well.'_

* * *

 **AN- And that's a wrap for this one. If you read this far I thank you tremendously. Yang and Weiss finally made their debut in this fanfiction. What's Hectors big secret? You'll have to keep reading to find out. Regarding pairings now that the story has progressed further should I put one in? Would it make things more entertaining to read?**

 **Please leave a review and tell me how to improve my writing and/or what I can do with this in the future. This is where the story really begins now that Yang and Weiss are in the picture. Thanks again if you read this far!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	5. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 4

**AN- First thanks to my reviewers from last chapter:**

 **WisdomDragon27- Thank you for another great review! It makes me happy to see someone who enjoys my work so much.**

 **Guest- Thank you and The fight for the fate of Haven will definitely be a chapter worth reading all the way through, I've been planning it ever since before I posted the prologue. As for pairings currently the first on my list is Weiss which is why I gave her most of Hectors attention, but i'm still thinking about it. The main reason I haven't made a decision yet is because of the whole Ozpin in Hectors head thing. But that decision has to be made either this chapter or the next so keep an eye out.**

 **Welcome to all my new followers! Thank you for liking this story enough to see where it goes in the end.**

 **This chapter will reveal most of Hector's backstory. I decided to do this now because I felt as though this big secret ordeal I put myself in isn't good for the story. I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone. I want to focus on the story and not have this emotional feel added to it. This is adventure/humor not Hurt/comfort. Of course emotional moments for the character will show, you'll have to see for yourself later on. will If you have any advice for me I'll gladly take it and consider it for the future.**

 **Without any further adieu, The chapter begins!**

* * *

Chapter 4 The getting to know you game. (Volume 5 chapter 7.5 & 8) 4 weeks before battle for Haven. (I think)

I'm sleeping soundly in my soft bed. The night is calm, quiet and peaceful, it's almost like nothing is wrong in the world. Everyone is sleeping sou-

"AAAHHH IM NEVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO FINISH DRAGON BALL Z ABRIDGED!" Well everyone was sleeping soundly.

' _Hector what is such the big deal that you had to awake the people next door to you with that scream.'_ Ozpin asks perplexed after my sudden scream.

"Ozpin you don't get it man I've been watching that parody for years and there was just one more episode! I'll never be able to see it now!" I exclaim putting my face into the pillow and screaming again. There's a loud knock on my door.

"What's the meaning of this Hector? Screaming in the middle of the night? For your sake you better be in trouble!" A voice shouts through the door.

"Is that Weiss? Only Weiss would start a sentence with "Whats the meaning of this?" When someone screams in the middle of the night."

"It doesn't matter who it is! Go back to sleep and don't do that again." Weiss says before stomping back to the room she shares with Yang.

"Yeah that was definitely Weiss." I conclude laying back down on my bed.

' _Huh that was a good show.'_ Ozpin says after looking into my memories of the parts of the show that I could remember.

"I knooooow I didn't even think about that until just now. Do you think you could use your magic and just conjure up the last episode for me?" I ask with hopefulness

' _Go back to sleep.'_

"Fine then be like that."

' _We're waking up early to train your mind and aura so it would be in your best interest to go back to sleep.'_

"Sounds like fun." I deadpan

' _Don't sound to excited you might wake the others again.'_ Ozpin jokes.

"If it wasn't for the fact that you just said something sarcastic I would've shot back with something but I'll let you slide this time." I reply rolling onto my side. And so the night returned to bein-

' _Training begins now'_ Ozpin takes over my body with a flash of green aura and forces my body up and starts walking to the training area

' _Wow Oz this is a new low for you. Im sorry but I'm going to have to demote you from best friend to associate.'_ I declare complaining at the sudden betrayal.

"Disappointing. I was just getting used to the role. But it is an acceptable trade off." Ozpin smirks

' _Oh I'm so happy this is acceptable to you.'_ I deadpan

Ozpin takes our body to the training room and allows me to take control again.

"*Yawn* So what's today's poison?" I ask tiredly.

' _I told you before. Mental and aura training.'_ Ozpin reminds me.

"Oh yeah that. So how do we do this? Do I have to sit down and think hard but not hard at the same time or maybe w- OOoah MY GOD!" I exclaim as I'm brought into a realm I don't recognize. I look around this new room and all I see is white and Ozpin's old desk from his office from Beacon, It even as his coffee mug that he carried around all the time. The chair is facing away from me so I don't know if someone is sitting in it or not. Before I can open my mouth to call out to whoever may be in the chair, the chair turns around revealing Ozpin, not ghost Ozpin ACTUAL Ozpin from when he was still in his previous Silver haired form.

"Please sit." Ozpin says politely gesturing his hand to the seat in front of his desk.

"Um are you real? Or am I finally going crazy?" I ask not really expecting a straight answer. I move toward the desk but walk around to face him.

"I can assure you that you are not going insane. You are simply in a space within your mind that I've opened up to you. This way we can speak more directly without drawing attention." Ozpin clarifies for me. I step closer to him and inspect his face, It looks exactly as it did before.

"I chose this form because it seems to be the one you're most acquainted with and why are you touching my face?" Ozpin asks as I touch his face poking it and grabbing his hair to make sure he is actually there.

"Wow… I didn't know you could do this! I never saw this in the show." I grab his shoulders and pull him up to stand. Even to me he stands about half a head above me. Ozpin is amused at my antics.

"You seem very excited. Now sit we have much to discuss." Ozpin chuckles lightly.

"Wait aren't we supposed to train my mind or something?"

"At this very moment we are." Ozpin reveals much to my confusement.

"Really? I thought we were gonna sit down and burn some sticks and clear our mind of all thoughts. Huh I guess things are more different here in Remnant then I originally thought."

"Oh no we do that but I didn't want to train you that way but you're more likely find it boring and taxing than a learning experience."

"Fair enough. So what are we here to discuss?" I ask finally sitting down in the surprisingly comfortable mind chair.

"Tell me about yourself." Ozpin instructs making me tilt my head in confusion.

"Don't you know literally everything about me already? You know the whole two souls thing we got going on."

"Yes but I've taken many parenting courses and read on that subject for the sake of my students and I've learned that It's best for the relationship for the child to come to the parent -or in this case student to master- first. Just because I can look into your memories and learn more about you myself doesn't mean we would grow any closer. One more thing you should know is that it may have seemed like moments before you entered this state of mind, I can assure you that it took hours for this state of mind to completely form so the others should be awake by now. Which Is why I started this session so early" Ozpin explains. I take a moment to think on this nodding in understanding..

"That's actually the best you've ever explained something. Like even from what I've seen from the show. I'm proud." I compliment making Ozpin smirk from this compliment.

"Thank you. I'm glad to have pleased you."

"Don't ever thank me like that again. Alright I guess I'll open up a bit." I say leaning back into my chair putting my hands behind my head.

"Wonderful. Why don't you begin with how you are feeling. Truly not the mask I know you put on to hide your true emotions."

"Before I get into that I'm going to have to give this version of you a name."

"...If that would make you more comfortable sure."

"Therapist Oz. Perfect." I thought of that In about 2.5 seconds. "Now before I begin I want to ask you something first."

"Go ahead. I'm listening."

"I know you are there's literally nothing else in existence around us that could distract you." I point out. "What you said earlier contradicts what you said the other night, when you said ' _Just because I can look into your memories myself doesn't mean it would make us closer'_. Does that mean you actually don't know what's been bothering me?" I ask feeling as if I've cracked the case.

"Very impressive of you Hector. To answer your question you are correct, although I could've seen for myself it wouldn't have made you trust me anymore then you do now. So I refrained from doing so." Ozpin explains.

"Aww that warms the soul y'know that?"

"I do know. It's almost as if we share thoughts." Ozpin remarks saying the same thing I said to him from a while back.

"Wow I already feel closer with you." I smile. "Okay before I put it off any longer lets get started. I havent talked about where I came from much cause I felt as though It didn't matter much compared to what this world faces. Where I came from is a lot more boring then this world. A world called Earth. Pretty much nothing but ourselves are a threat, Last time I checked there was about 7.8 billion of us I think. I won't bore you with the politics so I'll just leave it at out world leaders aren't that smart. That's basically the world I'm from. Now we come to what my role in the world is, I worked in a supermarket and my job was to make shit look pretty so It looked like we actually knew what we were doing. Most of the customers were dicks. Not bad so far right? Now we come to my home and school life, haha now this is the juice of the story…"

* * *

Meanwhile

Third person POV

Everyone has awoken and went about their daily routines. Nora sticking with Ren telling him about the dream she had with Jaune with him for support. Ruby, Yang and Weiss all catching up from lost time. Qrow is somewhere at a bar probably. Jaune notices that Hector isn't around. He usually always comes around to hang out before he goes to his training for a couple hours.

"Where is Hector? Usually he's up early and shaking the room with his training." Jaune asks.

"He probably went training, I heard footsteps shortly after I went back into my room from scolding his middle of the night screaming." Weiss says.

"Maybe he is doing extra early training?" Ruby suggest

"That is most likely, I saw him there in the middle of the room speaking to who I assume can only be Professor Ozpin." Ren adds.

"Ooo who wants to go listen in." Nora asks everyone.

"Nora that would be intruding on his privacy."

"Im down for it!" Yang exclaims all for the idea.

"I can't help but be curious myself." Jaune reluctantly admits.

"I can't help but think I'll be dragged into this so I'll come willingly instead." Weiss says annoyed.

"That's the spirit!"

"I don't want to be left out now so I'll come even though I know it's wrong." Ruby says sheepishly joining in.

"My Little sister sister is finally growing up." Yang says ruffling Ruby's hair.

Everyone starts making their way to the training area. Well Nora is dragging Ren along because he doesnt think this is a good idea. They see Hector sitting down in my usual clothes but his arms are crossed and his eyes are closed and doesn't seem to know what's going on around him physically. His aura is also glowing somewhat, a faint green and red flowing around his body. He is mumbling something about being from a different world much to everyone's confusion. Ren even perks up at this and stops resisting Nora's grasp.

"...Where I came from is a lot more boring then this world. A world called Earth. Pretty much nothing but ourselves are a threat, Last time I checked there was about 7.8 billion of us I think. I won't bore you with the politics so I'll just leave it at out world leaders aren't that smart. That's basically the world I'm from. Now we come to what my role in the world is, I worked in a supermarket and my job was to make shit look pretty so It looked like we actually knew what we were doing. Most of the customers were dicks. Not bad so far right? Now we come to my home and school life, haha now this is the juice of the story." After Hector says this everyone takes position a couple meters away and silently listen to Hector's story.

"School life wasn't that bad honestly, just a few dicks here and there but I never really had a lot of meaningful friends, no big bad secret there Oz sorry. Told you my life story would just be boring and/or depressing. Home life was alright to say the least. Whenever my dad was around we'd hang out but he was always working and the same deal with my mom. I had a sister that was usually always home but she was sleeping all the time because she worked nights. I always teased her calling her nocturnal. There's not really any big secret. The worst thing I lived with was probably just loneliness. Not the kind of lonely where you don't see anyone for whatever amount of time but the kind of lonely where you never built any meaningful relationships. I found comfort in video games and the internet which held strong until I woke up here all of the sudden."

"This explains _everything._ " Nora whispers loudly earning a shush from everyone.

"You never truly acted like yourself have you. That is until you appeared here" Ozpin's voice sounds out through my body slightly startling everyone.

"Pretty much. Just let me finish i'm almost done. Now we skip to the present time. I've been in this new world for about two months now I think, if you count all the time I spent in Mistral looking for Qrow and waking up in the forest. I was conflicted, happy that I met these guys but sad that I'll probably never see my family again, I never showed it because it didn't really matter to me. Soon we are going to be fighting a life or death battle for the fate of Haven and I can't be getting all bitchy before hand. I may not be from this world but I may as well call this home now." Hector ends with a smile thats visible to the outside world as well.

"That is good to hear Hector. I'm glad you finally talked about how you were feeling during all this. Now i'm sure the others will want to talk to you about this." Ozpin smirks.

 **(AN- I'm sorry if that was boring to read I just had to get it out of the way)**

Hectors POV

"Huh? You mean they HEARD ALL THAT?! Tell me you're messing with me."

"They are all standing right in front of you, I thought you'd notice that." Ozpin reveals. Without any further words he releases me and I go back to the physical world.

"Oooh you weren't just messing with me… Heeeeyyyy." I say awkwardly and shyly and my face turns red as I realize I just told them my life story and where I'm really from. They all storm up to me asking me questions all at once.

"You're an alien!?" Jaune asks.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Weiss asks

"This is amazing!" Ruby exclaims.

"You're from another world?" Ren asks.

"Did they have pancakes there to?" Nora asks.

"Okay okay please calm down, one question at a time, and you guys are taking this way too easily." I say holding my hands up overwhelmed by the questions.

"Why did you think it would be a problem?" Ruby asks before anyone else.

"Well if I suddenly said I was from a different reality I didn't think you guys would believe me." I explain

"From what I've deduced you seem to have known us before you met us." Weiss says.

"Well that's because In my world all your adventures and a lot of your personal lives was just a animated show." I reveal.

"WHAT?!" everyone shouts in unison shocked at the revelation.

"What happens in the future then?" Yang asks.

"I don't really know, the show didn't go that far but everything up until this point I already saw." I lie not wanting to reveal too much.

"Wait… That means you saw what happened to Pyrrha didn't you." Jaune says looking down making everyone in the room quiet.

"Yes I saw what happened… It was heartbreaking for everyone." I said

"I know it's not your fault, but how did she do? Against Cinder I mean. No one really saw her fight except at the end when Ruby saw what happened." Jaune asks with a sad tone. I walk up to him and put a hand on his shoulder making him look up at me and my smile I put on for him.

"Dude she was incredible, she kicked her ass several times over, If Cinder wasn't the fall maiden with all her stupid magic tricks Pyrrha would have won hands down." I say with a hopeful smile.

"Heh yeah she was always a badass." Jaune says.

"That's right man. Now any other questions?" I ask in a cheery tone content with the fact that I've lifted Jaunes spirits.

"Was there any porn of us?" Yang asks genuinely curious making everyone jump and blush with embarrassment.

"I have to pee! No further questions until breakfast!" I exclaim running away from the answer of that question before I gave it.

"Why would you ask that!? You dolt!" Weiss scolds.

"What? I can not be the only one who thought of that."

"You're the only one who would have thought that! We were just getting to know more about him and you had to scare him away!" Ruby joins in on the scolding of her big sister.

"I'm sorry okay! I couldn't help it!" Yang says crossing her arms and looks away.

* * *

"I really did not want to answer that." I say as I relieve myself.

' _What was the answer to that?'_ Ozpin asks.

"Wuh? Ozpin you of all people should not be asking me that." I say surprised at the headmasters question.

' _Oh dear god what were your peoples problems?'_ Ozpin says deeply regretting into my memories.

"Shut up! You're going to make the people reading this weirded out." I exclaim breaking the fourth wall.

' _What do you mean?'_

"Nothing that concerns you. And if you MUST know the answer; Probably I never actually checked but I wouldn't be surprised if there was any."

*Knock Knock*

"Occupied! Didn't I go in here right in front of you guys?"

"Yeah I just wanted to say sorry for asking that question, the others chewed me out for it when you left." Yang says apologetically.

"You are forgiven I probably would've asked the same thing honestly." I say through the door.

"Right? I'm glad _someone_ understands, are you going to answer anything else later or not?

"Probably but not now I'm too hungry to think. Catch me in a good mood and I might say more about it."

"... So was there any?"

"Go away."

 **(AN- Yeah this chapter was fucked.)**

* * *

The next morning

Ruby is laying down outside on her back looking up into the orange morning sky watching the birds fly around. She follows one with her eyes as it flies over here but her vision gets cut off by her sisters face and blonde hair.

"You're up early" Yang says.

"Hey sis" Ruby greets with a smile

"Boop" Yang lets down her hair which tickles Ruby's face making her laugh.

"Hah What're you doing up?" Ruby asks sitting up after she finishes laughing. Ynag moves to sit next to her.

"Can't fall back asleep." Yang answers.

"Eh me neither. Sometimes Hector gets too intense when he trains."

"Well fortunately… Coffee exists." Weiss says as she walks up from behind them and hands yang a cup and offers one to Ruby.

"No please!"

"Don't worry I put in blasphemous amounts of cream and sugar just for you." Weiss says making Ruby smile.

"Aww, yeah! Nice Weiss strikes again." Ruby exclaims.

"I will pour this on you and it will burn." Weiss deadpans. Ruby sheepishly laughs. Weiss then sits next to Ruby and takes her own coffee and begins to drink it.

"I can't believe we're actually in Mistral." Yang speaks up.

" _That's_ what you can't believe? Not that We have someone that is from a different dimension but also has two souls or anything."

"Well, yeah! That and all the other magic and stuff, but…Okay you know what I mean!"

"I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever see you two again. Especially meeting someone like Hector who not only has two souls but comes from a different reality was not on my list of expectations." Weiss says holding out her cup to bump them with Yangs.

"Well. Here to defying expectations." Yang says before bumping cups with Weiss and then drinks from it. In the background Ruby as the bottom of her cup up enjoying her coffee very much

"I just wish Blake could be here with us." Ruby sadly brings up.

"Yeah, well, she made her choice." Yang says bitterly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asks.

"It means she's mad at Blake for running away geez how can you not see that." I say walking up from behind them while stretching my arms out and yawning. I stop when I get passed them standing next to Yang.

"Exactly, she could've been here if she just stuck around. It's not a big deal though we'll be fine." Yang says bitterly.

"Don't you want her here?" Ruby asks sadly

"Why would I want her here?" Yang sharpens her look.

"Are you still mad at her for leaving?"

"Of course she is. I would be do if the person I lost an arm for saving them just up and ran away without a word or thanks." I say joining in on the conversation sitting in front of them.

"Yeah, what else gave it away? No, I'm totally fine. Im great." Yang says sarcastically.

"Okay, calm down." Weiss says attempting to cool everyone down.

"Uh oh." I say covering my ears.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Yang shouts angrily, her eyes turning red.

"Whoa… Yang."

"Let's take a couple deep breaths here." I say gaining everyone's attention.

"Blake regrets what she did. And before you ask "How would you know that" remember yesterday, she left because she doesn't want the people she cares about to get hurt anymore." I reveal.

"Why not even without a word though? After what I lost for her, after everything we did for her." Yang says looking at her robotic arm.

"You all know Blake a lot better than I do, I only know her from a tv show. She's not much for opening up as I'm sure you all know. Besides, Yang I'm sure you're not the only one who has these kind of issues." I say gesturing to Weiss and Ruby to her right.

"My mom left me. Ruby's mom left, too. My dad was always busy with school and Ruby couldn't even talk yet. _I_ had to pick up the pieces, _I_ had to keep things together. Alone." Yang says getting teary eyed. I already knew this but they didn't need to know that. I managed to change some events for the good. Even though all I did was include Ruby in all this.

' _I wonder if Weiss is going to have her little monologue she's supposed to have later on.'_ I think to myself.

"When I was 10, my father finally admitted to my mother that t only reason he married her for the family name." Weiss begins after a couple moments of silence gaining the attention..

' _Yup thats a yes.'_ I remain silent as I let this moment pass. Even though I know all this, it's important she still says it to improve everyone's relationship with each other and with myself.

"It was actually on my birthday. He missed the big dinner. She got mad. He finally snapped. I think she already knew. Looking back, I think I knew too. But hearing him say it finally pushed her over the edge." Weiss says clenching her hands together. I move to the open space next to her and place my hand on her shoulder for comfort. She looks at me and smiles thanking me silently. Yang moves herself so she has Weiss right in front of her and Ruby remains silent listening attentively. ' _This is a lot sadder when you're here sitting right next to them.'_ "First it was separate lunches and dinners, opposite balconies at my recitals. A glass of wine here, a glass of wine there. Then it was no dinners, no recitals, a bottle of wine here and well, Im sure you all get the idea."

"I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have assumed you didn't know how I felt." Yang says in an attempt to comfort Weiss.

"You're right though, I don't know loneliness like you do. I have my own version. Just like Hector here has his own version as well. And I'll bet Blake has her own version too."

"She doesn't have to be alone though. I was here for her, we all were. She chose to leave us."

"Why do you think she did that?"

"Hmm?"

"Like Hector said she was never one to open up to anyone. In fact she was afraid to open up to anyone the entire time she was at Beacon. She tried to keep her past a secret from us. She tried to protect us. But eventually those walls she put up came down. And the moment that they did the one thing that she was afraid of actually happened. The universe proved her right."

"No one blamed her for anything. If she had just talked to us, she would have known that! How could I be there for her if she doesn't let me? What if I need her here for me?" Yang says as she places her face in her hands and starts crying. I pull everyone into a group hug because I don't know what else I could do to comfort her. Weiss and Ruby wrap their arms around Yang and I have one arm over her.

"I know it's not easy. I wish she hadn't left too." Weiss says sadly.

"The only thing you girls can do now is be there for her when she comes back." I say breaking away from the group hug.

"If she come back." Yang adds bitterly

"She will. Trust me I know. It'll happen when you least expect it to." I say accidentally revealing that I lied yesterday but no one seems to notice since they're too busy being emotional to see it. Weiss notices though but doesn't act on it.

"Yang, You Ruby and even Blake are more like family then my brother or even my own father. I would do anything for you three, and I'm willing to bet Blake would feels the same way. So when she's ready, I'll be there for her. And I know we're not as close, but… Im here for you too." Weiss says making Yang smile.

"What about me? Am I like family?" I ask now that the mood is happier.

"You are still up for debate." Weiss says putting a finger into my chest making everyone laugh now that the mood has changed.

"Hehe I'm happy to be included at least." I say rubbing the back of my head.

* * *

"Miss Cinder I have acquired the information on this mystery huntsman that saved the little faunus girl from the burning building a while ago as you ordered." A white fang scout says into his scroll.

"Well please do tell I am very curious." Cinder replies

"He seemed to have come out of nowhere Miss, I've learned that he is not from here but from where I do not name is Hector Rivers and his semblance is very unique, he calls it the "Kaio Ken" whatever that means, and it allows him to multiply his strength and speed but at the cost of damaging his body from what I've observed. He prefers not to use a weapon and instead uses his bare hands to fight. He must be incredibly strong."

"Hmm very interesting. This may prove troublesome in the future. Has he found Qrow?" Cinder asks.

"He most likely found him even before the fire Mam. He's with them already. I'll send you a picture of what he looks like. I took it of him while he was training. He's not hard to find since he always shakes the building he's training." The scout explains as he sends to picture.

"It's a shame he's on the wrong side of this war. He would have been a great asset to us." Cinder says as she examines the picture of Hector as he is in the middle of punching a sandbag. "Good work scout, continue your observations and let me know anything else that pops up."

"Wait mam there is one more thing I should bring up, just in case."

"And what would that be?" Cinder inquires

"Sometimes when he's training he talks to himself. He may be insane but only keeps it to himself. We may be able to use this against them in the coming battle." The scout informs.

"We may be able to indeed. Good work scout I have much more planning to do." Cinder says as she puts down her scroll.

"So there's someone new now? Why is it such a big deal we'll just kill him like the rest." A silver haired young man says propping his feet up on a chair.

"Mercury If Cinder says he is a threat then he is a threat, and we'll deal with him accordingly." A mint colored dark skinned girl says annoyed.

"Silence both of you." Cinder says with authority silencing any further bickering. "Neither of you will attack him. The only ones who are to fight him are myself, Hazel and Raven if she so chooses when we go recruit her. When the battle for the relic commences you will complete your roles without question. Understood?" Cinder says activating the flame in her eye.

"Understood." Emerald and Mercury say in unison fearing for their lives.

"Good. Now we have more planning to do…" Cinder says as she leans over the table that has all the plans written down and a map of Haven.

' _Ozpin where could you be…'_

* * *

 **AN- Sorry for the shorter chapter then usual I have been on a tighter schedule and wanted to give you guys something before I become busy the rest of the weekend. This chapter set some things up for the future. Hector in this story is much more noticeable than Oscar ever was. The bad guys know of him now but what they don't know about is Ozpin being in his head. I plan to make the Battle for Haven fight one you'll be able to read multiple times. Thank you anyone who has read this far and wish me luck in the future. I'll be able to start writing the next chapter monday of next week so expect the next chapter to come out on Tuesday or Wednesday at the very latest.**

 **Please leave a review and let me know how I can improve my writing and maybe give me an idea on what I can do with this is the future. Thanks for reading my work!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way, shape or form.**


	6. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 5

**AN- First thank you to the reviewer of last chapter!**

 **TigerVolcano5000- Your request will be granted! This is the best review I've ever gotten thank you for enjoying my story so much. I'm glad Someone took the time to write the longest review ever about my work, I can't thank you enough. Reviews like these are what keeps me writing this story. And to answer your question No Oscar isn't going to be in this story although he will be mentioned by Hector. This is like a combination of self insert and OC story, some characteristics are derived from myself but most of it I came up with on the fly. You'll see what I've come up with for the final battle of this story :) I can promise you that you won't be disappointed. If you remember one of the earlier chapters I made Hector warn Qrow about a traitor or at least hint at it, if I made Hector tell everyone about the betrayal the final battle may not be as long. But Hector knows it's coming so there's that at least. Thanks for the review!**

 **Also holy shit 21 followers?! Thank you for wanting to see how this ends!**

 **I got nothing else to say really so onto the show! Fun times.**

* * *

Chapter 5 Weiss morning isn't it. 30 days until the battle for Haven.

Im training in my usual area, If you call being stuck on you hands and knees struggling to get up training, but this time with a handicap. I'm not allowed to use my semblance and Weiss has a black glyph constantly activated below my feet causing gravity to pull me down with more force than normal. I've been stuck in this position for thirty minutes. My face is red and my muscles are screaming at me to stop fighting against the gravity.

"Holy shit." I say between pants. " _How did I manage to get in this position."_ I think to myself as I fall on my face again.

* * *

 **3 Hours earlier**

Today is the day I promised the little girl from the fire that I'd come visit her. I'm in my bathroom trying to figure out what the shaving cream bottle looks like. I need to shave since I haven't since I got here and when the little girl last saw me all I had was a little scruff. I probably look 20 the way I look now with the mini beard I'm rocking. The hair on my head has grown slightly longer, getting in the way of my eyes somewhat.

"Jesus why the hell is there like 20 different bottles of whatever the fuck for just one dude?" I complain as Im still looking through all the shelves I've never looked in before.

' _You don't seem to be familiar with the male cosmetics of this world.'_ Ozpin mentions.

"Well excuse me that I don't know what the hell 'Rubbing cream' and 'Lathering soap' are actually used for. I get the razor because its a blade but why the hell did you guys name this shit so weird. Help me out here."

' _This is just another learning experience for you. Figure it out the way you deem most fit.'_ Ozpin says. Oh I could just feel him smirking in my head.

"Wait but I've never seen Jaune or Ren with any kind of facial hair and I feel like I would have noticed if they did… Hmm." I think while stroking my facial hair with my free hand. Looking around the sink I start opening the drawers that I never opened before and I find a blue and orange bottle that says 'Cream for cutting your face hair'.

"Huh I guess this is what it is. You could also remove like three of those words to make it simple, but no everything has to be difficult with this place." I Sigh as I splash water on my face before I put the cream on. I look at the odd razor and hold it in every position I can imagine. Holding it with my hand like a pencil, placing it in my off hand, the razor is differently shaped than the ones I had back in my world.

' _Have you ever shaved before?'_ Ozpin asks worried that I may cut myself.

"Of course I have, it's just been a while and this blade is weird as shit. Why is it shaped like a banana?"

' _May I suggest letting me take over to show you so you don't end up cutting yourself?'_ Ozpin suggests.

"Nah I don't need you to take over just so I can shave with a new unfamiliar blade, I'm sure I can figure it out." I say nonchalantly as I bring the blade up to my face. The moment the blade touches my face I end up cutting myself.

"Holy shit why is a blade meant for shaving sharper than a weapon?" I say while I nurse the minor cut on my cheek. My aura already going to work on healing it.

' _If it wasn't sharp it wouldn't do its job.'_ Ozpin remarks.

"Yeah yeah keep being a smartass."

I push the blade against my skin but much gentler this time so I don't end up cutting myself so I don't have to deal with Ozpin's smartass words. This time I manage to go a full stroke without any difficulty, shaving a good chunk of the hair off leaving just smooth skin in its wake.

"HAH I did it!" I exclaim as I pump my fist up in joy.

' _Impressive you are a fast learner'_

"Well I did say I was a hands on learner before didn't I?"

' _Yes you said that as you were complaining about my training.'_ Ozpin remarks with a chuckle.

"You know we had something going on for a second there but then you had to go ruin it. Shame." I say as I bring the razor back up to my face. Ozpin doesn't reply out of fear that I may cut myself again.

"Alright halfway done. You think the others will be able to recognize me after this?" I ask Ozpin.

' _You will look more their age after you are done, it may be a surprise at first but when you talk it will be a dead giveaway to who you are.'_ Ozpin answers honestly. I finish shaving my face making myself look much younger then before.

"I can't look that much different, I'm sure they'll recognize me right away." I say with confidence as I look at my own face in the mirror.

 **15 Minutes later…**

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Ruby yells while aiming her scythe gun at me. She attacked me the second I walked into the living room since I wasn't wearing my usual leather jacket that everyone has become accustomed to me wearing all the time.

"GAH RUBY IT'S ME HOW COULD YOU NOT RECOGNIZE ME?" I shout as Im being chased around the room knocking things down in a attempt to slow her down.

"LIAR! HECTOR IS MUCH OLDER THEN YOU!" Ruby shouts back stopping to reload.

"I JUST SHAVED YOU DUMMY!" I finally get out with the window of opportunity. Upon hearing this Ruby takes a closer look and recognizes me.

"... Ooooh sorry about that. You look a lot different without your beard." Ruby points out putting her weapon away.

"Geez didn't even let me explain myself before you started shooting. How old did you think I was?" I ask sitting down on the half broken chair. "You know what don't answer that I change my mind." I say before Ruby could open her mouth.

"I thought you were at least twenty." Ruby says anyway taking the empty seat in next to me. I shake my head amused.

"Well at least it's not that bad at least. Would you believe me if I said I was actually eighteen?" I ask with a amused smile.

"Well now I would but before It would be shocking."

"Wow remind me never to let myself grow facial hair again."

"'Kay! I'll tell everyone so they don't attack you right away."

"You'll tell everyone wha-Who is that?" Weiss asks as she walks around the couch bringer her hand to the pommel of Myrtenaster.

"Oh my gosh it's me, don't attack me please." I say standing up to my normal height and look down at Weiss with a hopeful look on my face. It takes a moment but Weiss does recognize me.

"Oh it is you." Weiss says calming down.

"Yeah who wouldn't be able to recognize this handsome face?" I ask confidently placing my hands on my hips and puffing my chest out.

"Apparently you must not be that special since Ruby didn't recognize you." Weiss insults lightly crossing her arms smirking.

"Oooh." Ruby covers her mouth and laughs silently at the insult.

"Well if you recognized me then I must be special to someone." I come back with a wink.

"Hawww!" Ruby squeals in the background at our interaction.

"Hmph, I'll let you have that one." Weiss relents.

"Victory for me!" I exclaim pumping my fist up. "Now as much as I'd love to stay around and hang out, I made a promise to a little girl that I'd come visit her today." I say as I put on my leather jacket.

"Yes I was told about the noble deed you committed before I got here, good job." Weiss praises with a nod of her head in my direction.

"Why thank you, high praise from a high lady." I say giving a mock bow making Weiss roll her eyes. "Well I'm leaving now anyone wanna to come with?" I ask opening the door.

"I would come but I told Nora I'd help her with something. But Weiss shouldn't be busy today" Ruby says pushing Weiss towards me.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Weiss asks annoyed looking back at Ruby.

"Well, what else are you going to do today?"

"Its okay Weiss I wasn't really expecting either of you to come." I say with a chuckle.

"Well Ruby is right. I really got nothing else to do today, besides it would be a chance to get to know you better." Weiss says surprising me.

' _Yeah forgot that I was in an anime again.'_ "Okay then c'mon we gotta get there soon so I can have time to train with Oz or else he'll have a fit and give me a headache." I joke walking out the door.

"He can do that?" Weiss asks following me out the door.

"Yeah it gets annoying, especially when I'm trying to sleep in." I complain hanging my head.

' _Sometimes you need a little push every now and again.'_ Ozpin speaks up.

"You don't see me giving you a headache when you're "Meditating" in the middle of our training." I say with air quotes.

' _That's because you don't know how to do it and I don't plan on teaching you.'_

"I'll figure it out someday."

"Um is this what the others mean when they said you talk to yourself alot?" Weiss asks reminding me that she is walking next to me.

"Damn it Oz you did it again. How could it not be your fault? Just stop talking you're going to make Weiss think I'm crazy." I say going off on a tangent again.

"This will be requiring some getting used to." Weiss mumbles to herself.

"Are we done now? Yeah? Good that's great. Sorry about that sometimes me and him do that alot, its how we bond." I explain

"Its okay, I was told that you do this alot but I've never seen it for myself until now. What is lit like? Having two souls I mean." Weiss asks curious.

"It took some getting used at first. Especially right after waking up here. But I got used to it eventually, if anything now it's just an excuse to talk to myself." I explain with a shrug.

"That reminds me, in your world our world is just a tv show right?" Weiss asks

"Yeah I've said this multiple times why do you ask?"

"What did you think of all of us?" Weiss asks making my eyes widen a bit in surprise.

"Hmm well I don't know how to answer that without sounding creepy so let's just say I liked everyone." I answer making it sound like a question instead of an answer.

"Even me?"

"Oh no at first I just thought you were a snotty bitch-" I start honestly letting go of my timid thoughts.

"Excuse me!?" Weiss exclaims shooting daggers at me and stops walking preparing a hardy bitch backhand slap.

"Let me finish geez, AT FIRST I just thought you were a snotty bitch BUT -put that hand down- I also feel as though you have developed the most for the good. You went from being one of my least favorite character to being my one of my favorites if not the favorite." I compliment digging myself out of the hole I dug myself in. Its Weiss's turn to widen her eyes in surprise as she calms down. Her face reddening ever so slightly. I'm a dummy so I don't notice.

"Oh please explain how this turn of events happened." Weiss looks at me with a smile now, her gaze softening.

"Oh gosh I'm not getting out of this am I." I say concerned for my freshly shaved face already feeling the slap I might get.

"Nope, it'll be something to talk about as we make our way there." Weiss says as we exit the building.

' _I regret ever answering that question.'_ I think to myself. "Or we can talk about something else?" I suggest with a look that just begs to not put me in such a uncomfortable position.

"And what would that be?" Weiss inquires.

"Well you basically overheard my life story the other day, so now I have a personal question for you If you don't mind me asking." Weiss flinches at the question, her hand instinctively reaching up to her scar and touching it.

"You don't already know? Was that not explained in the show you watched?" Weiss asks.

"Well I have an idea but I'm not sure if I would be right or not. It's alright if you don't want to tell me I was just curious." I say making Weiss relax a little.

"No it's okay, It's just a touchy subject. I got it when I told my father I wanted to go to Beacon instead of Atlas to become a huntress. He put me up against a suit of armour that all Schnee hunters have to slay in order to unlock the summoning part of our family semblance. But this one was different, he made it extra difficult for me in hopes of me losing so he'll be able to keep his heiress home where he come see me. It ended up breaking my aura and slashing my face where my scar is. In the end I ended up winning but this is a constant reminder that he only cares about me because I'm a schnee, not because I'm his daughter." Weiss explains.

"Well if it makes you feel better it definitely doesn't take away from your beauty." I compliment surprised at my own bravery. Weiss notices this and smiles at my sudden realization.

"Why thank you that means a lot." Weiss thanks me.

"Yeah yeah lets go the more we talk about this subject the more awkward it will get."

' _Smooth.'_ Ozpin sarcastically compliments.

We make our way to the flower shop stopping by the old wreck of the building I was in when I saved the little girl. The area around it is still black and I question how they haven't cleared it all out yet. I tell her about the time someone had the luck in trying to rob me of all people and we ended up laughing about it. We round the corner and I see the flower shop the woman told me about. I walk in with Weiss following.

"Hey is the owner here? I'm a friend." I tell the faunus cashier.

"Yes, you must be the one who saved her daughter from that fire am I correct?" The faunus asks with a bright smile.

"Thats me!" I reply returning the smile.

"Cherry has been asking for you everyday since then. She's idolizes you now and wants to become a huntress herself now." The cashier says as he walks around the counter.

"Oh that is just adorable." I say crossing my hands on my heart.

"Who is this with you?

"Oh she is with me dont worry. She just kinda followed me here" I say whispering the last part loudly.

"Oh I did not and you know that!" Weiss exclaims.

"Hector!" A high pitched adorable girl with short bunny ears screeches as she comes running down the stairs I kneel down to her level opening my arms and she jumps into my arms giving me a hug.

"Hey Cherry how have you been?" I ask patting her head between her fluffy brown ears.

"Good! Mommy is on her way down now." Cherry happily says as looks up at me then notices Weiss behind me smiling at the adorable scene she is witnessing. "Who's this white haired girl? I she your girlfriend?" Cherry asks with curiosity. Making us both blush considerably.

' _Oh goddamnit anime moments.'_ "N-no she's a friend." I say rubbing the back of my head.

"You should go for it." Cherry whispers loudly in my ear failing to keep it a secret making even more embarrassed.

' _Yeah moments like these were bound to happen huh.'_ I think to myself on my luck that something like this didn't happen sooner.

"SOO Cherry I heard you want to become a huntress now." I mention changing the subject from getting any more awkward.

"Yeah! I wanna be able to do what you do. I wanna be able to crash through walls and heal myself using nothing but my soul." Cherry explains with adorable determination.

"That sounds delightful. What do you want to do while we wait for your mom?" I ask in a cheery tone.

"Ooo ooo lets have a tea party! I even have a special tiara I saved just for you! You can even bring the white haired girl with you." Cherry exclaims grabbing my hand and leading me away.

"Uh wait I don't know about that." I say trying to find a way out of this. I look to Weiss for support but she only looks back with a amused look on her face that worries me.

"I would love to have a tea party with you Cherry." Weiss says helping Cherry practically dragging me into her room.

' _Oh you white haired little-'_

' _Language there's a child in the vicinity.'_ Ozpin says cutting off my thoughts.

' _We're in my head no one can hear me but you.'_ I point out.

' _That's no excuse.'_ Ozpin scolds.

I get sat down on a chair way too small for me and Weiss was in a similar position to my left. Cherry placed the bright pink tiara with yellow jewels on my head and dubbed me Prince and did the same to Weiss dubbing her princess. I start laughing uncontrollably at Weiss as she tries her best to keep a smile on for the sake of the little girl.

"I hope this was worth it Weiss." I say between laughs.

"Yes it's definitely worth it if you are stuck in the same position." Weiss shoots back with a glare.

"SILENCE!" Cherry demands as she hands me a cup.. I move to take a sip but the next thing I hear makes me and Weiss jump out of our seats.

"Give us your money and no one will get hurt old man." A familiar hostile threatening voice booms throughout the store. I start laughing again at my amazing luck.

"Why are you laughing?" Weiss asks perplexed at my sudden outburst.

"Ho my gosh, Weiss, that's the same guy I told you about from before, the one who tried to rob me." I reveal as I saunter my way down the stairs. I get down to see the mugger with a gun out on the cashier and the mother of Cherry both with their hands up. The mugger instantly recognizes me and aims his gun toward me.

"Get away from me!" He shouts with fear etched into his voice.

"Hey buddy it's been a while how you doing?" I ask ignoring the threat of the gun. Weiss comes up from behind me and Cherry is hiding behind her skirt peeking out to see what I'll do to him.

"Oh man there's a Schnee here to? This is just not my day" The mugger whines as I step towards him.

"It started not being your day when you decide to burglarize this store." Weiss says glaring daggers at the poor soon to be traumatized man.

"Listen buddy since you saved me from a tea party I'll just leave you with a warning." I say dashing forward suddenly and slamming him against the door, lifting him from his collar choking him. Surprising him and the girls behind me at my sudden movement. "If I ever catch you doing something illegal I'll take something off your body with my bare hands." I say in a friendly with a bright smile on my face. "Understand?" I ask looking into his eyes.

"Y-Yes I promise, please don't hurt me." The man chokes out struggling against my grip.

"Great!" I say happily as I drop him. "Now get out of here I dont want to look at your face anymore, it sorta creeps me out." I say with a shiver. The faunus runs out the door without even looking back or hesitating. "Well now that that's settled how's everyone doing." I say nonchalantly as I turn around to see the everyone looking at me like I have two heads, except for Cherry whose eyes are twinkling with excitement. "Every huntsman has to have a mean side every now and again." I explain with a shrug and a shy smile from the attention.

"That was awesome!" Cherry exclaims as she runs up to me and grabs my hands. "You were scary but sounded friendly at the same time, how did you do that?"

"Its comes with a lot of skill and training practice it, so when I leave you have to practice it okay?" I instruct while rustling her hair.

"You have to go already?" Cherry asks sadly.

"Yes Im sorry but huntsman need to train everyday to hone their skills, besides I just got an idea that involves the White haired one." I explain looking toward Weiss who looks back at me with confusion.

I stay for a couple more minutes conversing with the cashier and the mother whose name I relearned is actually Sultana. They thanked me for saving their shop and potentially their lives. I hugged Cherry one more time before I go and she begs me to visit her one more time, I just cant say no so i'll come back to visit sometime after this volume ends maybe. Weiss follows me out.

"What Idea has that head of yours suddenly come up with?" Weiss asks as we leave the flower shop and start walking back to the school.

"I was just thinking of this old tv show I watched where the main character trained in a hundred times normal gravity to strengthen himself for an upcoming battle." I begin explaining.

"Did you just make that up? And how does this involve me?"

"I was getting to that. You have glyphs of all sorts right?" I ask rhetorically.

"What about them?"

"Just come with me and I'll show you what I mean." I say beckoning her over.

"This is either a great idea or a stupid one but I can't figure it out yet.

* * *

 **Present Time**

' _Why the hell did I think about everything we did today starting from the very beginning? I could've just thought about what happened literally an hour ago'_ I question myself.

' _Perhaps you should stop thinking about the past and worry about standing up from your current position'_ Ozpin says bringing me back to reality.

"Are you sure I cant use my semblance for this?" I ask Weiss who isn't struggling at all keeping the glyph under me.

"How would you get stronger If I allowed that?" Weiss answers my question with another question.

"You're enjoying this aren't you." I growl out as I manage to get up to one knee. "Holy shit this is a lot harder than it looked on the screen." I mumble to myself.

"Possibly, I did feel insulted earlier when you referred to me as 'The white haired one' instead of my name that I know you know." Weiss says with fake sadness.

"So that's the game we're playing now- AGH." I grunt as I fall back on my face. "Okay I give up this isn't going to work, turn it off." I say giving up as I lay on the hard floor.

"What do you say?" Weiss says enjoying the power she has over me at the moment.

"Wow so this is what we're doing now." I deadpan

' _This is definitely amusing.'_ Ozpin speaks up.

"YOU shut up. Weiss can you _please_ release your glyphs." I ask in the friendliest tone I can muster up due to the current situation I am in.

"Hmm very well." She puts down Myrtenaster and sheathes it releasing the glyph from under me, thus releasing me of the tremendous pressure. I stand up and stretch my sore muscles cracking bones that make Weiss flinch slightly but I just groan in pleasure.

"Ah that feels so much better, yeah we're not doing that anymore." I say walking with some difficulty.

"May I ask why you wanted me to increase your weight by five times?"

"Well my semblance multiplies my strength and speed by whatever amount I choose so I figured if I can increase my base strength and speed It would my semblance even more powerful." I explain without hesitation.

' _This is from that show you mentioned before isn't it?'_ Ozpin asks already knowing the answer.

"Wow that's actually incredibly well thought for someone like you." Weiss compliments and insults at the same time.

"That may be the nicest thing you've ever said to me." I say wiping a fake tear off my face.

"You're very welcome." Weiss gives a mock bow of her own.

"As much as I love spending time with the Weiss herself I must focus on training for the next hour or so with Ozzy here." I say pointing to my head with my finger.

"Oh so you're kicking me out then?" Weiss says crossing her arms and leaning on her hip.

"Well unless you want to watch me train and get all sweaty and smelly then yeah I'm kicking you out." I say jokingly.

"Gah I don't need that image burned in my head. It was nice spending the morning with you." Weiss says with a smile before walking away.

"Oh yeah It was so much fun being pinned down on the floor for half an hour."

' _Oh my'_

"Shut it Oz dont start doing that." I say quietly to him. "See Ya." I say waving away with my hand.

' _Well are you ready to start training now?'_ Ozpin asks ignoring the gravity training I attempted.

"That's so funny I forgot to laugh." I say as I get in my fighting stance that I totally didn't steal from a show and start mentally training with Ozpin as my opponent. I learned how to do this after that meditation session. Ozpin kicks my ass every time but when I push my semblance to its maximum I have a slight edge over him just because of my pure strength and speed, but it never lasts long due to shitty stamina and the pain it causes. I'm also not allowed to use my semblance today since I had the good idea earlier to strengthen my base power and speed so my semblance would become even more powerful.

' _You are improving immensely after every training session.'_ Ozpin praises as I am on my hands and knees panting, my aura on critical levels while he is in perfect shape, probably from not actually being there.

"Not improving fast enough." I say getting up and back into my stance.

' _Oh? Why do you think that?'_ Ozpin asks getting ready for another fight.

"The only reason I'm skilled is because of you living in my head. Also my stamina still sucks even if it is improving fast." I explain looking at my own fists before clenching them. "If I can't even beat you how am I going to beat Cinder?"

' _Self doubt'_ Ozpin declares after a few moments of silence

"Huh? What was that? You're doing that thing where I don't understand what you're saying again." I say not believing what he just said.

' _You're letting your self doubt overwhelm your thoughts. You have the skill and power required. You simply need to let go of your doubt. The opponents you will face will not be as skilled as I.'_ Ozpin says finishing his little mini lecture getting back in position.

"Wow thats the second time you explained something without it being so confusing." I mention with a smile.

' _If you used you semblance to its maximum I have no doubt that you would put up a great fight against anyone.'_ Ozpin replies with a small smile.

"Even Salem?" I ask with hesitation.

' _Fighting Salem is not something that can be done so easily. She would not fight you directly, instead attacking your mind until you are terrified of her, only then would she kill you… or worse.'_ Ozpin explains in a serious voice his smile turning into a thin line.

"Yeah I kinda guessed that. So what's the next step?" I ask.

' _The next step is to continue training you. You put up a great point earlier in strengthening your base power, so it would carry over into your semblance.'_ Ozpin says getting back into his stance.

"I really wish I didn't send Weiss away all of the sudden." I mumble before I return to my own stance.

"Hold on a sec there kid." A voice I'll never forget calls out from behind me. I turn around and see Qrow.

"Oh haven't seen you in awhile, what's up?" I ask dropping my stance and adopting a smile.

"I want to see how good you have gotten with all the training I heard you've been doing, shaking the building and such. So I want to see how good you;ve gotten myself." Qrow says while taking a swig of whatever he has in out of his flask and taking out his sword with his free hand and resting it on his shoulder.

"I'm assuming I don't get a choice in this matter even though I'm tired." I point out as I get ready to spar once again.

"Our enemies won't care if you're tired." Qrow mentions putting his flask away and holding his sword out.

"Oh yeah this is great, from one full blown huntsman to another. I'm sure this will be tons of fun." I say out loud sarcastically.

' _I have complete faith in you.'_ Ozpin tells me.

"I haven't seen your semblance before, so in this match you're going to go all out, I don't care how tired you are." Qrow says in a not so nice tone.

"Well aren't you a ray of fucking sunshine." I remark before activating my aura once more, I feel it back at about 70 percent more or less.

"Meh."

I decide not to use my semblance for at least the first couple of bouts to test out my base power and speed before I crank it up. Qrow doesn't give me any time to think as he dashes forward with incredible speed with his sword in his right hand and slashes at me horizontally. I duck the slash and counter with a kick to his leg but he recovers almost immediately and attacks me again, this time much faster and with more precise strikes. He is faster than me and probably stronger than me but I manage myself for the first couple of bouts. He stands by a couple meters away with a smug look on his face.

"I told you to go all out. I know this isn't the best you can do." Qrow taunts aiming his sword in my direction for it to transform to a shotgun and fires it at me. Luckily I managed to dodge it right in time, thank god for inhuman reactions.

"You sure you wanna see my semblance? I'm not sure if you can handle it." I taunt back returning his smug smile.

"Please kid I've been in my fair share of fights, so don't be trying to bluff your way outta this." Qrow fires back.

"Okay then I'll start taking this seriously than!" I yell as I allow my aura to flare up engulfing my body with a bright red color. This both confuses and excites Qrow as he smiles and morphs his sword into is sythe, prepared to go all out.

"Now I'll show you the KaioKen!" I shout out as I dash at speeds that would make Ruby jealous.

"The Kaio what- UGH" Qrow gets cut off as I nail him in the gut before he can react to the sudden change of pace launching him across the room. Qrow starts swinging his body with his scythe from the momentum of the launch and stabs the sharp end into the ground stopping his movement. He pulls the blade out and launches a chunk of rock in my direction. I punch through the rock with a battlecry and we dash toward each other. Excitement in our eyes and adrenaline pumping through our bodies. He feints a slash from the left and transforms his weapon back into a sword and goes for a stab, I push the sword down into the ground and launch myself over him kicking the back of his head in the progress.

' _With Kaioken x2 Im evenly matched matched with him. Interesting.'_ I think to myself. Qrow catches me off guard and slashes at me again with a overhead strike and I barely catch it by the side of the large blade. I look at him in the eyes and smile. "Still want me to go all out?" I ask while pushing back against his blade.

"Nah I've seen enough as it is." Qrow says sheathing his sword surprising me.

"Huh? What do you mean? I was about to go even further beyond and do some crazy ninja moves that I don't even know the names of." I complain hoping for him to reconsider.

"From what I've gathered your semblance is the most powerful I've ever seen. Honestly if you didn't have it you'd get your ass whipped all around the room." Qrow says putting his hands in his pockets. I hang my head at his harsh but not false analysement.

"Yeah yeah I know Ozpin says the same thing, just not in an asshole way." I point out crossing my arms.

"Hmph, You got the skill I won't deny that but your strength behind your attacks without your semblance is lacking. When you landed that kick to my knee it stung a little bit but other then that it didn't hinder my ability to fight in the slightest." Qrow explains.

Wow you're actually a good teacher. How do I increase my striking strength faster than? The training Im doing doesn't help much with that."

"Kid this is a huntsman academy, we have a gym." Qrow says chuckling at the face I make when at the realization that just struck me.

"OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT! Wait a second Ozpin how come you never mentioned that?! What do you mean I never asked I know I did at least a couple times throughout the weeks." I continue to argue with Ozpin until Qrow has enough and slaps the back of my head halting any further bickering.

"Stop talking to him out loud like that It gets kinda creepy and will attract unwanted attention." Qrow says massaging one of his temples.

"Oh yeah I've been told I do that I lot, sorry heheh." I laugh nervously.

"Why do you even talk out loud when talking to him? He can hear your thoughts." Qrow points out.

"It helps our bonding. Also sometimes I forget that he can hear my thoughts." I answer honestly.

"You're a weird kid but I like you." Qrow says as he starts walking up the stairs back toward the rooms. As soon as he leaves I squeal and jump up n excitement, my childish side showing itself again.

' _Is he also one of your favorite characters?'_ Ozpin asks.

"Oh you have no idea how long I was resisting to do that while he was here. He's just so cool." I explain calming down.

' _Of all the people I've ever connected with, I have to admit that you are the most amusing I've ever had the pleasure of being connected with.'_

"I love you to Oz." I say wiping the sweat from my face. "Let's get back before Ruby comes looking for me and tries to convince me to get a weapon again." I say as I follow Qrow up the stairs.

* * *

Lionheart sits at his desk with his face in his hands waiting for Salem's Grimm jellyfish to come and communicate with him. He shakes with fear as he wonders what he has been summoned for. Before he can think of anything the jellyfish bursts through his doors and makes its way toward Lionheart.

"Y-Yes my queen? What do you need of me." Lionheart asks bowing his head.

"One of my pawns have informed me of a mystery huntsman lurking around Haven. Care to explain yourself?" Salem's calm but terrifying voice asks coldly.

"My queen there must be some sort of mistake. I've given you the names and location of every huntsman I knew of please believe me." Lionheart pleads prostrating himself in front of her.

"If this mystery huntsman becomes a problem to my plans… You better hope hope he doesn't." Salem threatens as her Pet floats its way out the window. As soon as it does Lionheart releases a breath of air he didn't know he was holding as his mind runs wild at what could await him.

"There can't be anymore huntsman besides Qrow and the children, there just can't. Who could it be?" Lionheart says defeated as tears slowly start to form in his eyes out of fear.

* * *

 **AN- And that's a wrap for this one. This one was fun to write as I had a mental plan in my head before hand. It feels so satisfying finally being done with this after hours of typing but it's worth it. Thank you to anyone who has read this far. It truly makes me happy :).**

 **I might be able to get another chapter out by the end of the week depending on what I manage to come up with. A review would be very much appreciated either to tell me how I did this chapter and/or giving me advice on how I can improve my writing or any ideas on what I can do with this in the future. I'll take and consider any and all ideas!**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter! Expect it to come out on Friday.**

 **Thank you for reading my story!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Rwby in any way shape or form.**


	7. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 6

**AN- No reviews from last chapter sadly but welcome to my new followers!**

 **I have two questions for all my followers and anyone else who would like to answer:**

 **-After this story is completed would you guys/girls like it if I wrote another story with Hector but setting him in Volume 1 instead of skipping to Volume 5 like I did here? Or would you like it better if I bought in a brand new OC that I have in mind into RWBY starting from volume 1(His name is Azuma)?**

 **-What do you think about me writing one shots involving Hector going on crazy adventures, fighting people, pairings with different characters etc?**

 **All of the questions above can be answered via reviews or vote in the polls that I will put up once this chapter goes live, whichever is easier for you go for it. So right about now as I just realized I should've put this at the end of the chapter.**

 **I wanted to get this out of the way so I don't have to worry about being lost after I finish writing this story. I've finally decided on a pairing and If I want to do add one into the story or not, and the answer to that 2 week old question is yes, there will be a pairing in this story involving Hector. I haven't decided which character since Im stuck between Weiss and Ruby but whatever amount of people such as yourselves suggest between the two I shall do. Just don't expect it to happen soon, I'm not going to announce the pairing then have them get all Fucky next chapter, if anything expect it after the battle of Haven. For now just know that Ozpin is going to tease Hector a lot since he can't really hide anything from him.**

 **Without further adieu onto the show.**

* * *

Chapter 6 Little scythe wielding red riding hood. Volume 5 chapter 9 (Two weeks until the Battle of Haven)

I've been doing weight training thanks to Qrow letting me know about the obvious fact that Heaven the huntsman academy does indeed have a gym a week ago. Ruby came by to hang out a little bit after I started my training session and continued to pester me about getting a weapon.

"How about a sword?" Ruby asks the same question for the umpteenth time.

"For the last time Ruby no I don't need or want a weapon." I sigh as I continue my weight training, currently I'm just doing weighted sit ups to strengthen my core.

"But it'd be so cool seeing you with a weapon killing grimm left and right all like WASHA WOOSHA HYAH." Ruby continues making ninja noises waving her hands around while she sits on a pull up bar with her legs swinging over the bar. The sight and noises are hilarious to see.

"As funny as those sounds are I just like using my fists, it makes me feel like I'm a superhuman or something especially when I use my semblance." I say causing Ruby to jump down and adorably pout and give me puppy eyes.

"That won't work Ruby I used to have to deal with those eyes everyday from my younger cousins." I say looking away but I end up looking back one more time.

*Adorable pouty puppy eyes intensifies*

"Oh my god I've never experienced cuteness of this magnitude! The eyes and your face and the pouty lips just AWW!" I exclaim in a high pitched voice fawning over Ruby's puppy eyes, she blushes slightly over my fawning but does not relent.

"Okay okay fine how about this, I get special gloves on my fsts so when I punch something it does elemental damage or something of the sort. That way everyone is happy." I offer with a smile.

"Yeah! that works to." Ruby agrees finally releasing her pouty hold on me.

"We can go look for something like that after I'm done just lemme finish my workout here, I'm almost done." Ruby nods and sits on one of the benches away from me and twiddles her thumbs. After about ten minutes I can practically feel the giddiness out of finally convincing me to get something and impatience radiating off Ruby, her leg is bouncing up and down, she twiddles her thumbs more ferociously and she constantly sighs. I notice this because I'm not dumb and wonder if I can cut this short just for her sake.

"Oz can we end early today? Any longer and I feel like Ruby is going to explode." I ask out loud looking up a bit as if I'm looking up at him. Ruby perks up at my question.

' _Very well, I suppose you two could use the day together.'_

"Good news Rubes I have permission to end the workout early today." I say with a smile looking back toward her. Ruby hops up and jumps in excitement before running up to me.

"That is awesome! Thank you, while I was sitting I thought of a bunch of things, what do you think about fire punches? Or lightning punches? Or punches that can freeze your enemy- yeah Ice punches?" Ruby goes on to list off a bunch of ideas she has come up with in her mind. I can barely keep up with the endless amounts of ideas she as.

"Holy shit calm down, how about you take me to whatever weapon place and we can look for one there-"

"Why don't you make it." Ruby asks cutting me off.

"I was getting to that. We don't know when we're being attacked.' _Well I do but you don't need to know that.'_ In the middle of us making it we could get attacked and I wouldn't be able to use any weapons anyway. So that's a no to making it. Also I have no idea how to even begin building anything like that so there's also that." I explain hoping for her to understand. I then think about what element would be best for me to use. In the Volume 5 finale I saw Raven and Cinder use mainly Ice and fire, but not lightning…

"As far as elemental gloves how about electric punches? I'd love to punch a guy then he would piss himsel- Oh fuck yes I've made a decision, we're going with lightning." I declare thinking of all the ways I could use a weapon like that.

"OOO good idea! I didn't know you could think of something like that." Ruby praises me for my idea.

"Alright let's go now before Oz changes his mind." I say with a wave of my hand and putting my jacket back on.

"You're not going to shower? No offense but you don't smell very good right now, like if I couldn't see you I'd think there was a Grimm around." Ruby says pinching her nose.

"Well I was until you said that. At least you were honest about it." I say frowning at her honesty.

"Sorry not sorry." Ruby says before speeding away leaving rose petals in her wake.

"Heh our talks are nice." I make my way back and head into the shower. A question ponders my mind as I wash my hair. Something involving Ozpin's last host so to speak.

"Hey Oz, what happened to the guy before me? The one with the white slash grey hair and the glasses. I never saw him in control." I ask hesitantly awaiting the answer almost wishing I didn't ask.

' _...I was wondering when you were going to ask something like that. The man before you was named Oswald at birth, he gave me complete control over his mind and body to me because he thought himself not able to complete the tasks ahead of him. That process is irreversible, therefore he may as well had been considered dead.'_ Ozpin explains. I shiver slightly at the truth.

"Is that going to end up happening to me? _._ " I worriedly ask looking at my hands.

' _No do not worry, in order for a process such as that to occur you need to be completely consensual. I cannot force it upon you."_ Ozpin says. I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Whoof that is a relief, you're not going to be getting rid of me anytime soon bud." I say with a smile and turn off the water flow.

' _I have no wish of ridding myself of such an amusing person.'_

"Aww Oz you're gonna make me blush." I joke as I use a towel to dry my hair then using the same towel to dry the rest of my body. That's right I went top to bottom. I move to grab my pants.

"What do you think about the electric punching gloves I thought of?" I ask while putting my pants on.

' _I agree that It is a good idea, it will definitely be of great use against the enemies we will ultimately face, although you wouldn't have thought of it if Miss Rose didn't keep pestering you about getting a weapon, you have her to thank.'_ Ozpin remarks.

"Of course I will, I'm thanking her by letting her drag me to a weapon shop and talk my ear off about weapons that are irrelevant to the weapon we're actually going to buy." I predict causing Ozpin to chuckle lightly.

' _Yes I suppose that would be a good way to thank Miss Rose.'_ Ozpin agrees.

"This why you're my best friend Oz, you either agree with me or completely against it." I say winking at myself in the mirror so he could see it. I put the rest of my clothes on ending with putting on my leather jacket in an over dramatic way thinking of an intense anime song to go along with it.

' _What was the purpose of that?'_ Ozpin asks perplexed at my actions.

"Something like that was some of the shows I watched from my world, now that I'm technically living in one of those shows I thought 'Why Not?' It was so worth it, I even got goosebumps after I was done with it." I explain with much enthusiasm.

' _The hero of Remnant everyone.'_ Ozpin jokes.

"Holy shit...Ozpin! Did you just make a joke!?" I ask putting a hand against my chest in surprise and to add dramatic effect.

' _Oh dear I did didn't I.'_ Ozpin says somewhat disappointed with himself.

"I'm proud of you." I say wiping an imaginary tear off my face.

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Whats taking so long!? Come on I found a place that has EXACTLY what you need on sale!" Ruby says through the door.

"Oh shit, I kinda forgot about that cartoon character." I say quietly enough so she doesn't hear me. "Coming!" I walk up to the door and open it only for Ruby to grab my arm and speed out the door pulling me with her, I'm practically a ragdoll until I finally manage to stop her once we reach the gates to Haven.

"Please never do that again. Geez how are you so small but so strong at the same time." I say while my heart beats hard at the sudden speed.

"Sorry I'm just excited! I finally convinced you to get a weapon. Even if it's just a gauntlet." Ruby says mumbling that last part.

"Huh what was that? If you don't like my choice I could always just go back inside and go back to my wor-" I start walking backwards but Ruby cuts me off and stops me from moving any closer to the doors

"NO NO IT'S A GREAT CHOICE" Ruby shouts waving her hands around and pushing me away from the doors.

"I was joking, I wouldn't do that to you anyway,I just wouldn't be able to stomach the thought of committing such an atrocious act to a young adorable girl such as yourself." I say in a british accent that causes Ruby to giggle.

"Is that the way some people speak in your world?" Ruby asks after recovering.

"Oh yeah we have a couple million of those things." I answer placing my hands behind my head. Ruby nods and laughs again at the way I answered that.

"So I heard from Qrow that your speed would be me jealous." Ruby mentions with a competitive smirk on her face that just screams 'Let's have a race and find out.'

"Oh gosh did he actually tell you that? Well yeah when I push my Kaioken I can get pretty fast, but I can only do it for a short amount of time so I can reduce the risk of y'know, painful seizures that may or may not lead to death." I answer with a shrug.

"Upupup no getting out of this. There's no way you haven't trained your body to be able to withstand your Kaio whatever the past couple weeks so you better race me or else I… I will give you the look." Ruby says referring to the adorable put she gave me earlier with a devious look.

"There is just no room for discussion with you is there." I smile while shaking my head. "Don't get sad on me when you get left in the dust." I bluff, my body adopting the same bright red aura, but this time more controlled and less wild than before.

"That still looks so cool when you do that." Ruby says with a twinkle in her eyes before getting into a running position.

"I'm not using too much of its power for this since I don't feel like being exhausted at the end of this race." I say focusing my aura in my legs and taking on a similar position to Ruby's. I'm not worried about how being faster than Ruby, Im worried about how _long_ I'll be able to be faster than her. The Kaioken still drains stamina fast, just not as fast now due to my training.

"So where's the finish line?"

"First one to touch that blue building there." She points to a building matching that description a couple miles from here. It would take about half an hour of walking for a normal person but for superpowered teenagers running at mach speed it should take about a minute or so maybe less maybe more I dont know I'm not good at math.

"Okay. On your mark…" I start

"Get set…" Ruby plays along

"GO!" We shout in unison.

We both explode forward leaving a dust cloud behind us. Everything around us seems to be going in slow motion but too each other we are sprinting full speed. Our hair whipping around and our brains thinking about what is in front of us at inhuman speeds. I crank Kaioken up just a bit and begin to overtake her slowly. I pass her by 3 steps until she kicks her own semblance up a notch as well catching back up to me. We are neck and neck and we are halfway there already in just under 35 seconds. We are headed uphill now so things begin to get difficult, we both slow down so we have more time to process what is in front of us and take moves to avoid it. The stamina difference shows itself as I begin to slow down by a good bit now having Ruby ahead of me by 10 feet. We are nearing the building and should be there in just a couple more seconds. In one last ditch effort I push my semblance up another notch just for speed and catch up to Ruby. We are neck and neck, with me breathing heavily and my legs burning in protest, while Ruby is just winded slightly still wearing that competitive smile on her face. As we get just a couple feet away from the building and we reach our hands out to tag the building. By inches Ruby tags the building first, when I reached the building I forgot to turn Kaioken off and I end up punching through the building scaring the people on the inside and startling Ruby.

"Oh gosh not again." I complain as I attempt to pull my arm out that is stuck just past the wrist..

"Are you okay?!" Ruby asks worried and at the same time trying to keep herself from cracking up at the familiar situation I got myself in.

"Oh Yeah I'm fine, just tired and got my arm stuck in yet another object- I swear to god if you take a picture Im going to destroy your scroll." I warn shooting a death glare at Ruby and she takes her hand out of her pocket and laughs nervously.. I start pulling my arm out slowly and Ruby comes to my aid, with our combined strength we get my arm out of the building with minimal damage.

"Okay you won congrats." I get back on topic stretching my arms and legs.

"You were faster than me for a good amount of time! That's awesome! I've never met anyone who was able to match me like that." Ruby exclaims bumping my shoulder with her fist, due to the stress of the Kaioken it hurts.

"Aaahhh don't touch me after I do the red thing it hurts." I say nursing the shoulder she bumped.

"Oh i'm sorry I didn't know it hurt after you use it." Ruby frowns sadly feeling guilty about hurting me accidentally.

"Its okay dont look sad that will make me sad." I say ruffling her hair cheering her up instantly. She pushed my hand away and laughs.

"Okay follow me the place I looked up should be around here. It's called 'Mistral Huntsman Weapons' so just keep an eye out for that." Ruby explains as we start walking together side by side. As we near the weapon shop I come to the sudden realization that I don't have any lien… Like actually zero.

"Uh Ruby?" I call her name nervously.

"Hmm?"

"I just realized that I have no Lien… Like the number 0 total, and I mean one 0." I reveal to her hanging my head.

"Oh that's no problem I have plenty of lien left over from when I was a student at Beacon." Ruby says with a cheery smile.

"I can't make you pay for my weapon, hold on a sec I gotta make a call." I say putting my thumb next to my right ear and my pinky to my mouth.

"Hey Oz you there?" I ask in a happy kiss as tone.

' _Did you actually just do that? Out of all the ways to contact me you choose the most childish way. You continue to surprise me. I should have expected such from you.'_ Ruby puts her hands up to her mouth and utterly fails to keep all the giggles in.

"Im great Oz thanks for asking! I was just wondering if you could give me a loan of some sort so I could buy my very first weapon." I explain even though Ozpin already knows what I want from him very well.

' _*Sigh* Very well, I suppose I can trust you with Information such as this. Username is Ozpin1567 Password is B3acon#.'_ Ozpin finally reveals to me for the first time.

"Oh my god it actually worked. Thanks Oz you're the best!" I exclaim hanging up the imaginary phone.

"You're such a goof." Ruby points out.

"Hey it worked so don't knock the finger phone strategy, it always works." I walk up to a nearby equivalent of an ATM from Earth.

"You mean you've used that strat before?" Ruby asks crossing her arms.

"Well, technically that _was_ the first time. But it still worked so It has a hundred percent efficiency rate." I point out smiling confidently.

"Wow good save." Ruby rolls her eyes.

"Thank you, now let's go buy this thing." I walk in a random direction and into a random building.

"Thats the wrong building." Ruby calls out to me. I turn on my heel and walk back out.

"I knew that I just wanted to make sure you did." I confidently say hiding my embarrassment of just doing that.

"Nice save." Ruby giggles.

"Why thank you once again Miss Rose." I imitate Ozpin's voice to the best of my ability, but I end up failing horribly. Much to Ruby's amusement.

' _That was a horrible impression.'_ Ozpin points out.

"But not inaccurate!" I counter finding yet another opportunity for a teamfourstar reference.

"Hector you did that thing again." Ruby points out me talking to myself.

"Oh sorry, Weiss did say that I do that a lot." I mention rubbing the back of my head.

"We're here! C'mon!" Ruby exclaims completely forgetting the topic we were just on and pulling me in excited.

"Okay okay we're here let me go please." I request.

"Oh sorry about that, I was excited and not a lot of people let me get all nerdy with weapons." Ruby explains embarrassed a bit looking down and away.

"Don't worry Little Red, I already knew what I was getting into anyway." I point out rustling her hair, cheering her up.

"What was your world like?" Ruby asks after pushing my hand away playfully as she looks around for my lighting gloves.

"A lot more boring than this world that's for sure. We have no Grimm but we have everything else that could kill us, so there's that." I explain laughing at the end of that sentence.

"Hm interesting, in your world, my world is just a tv show right?" Ruby asks while we browse around.

"Yup yup, I basically know what happened to everyone up to this point and what's up with the world." I explain as I inspect a random dagger I took off a shelf. Ruby contemplates in her head whether she should ask what I think about them, or specifically her but doesn't want to make things awkward, besides I like all of them already. She looks on a high shelf and finds the gauntlets that we need.

"I found it!" Ruby calls out to me. I come around the corner and she points up and looks at me. I receive the silent message but decide to have some fun.

"What's wrong? The great Crater Face herself can't reach the top shelf?" I tease bending down to her level.

"Shut uuuuup. Just help me please." Ruby groans out at the nickname given to her by Jaune she used to have after she blew up on her first day at Beacon.

"But you are a huntress! It is important to adapt to every unexpected situation." I recite taking a page out of Ozpin's book of sass. Ruby pouts.

"I will remember this. I will get you back." Ruby threatens with a cold glare.

"Okay Ice Queen I apologize for teasing you." I say reaching up and grabbing the gauntlets. I hold one in each hand. They are black and white respectively so I immediately think of a name for them. "I have the perfect name for them." I say with a bright smile on my face.

"Already? What is it?" Ruby asks forgetting her earlier anger.

"Ebony." I hold out the black one. "And Ivory." I hold out the white one. "Together they form Ebony and Ivory!" I exclaim happy with my choice. Thank you Devil May Cry for the idea. Ruby tilts her head in confusion since she doesn't know what Ebony and Ivory actually is.

"What's Ebony and Ivory?" Ruby asks perplexed.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that part. Basically Ebony and Ivory are fancy words for black and white. What their actual names are used for I have no idea." I explain putting on my new gauntlets, Ebony on my right and Ivory on my left. My dominant hand is on my right so luckily Ebony is a right hand gauntlet, it just makes sense for me that the darker color is on my dominant hand. The gauntlets have some kind of metal on the outside that Ruby mentioned is supposed to be really strong, adn on the inside it consists of a special kind of fabric that should protect my hands from the element the gauntlet is currently using. There are extra plates on every knuckle for extra pain inducing punches and there's a small loading compartment for any kind of dust, but in this case this particular gauntlet specializes in lighting dust since the entire outside of the gauntlet is made of metal, but if I want I can use other elements as well. The gauntlet surprisingly doesn't feel that heavy, It adds some weight for sure but all in all it just feels natural.

"Wow these gauntlets are amazing." I say in awe at my new weapons as I walk up to the female faunus cashier but not before I grab some dust of all kinds as well. "So how much are these beautiful things?"

"Those are about 10,000 Lien all together but since you saved that little girl from the fire I'll lower it to 7,500 Lien and give you the dust for free." The cashier says with a wink.

"Oh gee thanks! look at that Ruby, I'm famous!" I exclaim with pride looking back at her.

"Everyone who's a faunus knows about what you did for her. It's rare to find a human who doesn't discriminate faunus around here." The cashier points out for me.

"Of course, I don't care if you have some animal trait. I anything I think it just makes you look cooler. On the inside we're all people" I say with a happy smile. Ruby is happy with my choice of words.

"You have a very kind soul sir. But I have to warn you, you've caught the attention of some bad people who don't like that a human is sympathizing with faunus." The cashier whispers to me that last part in a almost scared way. I arch my eyebrow at this but nod in understanding. Adam should've been the new supreme leader for a good amount of time now.

"I understand what you mean mam, I'm a huntsman so it's better if they come after me instead." I say with a much more serious demeanor, I hand her the money Ozpin allowed me access to. Ruby is impressed with my selflessness.

"I suppose you are correct. Good luck in your future huntsman, If you need anything regarding weapons you are always welcome here. I'll give you a special discount. Just ask for Mel if I'm not in the front." Mel says winking at me again.

"I sure will, thanks for the stuff." I say waving goodbye and walking out the door with Ruby.

* * *

The cashier waves goodbye at me with a bright smile. After I walk out the door the smile disappears and is replaced with a scowl. She takes her scroll out of her pocket and dials a number. "Adam the mystery huntsman has bought a gauntlet to enhance his punches at my store. Be careful they can be very deadly if he uses them correctly."

" _Good work Mel, I'll relay this message to Cinder and her tools since they will be the ones who have to deal with them. Keep an eye out for him and report any more activity from him."_ Adam hangs up the phone after the order is given. He looks around and sees his army breaking down camp.

"We begin the march to Haven now! We will be there earlier than expected due to this mystery huntsmans sudden appearance. The plan remains the same, although expect the battle to commence in the coming weeks!" Adam shouts out to his army and they all roar and prepare for marching a large distance.

"The rest is up to you Cinder. Don't disappoint me." Adam says to the contact on his scroll.

Transition

Raven sits in her tent sharpening her blade in silence. She wonders what the future holds for her tribe and how she will protect them from the coming storm. Vernal enters the tent with a worried look on her face.

"Raven, we have a problem."

"What is it?" Raven asks looking back at her through the corner of her eye.

"Salem's found us." Vernal answers right away shocking Raven, her mouth gaping slightly and her eyes widening.

"Salem… Okay." Raven says after a couple of moments.

"Four of her followers are waiting to speak with you." Vernal mentions as Raven stands up.

"Right. We planned for this. Bring me my helmet." Raven orders looking back at Vernal.

Raven exits her tent with her helmet on and places her hands on her hips. She sees four people in front of her. Two teenagers, One with silvery gray hair and pale skin and the other with mint green hair and dark skin, both standing on the right. On the left is a tall lean man with a silly mustache wearing a dark grey suit with yellow trims, and greying hair on his head. Finally in the middle is a woman dawning a blood red cloak that completely covers her right arm, also exposing one of her legs that is wearing a brown stocking, no sleeve on the other arm but with a black stocking instead. On her right side she wears blue feathers of sort connecting to a black gem that acts as holding the robe in place, her hair covers one side of her face, covering the deformity caused by Ruby. Her one amber colored eye looking into Ravens mask.

"I don't recall inviting so many guests into our home. Either I'm losing my memory, or you've all lost your spines!" Raven shouts at her tribe members who shrink in place.

"Don't be too upset with them, Raven. Your men simply recognize the power of a maiden when they see it." Cinder says as her one good eye glows with an orange fire. "Which is why we wish to have a word with you." Cinder finishes, her fire dissipating from her eye.

"Leave use, pack our things, then break down camp. We're moving." Raven orders her tribe members and they immediately turn on their heel and get to work, not wanting t be around if a fight breaks out.

"A little late to run and hide again isn't it? You've been on our masters list for some time, you must understand that we cannot simply allow you to slip away." Watts speaks up for the first time opening with a threat.

"I know all about your master, but I don't believe we've met." Raven points out walking down the stairs with her hands on her hips.

"We're the guys you should be afraid of." Mercury says cockily.

"I doubt anyone should be afraid of you." Raven counters.

"Oh yeah? Tell that to-"

"Quiet." Cinder orders shutting him up before he says or does anything stupid.

"That's what I thought." Raven says triumphantly.

"I'm Cinder Fall. This is my associate, Arthur Watts. And my disciples, Emerald and Mercury." Cinder informs getting to the people around her.

"Two children you've tricked into following you, a disgraced atlesian scientist and a Fall Maiden with a surname so appropriate, she probably picked it herself. Something tells me you've got more then a slight case of Egomania. Is that about right?" Raven says unimpressed with the people in front of her.

"Ahem. Uh, technically I was also a doctor, but I must say the rest was spot on." Watts speaks up unaffected by the insults.

"Aren't you perceptive?" Cinder says to Raven sarcastically.

"Its what's kept me alive."

"I'm afraid the only reason you're still alive is because you have something our master wants. Of course, if I'm wrong..." She lets the statement hang as she holds up a ball of fire in her hand and looks at Raven sadistically with a glowing eye.

"Vernal!" Raven calls out, Vernal steps out of the tent and walks up next to Raven.

"So this is the long-lost spring maiden. Prove it." Cinder demand with a smirk.

Raven looks to Vernal and nods giving her the okay. Vernal sighs closing her eyes, and steps forward before holding her hands out and concentrates. Raven unbeknownst to her four visitors uses her power to cause the area around them to shake and the wind to blow harder. Finally a thunder cloud appears above them causing the winds to blow harder, catching leaves and sticks. Everyone besides Cinder uses their arms to protect themselves. Cinder looks at Vernal and smiles evilly at the power she thinks she is displaying for her. Vernal puts her hands down and everything slowly gets back to normal.

"Vernal has done well under my guidance. I'd take that under consideration before you try anything." Raven warns everyone in front of her. Most of which are still dusting themselves off.

"Raven, I won't underestimate you. So please don't insult my intelligence. There is a slim chance you and your maiden could escape here today. But if you know out master as well as you claim you do, then you know you could never truly escape her. But we come bearing an olive branch." Cinder explains.

"The Maidens are merely a means to an end. Salem's true desires are the relics locked within the huntsman academies. Come with us. Allow Vernal here to the Relic of Knowledge and all previous acts of defiance against Salem will be forgiven. Its the best deal either of you are going to get." Watts informs them in a malicious tone leaning down a bit to meet their level.

"You talk as if walking straight into Haven will be easy." Raven points out.

"That's because it will be. Headmaster Lionheart is loyal to Salem now. The only problem we will face are 6 children playing hero who aren't even fully trained and two Huntsman. All we need is the key to the relic." Cinder mentions. Ravens face is full of surprise under the mask.

"You're not the only one to turn your back on Oz, Raven." Cinder points out.

"I'm NOT helping Salem. I'm NOT helping Ozpin. I don't want a part in any of this." Raven shouts placing a hand on the hilt of her red katana.

"That ships sailed when you decided to harbor a Maiden, but if you come with us to Haven, we'll leave you, your tribe, and your little secret to live out the rest of your days squabbling in in the wilderness. We just need the relic." Cinder says that last part slowly, her patience wearing thin.

"I need time to think this over."

"You don't have time. In just two weeks Haven academy will be destroyed by the white fang. You're going to choose _now_." Watts says emphasizing that last word.

"Backed me into a corner huh?" Raven says backing up slightly.

"So, are you with us, or against us?" Cinder says almost wishing for Raven to say no so she could just take the power for herself right there. Raven ponders with her choices laid out in front of her for a couple of moments before taking off her helmet.

"Agreements like these are built on trust, and forgive me for saying, but I don't trust a single one of you, I'd sooner trust this mystery huntsman you cant seem to get rid of. You're going to need to give me more." Raven says putting her hands on her hips again and leaning to one side.

"You are in a poor position to negotiate." Watts points out as if it is obvious.

"I want my brother dead." Raven states suddenly surprising everyone in front of her.

"Qrow?" Cinder clarifies.

"That's right. He knows I have spring, and if I help you get your relic, he's going to become a problem. I have enough problems to deal with." Raven finishes with a smirk.

"Qrow doesn't trust me, but he does trust Ozpin's other lieutenants. If Leo really is loyal to you, then you can order him to invite Qrow and his buddy right into an ambush. They arrive, we take them down, you get your relic, and we all leave happy." Raven offers.

"Now this is a proposition I can get behind." Cinder says happy with the offer Raven had made.

"Alright, ladies, let's pause for a moment. We have one objective: Retrieving the relic of knowledge. Now, Qrow Branwen may be on our list of individuals we would very much like dead, but he is not going to go down without a fight, especially with the our mystery huntsman with him and his _very_ dangerous semblance and they are _not_ going to fight quietly. Our advantage here is just as you said. We walk straight into Haven. No resistance, retrieve the relic than leave, no one the wiser. A battle with your brother and a huntsman we know next to nothing about throws all that out the window." Watts explains.

"Qrow is good, but he's not that good. As for this other mystery man I don't know how good he is but I'll deal with him myself if I have to. But all of us against them... It'll be over before anyone even knows what's going on." Raven counters.

"But it's not just them we have to worry about." Emerald finally speaks up catching the attention of everyone. "They have the students with them. They have Ruby."

"They certainly do. All the more reason to take them all out at once." Cinder says on board with that idea.

"If we leave that school a bloody mess, It will draw the attention of the authorities, it will draw the attention of the authorities. The kingdom will be on high alert and the white fangs attack will be ruined." Watts pleads.

"Then we wait. We wait until the full moon. Leo invites Qrow, his friend, and all their little fighters to Haven the same night Hazel and Adam arrive with the white fang. As soon as the battle is won, the white fang demolishes Haven and any evidence we may have left behind is lost along with the school." Cinder explains and Watts listens carefully to this thought out plan on short notices.

"Then Salem leaves my people for good." Raven puts emphasis on the last part of her sentence.

"You have yourself a deal." Cinder says walking up to Raven and extending her hand. Watts eyes widen as Cinder makes a decision for everyone changing the plans on the spot.

"Wait." Watts says and grabs on to Cinders arm. Cinder looks at him with hate in her fiery eye. "Don't think I don't see what you're after. If this all falls to pieces over your little grudge over the silver eyed child, I will _**not**_ be taking the blame."

"Then _what_ are you worried about?" Cinder asks burning his hand off her wrist. "Fly back home and tinker with your machines, and tell Salem she'll get what she wants. And more" Cinder says as she closes the distance between herself and Raven extending her hand out once again. Raven looks at her hand cautiously before histatingly takes it and shakes hands with Cinder.

* * *

Raven sits on her bed back in her tent contemplating what she just got herself and Vernal into. Vernal enters the tent and looks at her.

"Yes Vernal?"

"I followed them as you asked." Vernal states.

"Did they spot you?"

"Of course not. The have a ship two clicks west of here. Looks like they're staying there for the night." Vernal informs wearing a smirk on her face.

"Thank you. Vernal. Anything else?" Raven asks with her head still down.

"Do you actually believe they'll let us go after they get the relic?" Vernal asks with concern laced in her voice.

"Of course not, Salem only uses people until they are no longer useful. They'll never leave us alone. If we want to have any chance of defending ourselves against her, then we need this relic." Raven explains. "I find it odd that they haven't figure out that their mystery huntsman is just some poor soul who Ozpin forced himself into. If Qrow and those brats want to follow Ozpin, then let them. When the chaos reaches its peak, we'll grab the relic and make our escape." Raven explains her plan to Vernal.

"And the fact that your daughter will be a part of all that chaos?"

"Doesn't matter, I warned her. she made her choice." Raven says walking toward the exit of her tent. "This won't be easy for us either, but we must do what is right for our tribe."

"...I know, I'll do whatever it takes."

"Good." And with Raven leaves her tent.

* * *

Qrow sits in his room drinking. He hears my voice from outside his door and instead of opening it he listens in on the conversation I'm having with Ozpin.

"Why do you want to talk to Qrow now all of the sudden? I just got these new weapons and I want to try them out. What do you mean they are easy to use? I just got them! Oz enough with your sass just tell me what you want me to tell him. Why would I give you control if all you're gonna do is tell him something that i'm just going to find out myself. ALRIGHT ALRIGHT FINE Fuck." Qrow chuckles at our interaction.

*Knock Knock*

"Yo Qrow Oz wants to talk to you. Some shit that's so important apparently I can't practice with my new weapons yet." I say irritated as I enter his room.

"Yeah I figured that while I was listening to you from outside the door." Qrow says with a smirk.

"Oh thats _so_ funny I'm _so_ glad you are amused." I say sarcastically as I leave the room with Qrow following.

We make our way to the living room where we usually have all our important talks. Ozpin takes control and awaits Qrow to bring their coffee, sitting with his cane held out. He returns and hands Ozpin a cup before taking his own seat to his left.

"Things aren't looking good Oz. Leo can't be trusted." Qrow finally begins a conversation.

"Ever the optimist, yes Hector has informed me of his actions. He will be handled accordingly. I would not say our current predicament is ideal." ' _You don't say? Wow I never would've guessed.'_

"I think we can both agree that the situation could be much worse. Humanity is a resilient force." Ozpin says ignoring my little thought.

"Oz… Pro huntsman like that don't just bite the dust all at once like that. Leo gave them their locations or sent them on mission he knew they wouldn't have come back from. We need to deal with him." Qrow says angrily.

"There are indeed a misguided few who have filled their hearts with malice and fear. It doesn't take a great number of people to cause harm. 'But I still believe there are far more people who are willing to prevent it. In due time I will deal with Lionhearts betrayal personally." Ozpin says cooly. ' _Not after I kick him around a little huh? It'll be fun.'_

"Um excuse me?" Ruby makes her presence known as she walks up from behind Qrow.

"Ah Miss Rose. Join us, we were just about to gather everyone to discuss our next steps." Ozpin greets warmly. ' _Dude seriously? You're not going to ask her if she heard ANYTHING we just said? No wonder you died at Beacon.'_ ' _Shut Up.'_

"Oh uh thats great, its so weird hearing you speak out of Hectors mouth still." Ruby points out as she shifts uncomfortably in place.

"Something wrong kiddo?" Qrow asks noticing her discomfort.

"Uh yeah… If it's okay to ask." Ruby says hesitantly.

"Of course." Qrow smiles warmly at her.

"Well we've been talking about the relic at Haven… And the Spring Maiden, but what about the Fall Maiden? Does that mean Salem has the Beacon relic?" Ruby asks worried.

"Very astute Miss Rose." ' _No It would've been astute if she asked like a month ago but okay.'_ I point out causing Ozpin's eye to twitch slightly. "I was wondering who was going to be the first to ask. No thankfully she does not. It's true the relic a Haven is very much at risk and should remain our primary focus, as for the Beacon relic… Lets just say I put a little more thought into hiding it. I made it a bit more challenging then at the other schools." Ozpin explains.

"Oh that's good to hear." Ruby says as her demeanor changes back to her usual happiness.

"It is. But let's not forget the challenge that still lie before us." Ozpin brings up. Ruby nods in understanding. "Now is there anything else we can help you with?"

"Well… I do have one more question." Ruby states holding out one finger.

"No my cane is not a relic,"

"I have no further questions." Ruby says as everyone laughs once more. ' _Oh that's adorable.'_

"Yes, while this cane is indeed very precious to me, it is only that, precious to me. While I admit is still has a couple more tricks up its sleeve, I can firmly say that being a relic isn't one of them. Now why don't you run and get the other students." Ozpin finishes gesturing toward the door. Qrows scroll vibrates and he goes to pick it up letting know everyone thats it's lionheart.

"He shouldn't know we're onto him just yet. Let hear what he has to say." Ozpin says giving Qrow the okay to accept the call.

"*sigh* Yeah? Okay… Yeah we'll be there."

"What did he say?" Ruby asks.

"He said he's made a breakthrough with the Council, thinks he might be able to give us a small raiding party for the bandits. He wants us to meet up at the school Friday night." Qrow explains. Ruby gasps.

"Really? Maybe he is trustworthy after all then."

"Not all people are worthy of trust Ruby. Just in case we'll be ready for a fight." Qrow says.

"I'll go get the others then." Ruby says before running off with newfound determination.

"Hmm… That sounds drastically different from your original conversation doesn't it?" Ozpin says moving a strand of my hair out of his face.

"It does."

I take back control from Ozpin and stand up.

"Be ready for a fight. All this is happening sooner than expected. We have like 5 days left until the fight of our lives." I say with determination ' _I don't plan on letting the same things happen again. I got a plan…'_

* * *

 **AN- And that is a wrap. HOLY SHIT this took a lot of thinking. Yes the Battle for Haven is happening sooner than expected for this story but the battle itself will last about 4 chapters. I'm not going to just rewrite the entire fight scene just so all you guys know. I will have a similar beginning to the scene but after that It will all be coming straight from my head so be ready for it! In these 5 days I have left out in the open suddenly I plan to have a chapter for every day. So after that The battle will commence on chapter 12!**

 **Please leave a review on how I'm doing with this story so far and please help me out with some ideas so I can make these next 5 chapters enjoyable. Thanks for reading my story!**

 **I am overwhelmed at the amount of followers and views I have Thank you very much for all of your support! Also thank you to anyone who has read this far!**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Disclaimer:I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	8. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 7

**AN- First thanks to my reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Tigervolcano5000-** **First to answer your question I will not be doing a canon divergence, sorry if that disappoints you. But I started this story to specifically to replace Oscar with an OC so when I finish volume 5 with this story I'll make some one shots involving Hector. I will NOT be ending this story until Rwby itself ends so it's not going anywhere anytime soon. As for the pairing you're the only one who has voted so Ruby is the lucky girl for now. Finally just for you I will have paragraphs of roasts of every enemy that will be present in the battle of haven that I have concocted in my head, and Leo will be getting what he deserves. Thanks for for the review and enjoying my story!:)**

 **Lazymanjones96- I can certainly promise more just stay tuned! Thanks for the review!**

 **GamehunterMC- Most people want Hector going to Volume 1 more than an new OC so more then likely that will happen. Thanks for the review.**

 **I gained 17 more followers after last chapter… Im speechless, that is the most I've ever gotten after one chapter thank you all so much for the support and positive reviews! Also over 1500 views?! Holy shit guys I am overwhelmed.**

 **The battle of Haven grows ever nearer, look forward to it! I said it last chapter but I'll say it again, I'm not going to just rewrite the fight from the show word for word, It will have a similar beginning but that is about it, after that It's all coming from my head. God help me.**

 **Onto the show!**

* * *

Chapter 7 5 days until the Battle of Haven

Lionheart sits in his chair with his hands on his lap as he contemplates what he had just done. Raven stands next to him with her arms crossed leaning against one of his bookshelves smiling that Leo the coward is going to go through with her plan.

"I still have questions for you." Raven states.

"You're not alone in that." Lionheart responds.

"You know, I never would have expected you would be the one to have the guts to betray Oz. Which makes me wonder… What does Salem have on you?"

"I'm helping her for the same reason you are. I'm afraid. We… We can't stop her… No one can…" Lionheart answers. He shudders at the mere thought of what Salen can do.

"That's why I tried to leave to leave when I did. I'm not afraid, Im smart." Raven says with her arms still crossed.

"You can call it whatever you want, It doesn't really matter. We're here… helping her. I've crossed a line. I've done things that Ozpin will never forgive, and he shouldn't! I don't know where I go from here" Lionheart sadly says as he feels a burning sensation behind his eyes as he puts his face in his hands leaning over the table.

"Man up! You did what you had to do to survive. There is no shame in that. It's a little too late to be feeling sorry for yourself, you already sold out almost all of Mistrals Huntsman." Raven says harshly making Lionheart flinch at the truth.

"I didn't even get all of them. One of them must have figured out what I was doing and went on to find Qrow. If this attack fails… Im dead either way." Lionheart says looking down at his shaking hands.

"That reminds me…" Raven leans in on her hands on Lionhearts desk ignoring what he said about the attack failing. "Do you know _who_ this mystery huntsman could be?"

"I have no idea. The description of him I was given doesn't match any of the huntsman that I know. And his semblance is something I've never heard of before." Lionheart answers.

"Hmm… That is going to make things difficult. No matter, I'll deal with him if I have to." Raven says stepping back and leaves the room without another Lionheart alone with his thoughts and fears.

* * *

The next morning

Ever since Lionheart had called Qrow to tell him about the fake breakthrough he had with the council I've been nonstop training. I started after dinner and now everyone is waking up for breakfast. I've been training to perfect my use of Ebony and Ivory while trying to come up with a new combo attack unique to myself to finish off an enemy.

' _Hector I know you want to be ready for the coming battle but overtraining without rest is just as dangerous as any illness.'_ Ozpin says as I'm laid out on my back again after another failed attempt of creating my own combo.

"I know Oz… I just can't afford to waste any time. I've already changed the original course of events by making them come earlier. Something could happen and more than likely it's gonna be shitty. So for now I just can't stop." I exhaustingly reply shutting my eyes.

"This is an unhealthy way of training Hector." An unexpected familiar voice sounds off from behind me. I sit up and turn my head to see Ren standing in the doorway with his hands behind his back looking at my with slight concern in his eyes.

"Oh hey Ren what brings you here?" I ask trying my best to keep a smile on my face.

"Qrow informed us all of our situation, I noticed you leaving the room and walking in the direction of the training area after we were all done talking, I noticed you were not around this morning so I decided to look for you." Ren explains without hesitation.

"Wow I didn't expect that from you. That's more of a Ruby thing, I didn't really talk to you much after… wow I never really had a one on one with you huh. Sorry about that." I say turning my body around to face him rubbing the back of my head, wearing a nervous smile..

"I'm not bothered by it. It's rather expected coming from someone with a personality such as yours." Ren says with a small smile taking a seat in front of me crossing his legs and sips from a cup I don't even know he had with him.

"I don't know if that was an insult or not so I'm going to take it as a compliment." I say with a smile, Ren chuckles a bit at that.

"As you wish. I came here hoping to bring you back to us for breakfast and to convince you that you do not need to train this hard for the coming battle." Ren explains

"Well I'm all for the breakfast part of what you just said but why would I not train hard for the battle coming up? Why aren't we all training for this upcoming life or death battle?" I ask leaning my head back and stretching my arms outward.

"Right now you're doing more harm than good to your body. As far as I know you haven't eaten since yesterday's lunch, am I correct?" Ren asks taking another sip from his cup

"Possibly… Alright you win I'll come back. But there's just one thing I need your help with." I mention putting one of my gloved fingers up.

"And what would that be?" Ren looks at me genuinely curious at what I need from him.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone though." I plead

"That depends on what it is." Ren arches his eyebrow and puts down his cup to give me his full attention.

"...I forgot how to take these off. I put them on for the first time ever when I went with Ruby to buy a weapon and I haven't been able to take them off since. I don't know why nobody asked either." I finally reveal what the problem is, slumping my head and gesturing to Ebony and Ivory. Ren struggles to keep a straight face to keep himself from laughing at my current situation.

"... How did you get them on in the first place?" Ren asks after taking a deep breath.

"I just put them on like any normal glove and now they won't come off." I explain showing Ren that I can't take them off normally. Ren takes one of my hands and examines every side of it, trying to find a mechanism of some sort to use to get the gauntlet off. Surprisingly even Ren is perplexed at this as he scratches his head in confusement.

"This may be something a weapons expert like Ruby would be able to figure out." Ren suggests letting me take my hand back.

"OR the thousand year old guy in my head can figure it out?" I suggest knocking on my own head to clarifie.

' _Honestly the only weapon I've ever used is my cane so I would not know.'_ Ozpin reveals.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE ONLY EVER USED YOUR CANE!" I shout loudly surprising Ren from my sudden outburst. "You're the headmaster of the most badass Huntsman academy on the PLANET where there's evil blacker than black monsters made of literal evil incarnate, and you've only ever used a _cane_ as a weapon?" Now Ren understands why I'm so surprised.

"You'd be surprised how many people are like that actually. I've only ever used storm flower, Jaune as only used Crocea Mors, Ruby has only used Crescent Rose, and so on and so forth. Once we find a weapon that suits our desires and fits our fighting style we don't explore in other weapons." Ren brings up saving Ozpin from any more belittling.

"Alright I guess that makes sense. It did take like a month of constant pestering from Ruby for me to get a weapon since I was so used to using my fists." I say looking down at my hands, well gauntlets I guess.

"Precisely. Besides Ruby bugging you for a unnecessary amount of time for a weapon, you are very easy going, that's good for a group such as ours." Ren compliments making my smile a bit.

"Well if I kept fighting it the only good it would do is make it harder to keep friends."

"Although you still need Ruby to help you with your problem. She is a weapons expert." My smile fades as Ren brings up taking his last sip from his cup of something.

"Yeah yeah I'll send a message to her to come help." I take out my scroll that is somehow not broken throughout the many events that has occured.

"Excellent, it was nice talking with you Hector." Ren says as he extends his hand for a handshake.

"Yeah you to bud, I'll keep you in mind if I want to talk to someone who won't laugh at me for my stories." I say as I take his hand from my sitting position and shake it. Ren simply nods, smiles, and walks away back toward the room we've been staying in.

I scroll through my all of my seven contacts and find Ruby and send her a message " _I need your help with something, come to the training yard."._ I hit send and wait her arrival. After a couple moments I stand up and look over to the sunset, I try putting my hands in the pockets of my jacket but my gauntlets make my hands too big to fit in them. I sigh and look around the kingdom of Mistral. ' _This is a beautiful place, I don't know how people would want to destroy a place like this.'_

' _I thought the same thing in my earlier years. I've learned that there are many evil and misguided souls willing to do anything to get what they want. Salem will stop at nothing until she gets what she desires, even if it means killing every living soul on Remnant.'_ Ozpin explains. I nod my head in acknowledgement. I feel a tap on my right shoulder and turn to see who it is, only to find no one there. I feel another tap on my left shoulder and I turn faster this time to see who it is but there's nobody there.

"The fuck?" I say as I turn my whole body around to find there's nobody behind me. I turn my head to the left of me to find Ruby sitting close to me on the railing with her face inches from mine. Of course she scares the shit out of me. "AH WHY?!" I exclaim as I almost fall backward as I jump at the sudden appearance of Ruby. She is enjoying this very much.

"Hahaha you actually got so scared!" Ruby exclaims as she holds her belly from her constant giggles.

"Yeah no shit I turned to my right only to see that i'm in kissing range of you." My eyes widen as I realize what I had just said. Ruby stops giggling and turns red and gets all timid after hearing what I had just said. ' _Oh gosh why did I say that. I'm becoming one with anime.'_

"I-I didn't mean to get that c-close I just kinda did it." Ruby shyly says.

' _Smooth Hector. If you wish I could help you out with these kinds of situations with women.'_ Ozpin offers.

"MOVING ON. The reason I messaged you was because I need help with the weapon that we bought yesterday." I say changing the awkward subject. Ruby goes back to normal and goes into weapon geek mode.

"Oh yeah! What's the problem with it? Is it broken? Or maybe-"

"I don't know how to take them off… I've had them on since I tried them on at the shop." I hesitantly reveal to her as I move my hands to show her Ebony and Ivory. She looks at my hands then back up at me to clarify if I'm being serious or not, I give her a nod at her silent message and she starts giggling uncontrollably again.

"That's what you need my help for? Oh my gosh Hector you never cease to amaze me with the situations you get yourself in." I turn away embarrassed from her giggling.

"Just shut up and help me get out of these." I say shoving my hands closer to her.

"Okay okay just hold still." Ruby instructs as she take one of my hands and inspects the mechanisms.

' _Hector why is your heart beating so much?'_ Ozpin asks as Ruby messes around with all the mechanisms.

' _Is it? It must be from my training.'_ I mention trying to deflect the topic.

' _It wasn't beating this hard when you were talking to Mister Ren just minutes earlier… Oh I understand now.'_ Ozpin almost mischievously says.

' _I don't like how you said that. Why did you say it like that?'_ I say slightly worried. Blocking out everything Ruby is saying as she messes around with the hand I gave her.

' _Hector I am many milenia years old. I know when someone has a "crush" on someone else. It's even easier when I literally share the thoughts of that person.'_ Ozpin accuses.

' _We;re not discussing this on the grounds that I don't want to. Well about the crushes, technically I have a crush on like all the girls here since they're all from my favorite show, so yeah I'm going to be a little nervous when the cutest one is currently holding my hand.'_ I honestly say trying to get him to change the subject.

' _So Miss Rose is the cutest one now?'_

"Hey you almost got it?" I ask Ruby out loud, getting out of that conversation with Ozpin.

"I already got one of them off. I was just waiting for you to get out of your deep thought so I could show you how to take off the other one so you won't need to rely on me." Ruby says with a small smile. I look down to my right hand to see my actual hand is there and Ebony is lying on the ground to my right.

"Oh… yeah sorry about that Ozpin was being cranky again hehe." I nervously say rubbing the back of my head with my now free hand. "So how do I do this?"

"There's a little lever on your wrist you can push down if you pull this part of the metal off." Ruby says pointing to the part she mentioned. I pull up a piece of metal and lo and behold there it is.

"Well that was easier than expected." I say as I take off Ivory and move my fingers around.

"How did training go? I didn't want to bother you since you looked a little angry when you left to train but when you messaged me I came right away!" Ruby explains crossing her arms like she did something great.

"Well I wasn't angry before, I was more determined than anything since I still haven't completely mastered my semblance and finish this new combo I've been trying to do. I just feel like i'm going to fail." I say clenching my fists.

"Nope"

"Hmm?"

"Nope!"

"Oh so this is what we're doing now." I deadpan

"Yup! Hector I've seen you train and you've gotten so strong and skilled so fast! Even though you have Professor Ozpin in your head. You're already the strongest of us, if anyone can beat a Maiden, it's you." Ruby compliments placing a hand on my shoulder and smiling brightly. I pick up Ruby into a tight hug and swing her around suddenly.

"Aww you always know how to make my day Ruby!" I say happily as I swing her around as I did to Weiss a while back.

"Ugh Hector-you're welcome- but I- can't breath." Ruby gets out.

"So this is what you two are doing." Yang says as she turns the corner to see me swinging Ruby around.

"Oh hey Yang it's been a while whats up?" I say finally letting Ruby go. When I do she takes a couple deep breaths to recover.

"When I heard Ruby was going to help you out with something a couple minutes ago I didn't think it would take more than half an hour. So I came to investigate and what do I see my little sister doing? All wrapped up in a guys arms. I never thought I'd see the day." Yang teases crossing her arms on her heart with fake sadness.

"YAAAANG it wasn't like that!" Ruby exclaims blushing massively.

"I refuse to listen to this on the grounds that I am too hungry. See ya" I say picking up Ebony and Ivory, walking past Yang and toward the room. I've grown used to her teasing and just started shrugging them off, although that one made me a little nervous but I played it off as nothing.

"Why do you do this to me?" Ruby complains after I leave the room.

"Because it's just too easy and fun. Now why don't you tell me what took so long? Ren said you two would be back for dinner." Yang answers ruffling her little sisters hair.

"He needed help getting his gauntlets off and since I'M a weapons expert he messaged me for help. Then after we fixed that we just started talking, he said he thought he was going to fail but I convinced him otherwise. He is the strongest of us all anyway, he just needed to know that for himself. " Ruby explains happily placing her hands on her hips.

"Well he's never beaten me in a fight just yet so he still has something to prove to me." Yang says with her famous signature competitive smirk. "The last time we fought it ended up in a draw so I think a rematch is in order. Oh I going to have so much fun with him."

"Ew Yang dont say it like that."

"What you jealous?"

"I'M NOT. Oh look he forgot his gauntlets."

* * *

Menagerie

After the White Fang attack on the Belladonna household the faunus not in the White Fang have decided enough is enough. The White Fang no longer speaks for them. They are on a ship sailing for Mistral in hopes of thwarting Adam Taurus' plans to attack Haven academy. Blake and sun stand side by side as they look over the railing and stare into the endless ocean.

"Can't believe we actually got them to come help us." Sun says bringing up a topic for discussion with the quiet black cat faunus.

"Well after the attack on their own kind _by_ their own kind, it finally opened their eyes to what the world really sees the White Fang as. Terrorists, and not revolutionaries." Blake brings up.

"Yeah… I just hope we can get there in time. I spent a lot of my life in Mistral, I'd hate to see it fall like Beacon did." Sun says sadly. Blake looks to him with determination in her eyes.

"That's _not_ going to happen again. I'd rather die than have to witness another burning kingdom. Once the white fang see that their own kind want this madness to stop, they'll be demoralized and abandon their attack." Blake declares.

"Wow you're talkative today." Sun mentions with a smile and scratches his head with his tail.

"You brought up a topic that I am adamant about. Of course I'd talk about it." Blake says going back to her usual stoic personality, her cat ears twitching a little bit.

"And now the Blake I know is back." Sun says poking her shoulder with his tail. "What are you going to do after this?"

"Honestly I don't know. I might just go on to the next task that needs my attention." Blake answers.

"You think maybe you should go find the rest of your team?" Sun asks hesitantly. Blakes eyes widen a bit and her body tenses.

"I… I don't think they'd want to see me again after what I did at Beacon." Blake says, her cat ears folding in on her head in sadness.

"I don't think that's true. I don't know them as well as you do but I think they'd be ecstatic if they saw you again." Sun says happily trying to cheer her up.

"You don't understand Sun… Yang lost her arm saving me and I repaid her by _running_ away without even a word or goodbye. Ruby and Weiss may be happy to see me but… I don't know if I can ever look at Yang in the eyes again." Blake says, tears threatening to pour down her face.

"I understand how you feel there." Sun reveals much to Blakes surprise as she whips her head to the left to look at him. "When I went after you when I saw you running all I said to my team was "I have to go" Before I jumped out of the bullhead to follow you. So I don't know how it'll be when I see them again. They might think I'm dead or something." Sun says sadly. Blake didn't even think about that before until he brought it up. This time Sun actually understands how she feels.

"Oh Sun I…" Blake puts one of her hands on his arms to get him to look at her. "You actually understand how I feel for once." Blake says moving closer to him leaning her head on his shoulder with a smile attempting to cheer him up with a rare joke. Sun chuckles a little at her affectionate joke.

"Wow thats rare coming from you. Thanks alot Blake." Sun says putting an arm around her.

"Awww~" Blake's mother coos at the sight before her. Surprising the Blake and Sun as they blush and jump away from each other and turn around to see Kali with her hands intertwined with each other next to her head. "Oh no don't stop because of me go on!"

"MOM what're you doing here?" Blake asks throwing her hands down to her sides.

"How long were you there?" Sun asks wrapping his tail around his waist.

"Oh honey I was here for a couple minutes. I originally came to find my daughter to tell her that her father wanted to see her but I just couldn't bring myself to interrupt you twos moment." Kali says with a shrug.

"Yeah I'll just go. Don't want to be hit by your dad again hehe." Sun says as he jumps to the higher level of the ship.

After Sun leaves Blake glares at her mother's smile for a couple moments before relenting. "What does he want?"

"Go see for yourself. Maybe he wants to talk to you about you blonde monkey boyfriend?" Kali teases wiggling her eyebrows a bit.

"Ugh mom he's not my boyfriend!" Blake says before stomping away toward her father's war room.

"*Sigh*, you are so oblivious to your own feelings." Kali says under her breath leaning on the doorframe watching her daughter stomp away.

* * *

Ghira Belladonna was in his war room on the ship discussing tactics. They got the plans of attacking Mistral from Ilia after the attack on his household.

"We have to send someone ahead to disarm those bombs." One of the Lieutenants say.

"No one here would be able to fit in with them anymore. They have an ID system now so we won't be able to stay within their ranks for long enough time to find the bombs and disarm them." Another Lieutenants says. Blake opens the door into the room and peeks in at her father.

"You wanted to see me?" She asks a little nervous.

"Yes Blake, please come in." Ghira says beckoning her over to his side. Blake walks in and all eyes are now on her as she makes her way to her father's side, making her more nervous then before now. "We have a situation I believe you can provide a solution for."

"Really? What's the situation?" Blake asks surprised and her nervousness fading away.

"We need someone who can go ahead into Mistral and disarm all the bombs on Haven academy, do you know anyone who can get in there, pose as a White Fang member and complete the task?" Ghira asks causing a bit a whispering and commotion over his decision of asking his daughter for help. Blake could only think of one person who could complete the task the best.

"I have someone in mind. Ilia, she's proven herself trustworthy after she helped stop the attack on our family's household." Blake answers right away with little to no hesitation.

"I object to this suggestion. Although she did help us all defend the house she only did so at the end of the battle. She was there to kill your family and only changed her mind at the very end. She could still be loyal to the White fang as we speak!" One shouts out causing more commotion within the room.

"Enough! Blake are you sure we can trust her? Do you trust her with this?" Ghira asks after stopping the commotion with his own shout.

"...Yes I do." Blake says after a couple of moments of silence within the war room.

"Then it is settled. Blake tell your friend to take one of our fastest boats and pass on the details of our plan." Ghira says standing up straight with his hand up to stop anyone from objecting. "Go now before these fools decide to chew my ear off again."

"Yes sir." Blake says jogging out of the room. She takes out her scroll and sends a message to Ilia telling her to meet her on a secluded part of the ship to tell her about the plan for the defense of Haven.

15 minutes later…

"Hey Blake…" Ilia reveals herself as she rounds the corner. She still feels horrible about what she did to her and her family throughout all their fights and arguments they had in the recent past.

"Hello Ilia. I assume you got my message? I thought you'd get here faster." Blake says with a small smile that doesn't go unnoticed by Ilia.

"What do you need me to do?" Ilia asks wanting to get straight to the point of this meeting.

Blake tells her the plan her and her father just came up with and how they need her to be the one to go and disarm the bombs that are going to be planted in Mistral and Haven academy. Ilia is surprised that she is being trusted with this but takes it as a chance to prove herself to her faunus brothers and sisters, and to earn their trust.

"When do I leave?"

"As soon as possible would be the best time." Blake says leaning against the wall. "My father has prepared the fastest ship we have to transport you there safely and quietly. Remember Adam thinks the Belladonnas are dead, let him believe that."

"I won't let any of you down. I promise that." Ilia says with determination as she clenches her fist and leaves to go find the boat she needs to be on.

"I know you won't let any of us down. I know you can do this." Blake says to herself after Ilia leaves.

* * *

"Why are you on my back Nora?" I ask as I lay face down on the couch attempting to take the nap I said I would take earlier.

"Because you said you would spend a day with me a WEEKS ago. I want that day to be today!" Nora exclaims as she bounces on my back a couple times.

"Ren please help…" I mouth to Ren who is sitting across from me. Ren responds by taking a sip from the same cup from earlier. I think he has tea in there. I groan into the cushion. "Nora currently I am exhausted and sleepy AND I just ate so Im _extra_ sleepy. How about I promise that for sure tomorrow will be our day together huh? I'll even skip training since I just finished like three days worth just now."

' _Even though you didn't even ask me for permission I'll allow this.'_

' _Good because either way I was skipping training tomorrow anyway.'_

"Hmm I find these terms acceptable. But I will continue to sit on your back since it's comfy somehow." Nora says as she wiggles her bottom a bit to get more comfortable sitting on my back in more of the center and turns on the tv.

"You know what? Go ahead get comfortable. I'm just going to fall asleep." And with that I close my eyes and immediately go to sleep. Despite having Nora sitting on my back. Jaune comes to join us and sits next to Ren but his eyes are glued to the scene he sees before him. Nora sitting on my back with one of my arms over the die of the couch snoring while the television is on with Nora's favorite show.

"So is there a reason why Nora is sitting on Hectors back while he's sleeping?" Jaune asks whispering to Ren.

"That was Nora's way of getting Hector to hang out with her tomorrow. Pay no mind to it." Ren says as he takes yet another sip from that bottomless cup of his.

"How did he fall asleep in the first place?"

"That is a question im afraid I dont have the answer to my friend."

"Ren you make the best breakfasts." I mumble while I'm still asleep. I'm actually having a dream about eating breakfast made by Ren. Yes it's happening. Jaune, Nora and Ren look at me and start laughing quietly at the dream I am currently having.

They continue to watch the television with the sight of Nora sitting on my back while I sleep in the corner of their eyes. Despite that everything else was going on as normal for the next hour or two. That is until Weiss enters the room and spots the unbelievable sight on the couch. What she thinks she sees from behind the couch is Nora straddling me while Jaune and Ren watch.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" She shrieks, red with shock, anger and embarrassment. I push Nora off me when I jump up and get into a goofy fighting stance revealing to Weiss that I still do indeed have my clothes on.

"We're under attack!" I shout as I throw a punch into the air toward Weiss. After moments of silence that felt like hours to everyone Weiss finally speaks up.

' _Oh good you're awake now.'_ Ozpin says to me as I look around the room.

"You- I thought that…" Weiss manages to get out but she aborts mission and gets out of there before the scene gets any worse. I look at Jaune and Ren for clarification but they just shrug their shoulders.

"So that's what we're doing now? The 'Wake up Hector game'?" I ask unamused and cranky and being woken up from my sleep.

"It's good that you are awake now actually. Ozpin told us while you were sleeping that we're all going to train with him again soon." Jaune brings up.

"AW Oz why now?" I whine as I fall back on the couch.

' _Well you can be asleep throughout the session if you wish. You seem to have gotten good at that.'_ Ozpin says granting me permission to sleep through it.

"I'll allow this." I say as I fall asleep once more. Nora then sits on my extended legs and continues to watch the television as if nothing has happened.

"Should we tell him that we already trained with him like right before he woke up?" Jaune asks only to be shushed by Nora.

"I believe he will find out himself in due time." Ren says as he gets up to start dinner.

"I just can't believe Ozpin actually went along with it." Says Ruby who was sitting outside of my vision when I started freaking out at the sudden scream, rubbing her chin that got headbutted by Ozpin once again.

"Shhhh he's still sleeping." Nora whispers loudly as I let out a snore.

"Tomorrow is another day then." Jaune says as he puts his attention back to the tv screen.

* * *

 **AN- And that's a wrap for this one. Blake as finally made an appearance! I'm going to make the chapter leading up to the battle of Haven a little shorter than the others for the purpose of getting there faster because I really want to start writing the battle down. 4 more chapters to go! Almost there.**

 **Thank you to all of my new followers that hit that button after the last chapters release. I was overwhelmed by the notifications I kept getting when one of you followed and/or favorited my story. I mean holy shit 38 followers already?! Thank you so much!**

 **I'll try to get another chapter out this week or at the very least start writing it because next week I have a TON of work days that'll take up most of my writing time.**

 **Stay tuned for the upcoming Battle of Haven!**

 **Please leave a review and let me know how I can make this fanfic better or just to say you like it or something.;)**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	9. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 8

**AN- First thanks to my reviewers from earlier chapters**

 **Guest 1- I can't not think of that when I think of that part ever again.**

 **Guest 2- Thanks for the idea!**

 **Guest 3- The name is pretty mexican yes but it's the one I went with.**

 **Guest 4- Thank! There is always more to come. This fanfic will last as long as RWBY itself does and when it ends I'll do a canon divergence for as long as I can just for you guys.**

 **Welcome to all of my new followers! Can't believe we're already at 46 followers and 30 favorites as of this moment already. Also 2100+ views already? Holy shit that's growing fast every chapter. Thanks to you all so much!**

 **I'm sorry this took a much longer time than usual to update. Lifes a bitch and I've been working all week so I haven't gotten much time to type this out. But at this moment of me typing this I have plenty of time for our mutual friend Hector.**

 **Questions? Ideas? Writing Advice? I read all my reviews to see what you guys think and honestly I know i'm not great at this but I try my best, but thank you to everyone who say I do a awesome job! So if any of you have anything for me for the next three chapters I might just incorporate it into one of the next three chapters until we get to the Volume 5 finale of this fanfic, which is of course the battle of Haven. Thanks to you all for reading my story if you got this far!**

 **To make this easier on myself I'm making the next few chapters shorter than the others. Short and sweet so to speak. I'm sorry if this disappoints you. BUT DO NOT FRET. Once we get to the battle of Haven each chapter will be at the very least 6.5k words or more.**

 **Now to continue on with the story!**

* * *

Chapter 8. A day with Nora. 4 Days Until The Battle of Haven.

After I learned of the little group prank that was played on me yesterday I grabbed my gauntlets from Ruby and went to the room of solitude. Which is just my room with the door locked, the shades closed and the lights off. I believe the last thing I said to them was...

" _I can and will not take this tyranny any longer. Soon you will all know my pain."_ Then I yawned and stormed off to my room and going back to sleep since I was somehow still tired and ready to go to sleep. It's now morning and I really don't want to get up. I roll over to the side but I have this odd feeling that I'm being watched. A sensation that I'm sensing… I open one of my eyes to only shriek and fall off my bed in fear and surprise landing on my butt as I see Nora standing next to my bed, hands on her hips looking down at me with her usual bright smile. Luckily I was too lazy to take off my clothes before I went to sleep.

"Goooood morning Hectozpin!" Nora greets me in a happy tone, calling me by a new very weird sounding nickname that combines my and Ozpin's names.

"Wuh- HOW DID YOU EVEN GET IN HERE?!" I shout out, half angry and half impressed that she got in here somehow.

"I got through the door silly how else?" Nora says pointing to the now broken door thats laying on the floor.

"Oh I should've known." I say rolling my eyes and getting up from the floor.

Nora nods her head too many times for me to count.

' _How did I not even hear that?'_

"Today is the day you are spending with me, so up up!" Nora comes over to me and lifts me up off the ground and places me over her shoulder. The sight is amazing to see since Im much taller than Nora. My feet are nearly hitting the ground.

"Hey! HEY put me down!" I exclaim trying to push myself off but I only make her grip me harder. "How are you even this strong?!"

"I got the muscles that's how." Nora answers happily. I give up on trying to get free and just let it happen, letting myself be ragdolled somewhat. We end up in the living room where everyone else is hanging out. They all look to the sight before them as Nora places me down on the end of one of the couches. I look at her with hatred in my eyes but my stare dies down as I end up laughing anyway at what had just occurred, this causes everyone else to start laughing, if not at the very least amused.

"Yeah that was Nora's _GREAT_ way of saying good morning. So Ren what can I expect from her today?" I say that first part playfully sarcastically then I ask Ren looking back at him over my shoulder.

"I'm afraid not even I am able to predict Nora's actions." Ren answers with a small smile.

"No worries Hectozpin I have the _whole_ day planned out." Nora says rubbing her hands together maniacally making me worry for my safety. I want to ask what this day consists of but I don't want her answer to discourage me from fulfilling my promise.

"And what does this day consist of?" Weiss asks for me.

"Shhhh I have to keep it a surprise for Hecky." Nora whispers loudly calling me by yet another nickname that Im positive she came up with only just now.

"I have many regrets." I say out loud without realizing it. Nora swings her arm around me and pulls me into a headlock. "WHY?"

"There's no need for an attitude like that Hecky we're going to have so much fun today!" Nora declares releasing me from the headlock and offering her hand to help me up. I chuckle at her antics and accept my fate. Might as well have fun with it right?

"Alright I'll trust you on this, let's go have some fun!" I say with equal the amount of excitement grabbing her hand. Nora's eyes light up at this since it's not often someone actually shares her excitement about something.

"Let's go then!" Nora half shouts as she yanks me up and pulls me toward the door by the arm. I mumble a quick goodbye to everyone as we leave the room.

"So where are we going?" I ask after she releases me from her iron grip on my arm.

"Follow is all you need to know right now." Nora answers without looking back at me.

I snicker at her response.

"I suppose that's the best answer Im going to get huh."

Nora turns to look at me and winks.

"Yup!"

* * *

Nora took me all over Mistral seemingly sightseeing everything interesting we come across. Ranging from statues of important people that I have no idea who they are or what they did to deserve to have a statue, to random stores and flea markets. We walked past the hole I made when I raced Ruby though luckily I managed to pass it off as some accident so I saved myself from having to explain the whole ordeal to her. She takes me into the same forest where I got my arm stuck in a tree a while back. Damn that day. This is where I start getting confused since the other things that happened on our way her were pretty Nora things to do, so it didn't bother me. Some of those things include her gawking at the little faunus children, using her hammer to chop down a tree -How she chopped it down with a blunt weapon I'll never find out- and the list only continues to grow as the day continues.

"So why are we in my old training forest?" I finally ask confused about how this is a part of her grand plan.

"Do you remember that time at initiation? And I mean THAT time." Nora responds looking at me like I'm supposed to know the answer to that question.

"Is this a trick question? I wasn't actually there you know." I point out.

"BUT you watched us right?" Nora asks getting all up in my face.

"When you say it like that it sounds weird but yeah." I say pushing myself gently away from her.

"Soooo…" Nora wears a hopeful look as she awaits my answer leaning in with her hands intertwined in front of her legs.

"Well... from what I can remember from the show you rode in on an Urs- Oh god." I say realizing the reason to why she brought me here for.

"YES, YOU DO REMEMBER!" Nora exclaims jumping in joy.

"Sometimes I wish I lost my memory when I came here."

"Aw don't be like that, where'd all that spirit from earlier go?" Nora asks with I don't know if its real or not concern.

"I still have it, Im just choosing not to show it." I claim half joking and placing a hand on the right side of my chest.

"Hmm." Nora squints her eyes at me and crosses her arms not sure if i'm being serious or not.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's find us an some Ursai!" I say loudly with the same amount of joy as before. Nora approves of this sudden burst of joy.

"That's what I like to see! Follow me!" Nora shouts as she runs off in a random direction. I burst into a sprint to catch up then slow down to normal people running speed when I reach her. After about a minute of running in this random direction I wonder if there's even any Grimm around here. The only Grimm I've ever encountered so far are those Beowolves the first day I got here.

"How are we even going to find one of those things? I don't think we're giving off a lot of negative energy at the moment." I get out as we continue our run, weaving around the trees and ducking under branches.

"The same way I found one in the Emerald Forest of course!" Nora vaguely explains.

"Okay there's just one problem with that." I mention since

"And what's that?"

"I never actually saw you from the show actually catch the Ursa to start riding it in the first place." I explain getting straight to the point.

"Oh! That's it? I'll just have to teach you then!" Nora declares as she stops dead in her tracks and holds her arm out effectively clotheslining the fuck out of me. I flip through the air once before I land on ground that just doesn't feel right, it's… furry? But it also smells really bad.

"There you go! You're such a natural!" Nora cheers from up in a tree.

"What? What do you mea-"

 ***RAAAAWWRRRR***

"OH MY FUCKING DICK WAFFLES" I yell out all sorts of curses and other kinds of shit while I hold on tight to the black fur of the Ursa that I am involuntarily holding on for dear life.

"Now you're getting it!" Nora continues to cheer.

"FUCK" I yell out after the Ursa rears its back legs up in an effort to kick me off.

"Just enjoy yourself!"

"SHIT" I yell out again as my legs are now ragdolling in the air since the Ursa is spinning in a circle.

"You got this!"

"FUCK YOUUUUuuuuuu-" My last yell fades away as the Ursa runs away in a random direction. Nora hops down from the tree she was perched up in and stares in my direction with a smile on her face.

"I like him." Nora declares as she saunters after me and the Ursa.

* * *

15 minutes later.

I am currently punching the back of the Ursas head multiple times in an attempt to knock the Ursa out so I could climb off safely. Its not working so far since I don't have my weapons and I'm forgetting to use my aura again.

"You. Son. Of a. Bitch. Just. GO. TO. SLEEP." I say between punches getting increasingly louder and frustrated with the Ursas durability.

' _What have you gotten yourself into now?'_ Ozpin asks speaking up for the first time today.

"Don't you start with that shit right now Ozpin... i'm in the middle of... trying to knock out… an Ursa." I say between heavy breaths as my punches weaken.

' _You're going to have a tough time with that if you don't apply your aura into your punches.'_ Ozpin points out to me. I take a moment to think about my mistake. I'm still latched on to the Ursas back by the way. I wish I had Ebony and Ivory with me.

"... Good point." I focus my aura into my right fist and take a moment to charge up the power (In spirit) even though I don't have to. I punch its face and cracks its bone skull helmet entirely effectively killing it. It falls onto its belly and I roll off of its back landing on my own back. I lay there panting while the black beasts dissipates away into black vapor. "That… was fun." I say closing my eyes and I begin to laugh at what just happened. "I just rode a fucking Ursa."

"It's fun right?" A familiar chirpy voice asks from right next to me.

"Yeah... wait what?" I look to my left and I see Nora there laying on her back with her hands behind her head and green eyes looking at me. "AH! How do you do that?" I ask jerking away from her a good six inches.

"I was here ever since you rolled off the Ursa silly." Nora says with her usual smile.

"I have to get used to that one day huh."

"Yuh huh." We both laugh at the day we spent together. Even if It's only about 4 o'clock as of right now.

"Well all in all it was a pretty fun day. Still don't know how you chopped that tree down with your hammer though." I remark.

"Looots of practice." Nora answers simply. I snicker a bit at that. But soon I realize something.

"Why didn't you ride one of them?" I ask slightly annoyed at the realization.

"I said we would have _fun_ Hecky! I know I had fun, how about you!?" Nora asks jumping up to her feet and offers wearing a hopeful look on her face as she offers her hand to me. I look at her hand than at her face then back at her hand. I sigh and accept it.

"Yeah but only because I didn't end up dying in the end of all that." I say as I get pulled up to my feet.

"That's what makes it fun! We have to do this again one day, and I promise I'll ride one with you next time." Nora declares as we start walking back to the academy.

"Oh I just _can't_ wait to go through that again." I say with a small amount of sarcasm.

"Me neither!" Nora agrees not catching on to my sarcasm.

"Yeah should've expected that." I whisper under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Let's get back now."

We start walking back to the academy passing by some of the stores that we stopped by before. I had to pull Nora along with me for most of the walk since she kept stopping at every little distraction along the road. I was recently added to the "Team RRNJR group chat" as Ruby calls it with the inclusion of her sister and Weiss. If only I had my old phone so I could send them memes that they would have no idea about, it'd be nice to see their reaction to them. Since my wishes to send memes to my team is pretty much impossible I just settled with telling them that we're on our way back. And by that I mean.

" _Nora keeps touching everything on our way back what do I do?" - RJ_

" _By everything does that include you?" - Blonde Beauty_

" _Yang I specifically told you to not say stuff like that in here, I literally won't be able to unsee it." R &R_

" _Don't forget that Professor Ozpin can see your texts to." - Snow White._

" _Yes please refrain from subjects such as those in this group communication channel." - RJ_ _ **(OZ)**_

" _Why didn't you just say group chat?" - RJ_

" _Why didn't you just think that to me instead of typing it in here?" RJ_ _ **(OZ)**_

" _Now we're just off topic." - RJ_

So far it's a fun experience. I put my scroll away so I could focus on getting Nora back to Haven which is just a around the corner at this point and to avoid having another spat with Ozpin in the group chat. As we near the academy Nora practically begs me to get ice cream for herself and I since it's literally right next to us. I love ice cream so I give in rather easily, even though as we were discussing it she was pulling me into the store.

"Come on Hecky! I know you want ice cream to." Nora pleads as she pulls me by my arm.

"Only because it's not my money sure. And you're right I love ice cream

So yeah we got Ice cream. I got chocolate ice cream and Nora got a Mint colored ice cream that matches Rens usual clothing. I wonder if that's a symbolism of something.

' _I wonder what happened to Neo. I know if I met her she'd probably try to kill me but hey it'd be nice, it's probably never going to happen though.'_ I think as me and Nora walk back side by side both enjoying our ice cream. This calmed Nora down so I have to keep this in my mental notes whenever I want to calm her down. Then the worst thing that could possibly happen happened. Nora's ice cream broke down into glass and it shattered on the ground. The same happens with my ice cream. This could only mean one thing. I just jinxed the fuck out of myself. I see from around the corner a diminutive girl with black hair happily enjoying two ice cream cones that just _happen_ to be the same flavors as the ones me and Nora just lost. She sees notices me notice her and she runs off in the opposite direction into a crowd.

"Uh okay Nora i'll handle this mess and you go back to the room." I softly demand snapping Nora out of her sudden depression from the loss of her half eaten ice cream.

"You're not coming?" Nora asks not realizing the situation i'm getting myself into.

"Don't worry I'll be back soon, or in like a couple hours… I'll be back." I run off in the direction of the familiar girl that is probably Neo.

"Huh that was weird." Nora says as she turns around and heads back into the academy.

I move and lightly shove my way through the crowd trying to find the same black haired girl as before. I remember that if this is Neo she can change her appearance so she could literally be any of the little girls around.

' _Ah shit Ozpin use your magic or something so I can find her.'_ I think to Ozpin hoping for some help

' _Think like she does and you will find her yourself.'_ Ozpin instructs cryptically.

' _Oh that helps so much thanks for the assistance.'_ I thank sarcastically. ' _So if I was a murderous ice cream loving unusually short woman where would I be?'_ I think to myself placing my fingers on my chin in a standing thinking position trying to use Ozpin's method of locating someone. As I think I walk into a nearby alley conveniently out of sight of everyone on the road and lean on a wall. After a couple of moments I hear the all too familiar sounds of clicking of heels, similar to the teachers I used to hide from in school back in my world. I look around the alley looking at both sides but see nothing.

"Oh of course this is happening." I deadpan quietly as I raise my guard up for any sudden attacks.

At the end of the the alley coming from the darkness I see the same girl I was looking for from the beginning, her black hair and emerald green eyes are unmistakable. She looks at me with a almost maniacal look on her face. I smile and wave at her letting my guard down slightly.

"Hey so I know you took my friends ice cream and as a huntsman I'm here to ask nicely for it back. Then we can go our separate ways. Deal?" The girl is slightly taken aback at my attitude but thinks nothing of it. She responds by taking out her umbrella and pointing it toward me as if it was a sword. "Oh so you're definitely Neo, good to meet you, I'm Hector."

Neo's eyes widen and her smirk fades into a thin line as I call out her name. She thinks to herself how I could possibly know her name if I never met her and how she's never even heard of me. Neo knows of most of the huntsman on Remnant. She narrows her eyes at me questionigly silently asking me how I know of her.

"I'm sure you're wondering how I could possibly know your name, and the answer may surprise you." I say crossing my arms and looking down at her from afar. She is so much shorter than me it's hilarious but if we fought she'd have a advantage due to her height. Well if I didn't have the reflexes and skill of Ozpin and my broke ass semblance it would be one but she doesn't need to know that. Neo walks toward me slowly, her clothes, hair, and eyes going back to their usual color and look from what I can remember. Her umbrella turns pink and white first, then her legs gain her white boots with heels and tight brown jeans, instead of her usual top that she went with before in the show, she now wears a trench coat that is mostly white on the flaps and upper body part, brown on the shoulders and pink as trims lineling the coat from top to bottom, also its buttoned up to her chest. She has longer hair now with their usual pink on one side and dark brown on the other. Her eyes match her hair still of course. She stops in front of me a couple feet away and keeps her weapon aimed at me, she looks up at me with a serious look on her face as she prepares to attack me. We have a stare off for a couple of moments that really feels like several minutes. Neo opens her umbrella to disorient me before pushing me with then spinning her body and goes for a kick aiming for my groin. Luckily I managed to block the kick with my hands and redirect it into the wall, but this only leads to Neo kicking off the wall and using her other leg to kick me in the face. I rocoil back from the kick even though my aura protected me from most of the attack.

"Well I chose a bad day to forget my weapons." I mutter out loud. "So can we like not do this? I always thought you were pretty cute before but you're not as cute when you're trying to stab me with that umbrella sword thing."

' _I told you to take your weapon with you wherever you go for situations such as these. Now get yourself out.'_ Ozpin scolds coldly not approving of this encounter.

' _Oz not now I'm thinking of a way to get myself out of this situation.'_ I think back to him only listening to half of his sentence.

Neo stares at me unamused and uncaring of my compliment on her appearance. She lunges at me once more using her umbrella as a shield expecting me to stay on the defensive. Instead I reach forward and grab her umbrella much to her surprise and pull it from her grip using my bullshit strength to my advantage. I go for a kick to her midsection but she back flips away parrying my kick with her feet during her flip. After she lands I place the umbrella out in front of me and hold it like a cane and putting one leg behind the other.

"Okay listen now that you're disarmed and neither of us has taken any sort of damage yet - _besides that kick to my face_ \- I think now is a good time to stop fighting, all I wanted in the first place was my ice cream back. I'll even let you keep the other one." I offer with the same smile I greeted her with.

Neo gets confused at the way I'm behaving with her, If I know her name then I have to know everything she has done and the part she played in the fall of Beacon. She calms down slightly and looks up at me with a questioning look and an arched eyebrow. Signalling me to explain.

"Alright I'll take that as you letting me explain. Yes I know you played a part in the fall of Beacon and as a huntsman I _should_ try to either incarcerate you or eliminate you." When I say this Neo tenses up and gets ready to fight again. "BUT I also know you didn't really have a choice in the matter." When I say this Neos face softens and her posture relaxes as she goes crosses her arms. She makes a few hand signs, I assume this is sign language. I don't have that much experience in sign language but I can understand some of th words. All I got from Neo is 'Explain'.

"This may shock you. One of the last things Roman said before he got eaten was. "It's not what I have to gain, Its that I can't afford to _lose."_ Don't ask how I know that, it's a whole other story that I don't feel like explaining it again." Now Neo is freaked out. Not only does this guy that she's never met knew her and bits of her fighting style but he knows the one of the last things he said? She's certain that the only ones on that airship was herself, Roman, and Ruby. "That face your making tells me that I remembered that correctly." I point out.

' _What are you doing?'_ Ozpin asks not seeing the point of this.

' _Im gaining a potential ally for the future now shut up.'_ I respond keeping my face the same so I don't give any indication that I'm bat shit crazy.

"SOO the point I'm trying to get at is that I don't want you as an enemy. Salem is the enemy, she's the reason Roman was killed- Wait before I go any further how many… y'know… killings happened involving you? You being the one with the stabby umbrella. Since we strolled onto that topic." I ask hesitantly.

Neo ponders her mind for a few moments, it doesn't surprise her that I know about ever since she left Vale she hasn't really done anything wrong. She was too busy traveling and mourning her lost friend to get in the mood for killing. She was probably going to try to kill me but I don't know that. Neo forms her hands into a O shape and I sigh a sigh of relief.

"Okay that prerequisite is checked off now. Okay enough with the complications are you my enemy? Or are we allies for now? At least until we deal with Salem. Or you can go with option C and just not interfere with us." I extend my right hand out and leave my other hand to my side open handed to show that I am still unarmed. This day has been interesting to say the least so far.

Neo ponders her decision for a moment. If it wasn't for Salem Roman would be alive, but on the other hand if it wasn't for Ruby Roman would be alive. Shes conflicted, she can either work for Salem who she hates, or she can work with me and potentially work with Ruby, who she hates. Either way she won't be happy. She looks at my extended hand then back to my face. She smirks and holds up her hand to make a C shape, after that she fades away, probably never to be seen again. I sigh to myself before turning around and walking back into the road. I didn't even notice that it got dark.

"Holy shit it's night time already? How long have we been there?" I ask Ozpin out loud.

' _You've been in that alley for 2 hours before that woman got there.'_ Ozpin informs.

"What the fuc- How? Oh geez everyone must be worried about me now. Why didn't you bother to let me know that when I was just standing there?" I ask in complete confusion as to why he wouldn't let me know that little snidbit of information.

' _I wasn't paying attention.'_ Ozpin claims.

"That's some fucked shit and you know it." After I say that my scroll vibrates and I open my scroll to see text from Ruby from the group chat.

" _Hector where are you? It's 7 pm already and Nora came back at 4." -R &R_

" _I may or may not have been standing in an alley for the past two hours." -RJ_

" _How did you manage that?" -Blonde Beauty_

" _No one needs to know. I'm on my way back now no need to worry anymore." - RJ_

" _Please do return. Nora feels bad that she left you on your own and is being overdramatic." - Lie Ren_

" _Oh gosh." - RJ_

I put my scroll away and start heading back to Haven ignoring the vibrations of my teammates conversation that I sparked.

"Today has been an interesting day huh Oz."

' _If you count almost losing your life twice an interesting day then yes.'_

"Hey! I only almost died once thank you very much."

' _Because you keep forgetting your weapons and to activate your aura. If you remembered both of those you would've been fine.'_

"I am so sorry and I hope to improve upon myself for the near future."

' _Mhm.'_

"Love you to Oz."

* * *

 **AN- This took a while to concoct from my head but I hope you all enjoyed it anyway. I brought Neo into this because I actually wonder where the hell she has been. There's no way she died off screen.**

 **I'll be working on the next chapter as soon as this one is posted and I already have a good idea for the first half or so of the next chapter. The next two after that are gonna be difficult and I'm considering starting the Battle of Haven arc earlier on probably chapter 10 or 11 instead of 12. Like that idea? Or do you want me to continue on with these little random days until chapter 12.**

 **Thanks to everyone who has read this far and to all my new followers who want to see where this goes! Please leave a review and let me know how I'm doing.**

 **Love you all! See you next time.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	10. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 9

**AN- First thank you to my reviewers from last chapter**

 **Guest: I'll consider Nora x Hector You're not the only one who wants that. I looked up Nora x OC stories and I only found 4 out of the 22.3 thousand fanfics That are on this site that I've personally found. So who knows If enough of you want Nora instead of Ruby or Weiss I'll do it! Nora is really fun to write anyway.**

 **Sopher007- Don't worry there's plenty more chapters to come! Thank you for enjoying my story!**

 **The tenth installment of Rwby: Oh Gosh, (Even though it is still Chapter 9) I already got much farther in this story then I originally thought I would. In case any of you are wondering why I named this story Oh Gosh, it's because that was the first thing I thought of when I started writing this story for the first time.**

 **Also I forgot to mention that I got FOUR reviews last chapter. That's the most i've ever gotten so far. Thank you for all of your inputs!**

 **We've made it pass 50 followers! Thank you all so much to everyone who has enjoyed my story!**

 **Onto the show!**

* * *

Chapter 9 Starting the day off with a Yang. 3 days until the battle of Haven.

Team RNJR (With me as the first R) and the present members of team RWBY all sit around eating breakfast. I decided to actually eat breakfast with them before going off to train for most of the day. Just in case everyone dies in like 2 days I'd like to get to know all these cartoon characters better. Coincidentally Nora forgot to tell them about her throwing me onto the back of an Ursa yesterday and watching me hold on for dear life, she only said "We had so much fun!" So there's that. I told everyone that magnificent story, and the were worried at first but when they saw my face and me laughing about it they calmed down and started to join in on the laughing.

"Nora didn't I tell you to never do that again?" Ren scolds Nora playfully.

"Well technically I wasn't the one who rode an Ursa this time so I didn't break any promises." Nora counters crossing her arms triumphantly thinking she's smart.

"It was non consensual at first but it ended up being fun." I point out.

' _Oh my'_ Ozpin says chuckling a bit

' _Stop, enough of that, shame on you.'_ I scold using the best method I know how.

"How do you have fun riding a monster?" Jaune asks half laughing.

"Oh no it definitely wasn't fun during that, it was after when I realized it was fun."

"That's the thrill of life or death situations!" Yang says patting me on the back.

"I think I'd like it better if our teammates didn't risk their lives for some fun." Weiss says being the responsible -little bit uptight- one.

"Aw I knew you cared!" I exclaim feigning tears of joy wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Weiss is used to my affectionate nature now, so she doesn't push me off anymore.

"Of course I do now hands off." Weiss says being half cold half warm resisting the urge to smile a bit.

"Ah giving me the _cold_ shoulder again eh?" I say moving away with a bright smile at my own lousy pun.

"Ugh not you to." Weiss and Ruby whine in unison.

"Aaaay." Yang gives me a high five at my lame pun.

"You don't like my puns? How _cold._ " I say nudging Weiss a bit at another one of my lame puns that I definitely didn't just look up just now. Weiss and Ruby groan while Jaune softly slams his forehead on the table.

"AAAAAAY I knew I felt something good about you." Yang says wrapping an arm around me laughing along with me.

' _Please stop this childness antic.'_ Ozpin pleads. I honestly kind forgot he's here sometimes.

"Oh I'm sorry Oz I just couldn't help myself with the pun world." I say looking behind me to my left as if he is standing there with me.

"Even professor Ozpin doesn't like puns." Jaune points out.

"Well sucks for him cause there's more to come once I think of some more." I say smiling cheerily once again.

' _It's time to train.'_ Ozpin declares ending my fun.

"Aw come on Oz dont be like that." I whine hanging my head.

"What'd he say?" Nora asks. She's sitting with her legs on the table since Ren gave up on telling her to put them down.

"It's time to train." I say simply grabbing Ebony and Ivory and heading to the training area.

"Well he got serious fast." Jaune points out.

"That's just how he is when it's time to train. He always takes it seriously." Ruby mentions, she knows that because of all the times she has hung out with me while I was training.

"Well I think today is a good day for our rematch!" Yang says excitedly, the last time we fought it was one of the most fun fights of her life and now that I'm much stronger than before her imagination is running wild with possibilities. Her semblance almost counters mine perfectly since she can use can use my power against me twofold, but that only lasts as long as she has stamina.

"You should let him know that now then before he gets started." As if on cue after Ruby said that the room shook a bit as a result from my training.

* * *

Lionheart is in his office playing the equivalent of Jenga from our world by himself in his office to pass the time until he gets a call or message about their plans. He is concentrating hard and moving ever so slowly trying to get another one of the pieces out. He has one eye open and his tongue is sticking out of the corner of his mouth. As the piece is almost out the room shakes and the whole set breaks apart and tumbles onto the ground.

"Bah not again. What is causing all these quakes?" Lionheart asks himself but shrugs it off and picks up all the pieces.

Yeah he's stupid.

* * *

 **Third person POV**

Back with Hector. He is currently training lightly as to not strain himself for the upcoming battle he knows he is going to have on his hands. Currently he is talking to Ozpin as he trains with the lightning dust loaded into his weapons. As he punches the training dummies he can see their bodies course with lighting for a few moments.

"Oz you know your fight with Cinder was like the best in the show so far?" Hector asks Ozpin before drinking some water.

' _Yes you've mentioned this before... Last time we trained… and the one before that.'_ Ozpin points out.

"That's because it was so cool! I never watched a thirty second clip so many times at 2 am before. You think I'll be able to move that fast like you? Oh what if I could use your little green shield thing since technically we're the same person now." Hector asks getting goosebumps for the possibility of being an even more badass fighter.

' _As of now you would not be able to move as fast as me unless you use your semblance. As for my aura shield… I do not know, it might be possible.'_ Ozpin answers hesitantly.

"That's all I need to know Wizard of Oz." Hector says calling Ozpin by another one of his nicknames for him.

' _I specifically told you not to call me that.'_ Ozpin says unamused

"I know. That's why I called you that." Hector says winking into the mirror I just found. How long that was there I have no idea.

' _Mm'_

Hector chuckles a bit before turning away from the mirror to go back to training with his weapons. Hector has gotten used to them for the most part. He even found a way to keep them in his back pocket just in case he needs them while he is out like that last encounter with Neo. He kind felt like that whole encounter was rushed but it's nothing now. He just hopes Neo doesn't try to kill them all in the future. Hector takes off his jacket and shirt and throws them in the far corner of the room because of the time of day he is training in happens to be the hottest part of the day. Hector's body is now almost in perfect shape due to Ozpin's training and him being a part of his soul within his body. Hector would guess he is around 250 pounds at this point since he is tall and much more muscular now.

"You just had to start this training session now huh." Hector says wiping his eyebrow of sweat.

' _You're the one who decided to stay for breakfast and stay for a longer amount of time than required.'_ Ozpin points out.

"Don't talk like that you sound like the male version of Siri." Hector complains.

' _Hector, we both know I don't know who Siri is.'_

"Apparently not."

Before Hector is able to get back to training he hears a wolf whistle from behind him. He turns around to see who it is and it is none other than Yang Xiao Long, who is currently checking out every inch of Hectors exposed body. Hector is quickly embarrassed and he turns red as he looks away to his side. Girls flirting with him is not something he is used to.

"My oh my you've got quite the body now." Yang teases walking up to Hector, making sure to sway her hips.

"I'm not going to get used to your teasing anytime soon." Hector says looking back at Yang into her eyes.

"And that's the cutest thing about you." Yang says adding a flirtatious wink to it.

"Yeah yeah thanks, what do you want?" Hector asks crossing his arms.

"Aw don't be so shy. I originally came here for a rematch since the last time we fought it was a tie, but maybe we can do something else now?" Yang asks enjoying her teasing and taking a step forward a placing her bionic hand on Hectors shoulder. Hector steps back a bit getting even more red at her offer and stumbling over his own words.

"What- I mean I don't know- Stop doing that!" Hector exclaims making Yang giggle.

"I'm just teasing you hon don't worry. You're just too easy to fluster." Yang says through her giggles.

"Yeah I bet you're enjoying this." Hector says bitterly before laughing it off.

"So how about that rematch?" Yang asks after she recovers from her giggle fit and her face gains her signature competitive smirk.

"I'm down for a rematch, but I gotta warn ya. You're going to lose this time." Hector says with his own competitive smirk.

"Oh is that right? We'll see about that." Yang says getting into her fighting stance.

Hector responds by getting into his own stance which is of course still the Goku stance since he never really tried any other stances. They inch closer to each other as they did the last time they fought. They get closer and closer to each other until the tips of their fingers touch. At the moment of contact they both go for identical right crosses which clash in the middle, the force of the clash forces them both away a couple feet but they both land on their right feet and launch themselves back toward each other. When they meet in the middle they get locked into a flurry of punches, blocks, counters, and dodging. They both lock their feet in the ground and continue their brawl even though neither of them land any strikes. Hectors stamina has improved immensely as a result from his hard training with Ozpin. Hector and Yang both have excited smiles on their faces as the adrenaline starts pumping through their bodies. Finally after about twenty seconds of constant clashing and counters Hector is the first to land a hit after he parrys a punch from Yang breaking her guard and punching her right in the side of her chin knocking her away several feet. She looks back at him after recovering from the attack with a smile on her face.

"You got a lot stronger than the last time we fought, your stamina is much better to. You won't have any in bed problems anymore huh." Yang says complimenting Hector in her own way.

"Why thank you and ignoring that last part of what you said, I have been training a ridiculous amount ever since we fought. I'll make sure I don't bruise that pretty face of yours." Hector bravely compliments with a wink getting out of his comfort zone.

"Ooo now you're speaking _my_ language." Yang says loving how into this Hector is getting.

"What can I say? You're rubbing off on me." Hector says while cracking his neck.

"Don't get too brave or maybe I really will start rubbing off on you." Yang says with a wink.

"Possibly. You ready for round 2 now? I think I won the first one, it was a good warm up." I taunt beckoning her over to me.

"Okay now you're getting a _too_ brave. Let's fix that."

Yang gets serious as she dashes in with greater speed and power, firing Ember Celica to give her even more power and speed. Hector is barely able to block her wild punch with his forearms, before he can even attempt counter Yang begins to pummel his guard not letting him any chance to fight back.

 **Hector's POV**

' _OZPIN YO NECESITO AYUDA!'_ I scream at Ozpin from within my own head.

' _I don't know what that means.'_

' _HELP!'_ I translate for him to understand.

' _Dodge.'_

' _¿_ _Que?'_

I'm cut off from my own thoughts as Yang lands a solid hit right in my cheek staggering me, I recover quickly and return the favor by finally landing my own hit on her ever since I got stuck on the defensive. I know all i'm doing with these little is only making her stronger but I've already lasted much longer then before I resorted to my semblance so it's a win for me already.

"KAIO KEN!" I shout loudly after I knock her away. I am using a 5x multiplier right away so I _could_ end the fight right now but that wouldn't be fun. My body is in massive pain at the sudden burst of power but I have become accustomed to it, besides It's nothing compared to my maximum. My red aura is flaring immensely as the red light from my aura almost reaches Yang where she stands. Yang looks at me in awe at the sight before her but she isn't about to back down from a challenge like this. She activates her own semblance releasing the power she had stored from my earlier strikes in an attempt to match my power. She gains an aura similar to mine only yellow and much, much smaller. Little does she know that in my current state it makes very little difference. We stare at each other for a few moments before lunging at each other at the same time, only I am much faster than her and easily slip past her defences to deliver a hard gut punch into her, knocking the wind out of her, shocking her with my gauntlet for the first time, and causing a shockwave that radiates throughout the room. Yang gets launched into the wall behind her than falls to the floor on her hands and knees coughing up a storm and shaking slightly due to the electric shock that snuck through her aura. Despite the pain she's in she looks up at me and smiles.

"Bad news, hurts like a bitch... Good news, I've never felt stronger!" Yang shouts out as she stands back up and powers up her own semblance, surpassing her previous limits by a mile.

' _I don't believe it is wise to intentionally give Miss Xiao Long more power to fight with, It can easily backfire.'_ Ozpin warns.

' _Ah but that's the thrill of it Oz! Don't worry I'm sure she'll run out of stamina soon… I think.'_ I reply attempting to reassure myself.

' _Dodge.'_

' _Wuh?'_ "OH GOSH" I fail to notice Yang up in my face with a fist already loaded up and closing in on my face. I barely manage to move my head in time but my poor ear starts to ring from the sound of the shotgun blast of the attack. I back flip away to a safe distance and return back to be fighting stance but with one hand on my ear, and await another assault.

' _You know saying dodge is more distracting than helpful.'_ I point out to Ozpin.

' _Remove yourself from the line of attack.'_ Sassy smartass Ozpin replies.

' _Now you're just messing with me.'_ I accuse.

Yang notices me barely paying attention to her since I am looking down at the ground with a thinking face instead of the excited face I usually have on during our fights. Even my red aura the Kaioken gives much smaller now.

"Is… he not paying attention to me?" She asks herself slowly growing more and more irritated. Her eyes change to the color red and she gets exponentially more powerful but at the cost of losing some of her judgement and she knows that, but this is a sparring match so she can let go of her restraints for now. "Hey! Forget about me?!" This snaps me out of my own little world with Ozpin.

"Oh yeah… Kinda _did_ forgot about that… _See what you did Oz._ " I whisper that last part out to myself. "Sorry! Oz was being distracting but I promise now that you'll have my _full_ attention." I say getting back into a fighting stance.

"Stop holding back." Yang demands.

"Huh?" I say out of confusion and a small amount of shock that she was able to find out that easily. "How'd you know about that?"

"The last time we fought you had a much different look on your face. You were enjoying it. But now it looks like you're almost bored. What's wrong? Am I not good enough for ya?" Yang asks, her eyes returning to the color red.

"... Listen It's not that you're too weak or anything. If I went all out to my maximum the way I am right now it could kill me and I could kill you. The only way for me to train at that level is if I'm in my own mind with Ozpin. The maximum that I know of right now goes up to times fithteen in my physical form and that literally feels like I am on fire, and not the fun kind of fire. So forgive me if I don't feel like burning myself alive quite yet." I explain with a chuckle at the end of it.

Yang doesn't know what to say. She didn't know that my semblance could be that deadly to the user and now she feels bad. Her hair dies down to its usual golden color and her eyes go back to their usual lilac. This fight was not one she could win from the beginning and she now knows that. "Im… Im sorry. I didn't know that it could get that bad, I mean I knew it hurt but damn-"

"Woah don't even start that train of thought, this isn't about to be some feel bad for eachother moment. I get it, you feel bad, and I say it's fine, you didn't know and I want to keep going cause I don't want Ozpin to do his crazy ass training to me again." I explain cutting her off. Yang blinks once then twice then laughs and starts smiling again. Her hair begins to glow again and she taps into the power she had stored up from earlier.

"You're definitely an interesting one, most guys are after me for a different reason. I like that." Yang mentions going back into her usual persona and fighting stance.

' _I suppose that's one way to make a woman forget her sadness.'_ Ozpin mentions quietly.

"I suck with girls so don't get your hopes up. I won't pull my punches if that will make you feel better to. But I gotta warn you, they are gonna hurt much more than those love taps I gave you." I say going back into my own stance and letting my semblance flare up once again. My red aura going back to the way it was. Unbeknownst to Yang I lowered my Kaioken multiplier to 3x so I wouldn't be able hurt her too bad.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Yang points out.

We both smile at each other getting ready for round 3, before lunging into each other once again and getting locked in another brawl. But this time we are both getting hits in on each other and neither giving any ground. We're about equal in my suppressed state at the moment but her semblance keeps making her more and more powerful. She wins our brawl by sneaking a punch into my liver and pushes me back a couple steps adding extra power by firing her Ember Celica. Luckily my aura blocked most of the damage, or else I probably maybe wouldn't have a torso at the moment. Yang goes for another punch in the same area but I counter by dodging, grabbing her wrist shocking and pulling her into my knee sending her back but I pull her back from her wrist and use my speed to get another knee in with the same leg. Yang's aura is about 40 percent right now and mine is around 50 percent since I was held up in my defensive guard for a good amount of the fight. Even though she probably has more power then me I am focusing my Kaioken into more speed then power, It's a little trick I learned from Ozpin so I have managed to land more hits for now. I power down and walk over to the downed Yang and extend my hand out to help her up.

"Okay I think it's safe to say that I won this bout. I don't want to destroy the whole building" I say with a small smile.

"You definitely did this time. This is only when you hold back to? Anyone getting in your way is not going to get away with their aura intact." Yang compliments, accepting my helping hand.

"You two were so cool!" A high pitched unmistakable voice calls out from the doorway to the training room. We both turn only to see literally everyone else save Qrow looking at us with impressed, in awe, and shocked looks. Nora just has an excited look with her hands intertwined up to her chin.

"Were you guys watching us?" Yang asks confused.

"How LONG were you watching us?" I ask worrying they might have overheard Yangs teasing.

"Right around when round two started." Jaune clarifies for me. I sigh a secret sigh of relief.

"Your semblances correspond with each other almost perfectly when you fight. It was very interesting to watch." Ren says with a small nod.

"Yeah but muscles here wasn't going all out. I bet he could one shot all of us if he wanted to." Nora says walking up to my side patting my back.

"Well I don't think I could one shot you all but it'd definitely be fun." I say with a nervous smile rubbing the back of my head.

"How'd you go so fast like that? You hit her twice in the same place faster than the others can see but I could!" Ruby asks excitedly running up to me in a flurry of rose petals.

"Oh that's a little trick I learned from our pal Oz. I can focus on a certain attribute when I use Kaioken now and in that case I chose speed. Other than that It's the same ol semblance." I explain stepping back slightly from the overhyped reaper.

"And you used your weapon so smartly to! Whats it called again? Ivory and Ebony?"

"Ebony and Ivory, and yeah I guess I did. But to be completely honest sometimes I forget that they're on." I admit unashamed.

"How do you forget that you have heavy metal gloves on your hands?" Weiss asks, unconvinced.

I laugh.

"Well when your semblance literally multiplies your strength it gets a little hard to notice the weight." I point out. Weiss puts on a look that says 'Oh I forgot about that.' and I find it priceless.

"Oh whatever." Weiss settles for saying.

"Aw don't be giving me that _Weiss cold_ attitude again." I say high fiving Yang without looking at her.

"Ugh!" Weiss rolls her eyes and looks away from me.

"Haha well wasn't this morning just enjoyable?" I ask everyone in the room as I move to take off my gauntlets.

* * *

 **Third person POV**

Meanwhile the same White Fang scout that has been scouting Hector ever since he saved the little faunus girl from a burning building from a while back. He dials Cinders number to report in for the evening. As the scroll rings he thinks about the massive amount of improvement Hector has went through.' _It's inhuman, last time I saw him he was barely able to fight properly and now he's causing small quakes.'_ He thinks to himself.

" _Report."_ Cinder demands as as soon as she picks up the phone.

"This Huntsman I've been tasked with keeping an eye on has gotten much stronger than the last time I reported in. He is someone to focus down when we attack. In better news they don't seem to have a clue about what's about to go down." The scout replies.

" _Oh? That is going to make things much more interesting. Nothing to worry about. Return to your camp now and await the attack and inform them of this discovery."_ Cinder hangs up after giving the demand. It is just two days until she makes another school fall and she cannot wait. And the fact that the silvered eyed girl Ruby is going to be a part of that destruction is a major bonus for her. Screw Salem's order to bring her back to her. She is going to watch her burn from her power. Cinder smiles sinisterly at the thought which worries Emerald and Mercury.

"So what did that guy say?" Mercury hesitantly asks from his corner of the room. Cinders sinister smile fades quickly at the sound of his annoying voice.

"Our mystery huntsman has grown quite powerful." Cinder reveals vaguely.

"How powerful are we talking here?"

Cinder walks up to Mercury and places a finger under his chin. Mercury freezes at the contact and doesn't dare to try to move it away. Emerald shrinks in her seat, not able to work up the courage to even try help him.

"You've been asking a lot of questions lately my dear Mercury. Pawns aren't supposed ask questions, but only to obey." Cinder says coldly, focusing a lot of heat at the tip of her finger making Mercury sweat out of nervousness and fear.

"R- right, Im sorry mam." Mercury says closing his eyes. Cinder smiles internally at his submissiveness.

"Good, remember your place and don't dare to forget." Cinder says releasing him from the contact of her finger and leaves the room. As soon as she leaves the room Mercury release a breath that he didn't know he was holding and rubs the spot where her finger was in.

"You know asking too many questions annoy her." Emerald points out.

"I just wanted to know how tough that guy is. That's it I don't think thats so bad. I'm really starting to hate her." Mercury says angrily.

"Feel free to complain to her and see what happens." Emerald says looking back down at the table.

"Oh don't give me that, you know as much as I do that she's been losing her marbles ever since Beacon. That lady is nuts now!" Mercury exclaims. Emerald pushes a hand up to his mouth to silence him from saying any more.

"Don't say that too loud!" Emerald whispers loudly. "All these walls have ears." Emerald points out before removing her hand from Mercury's mouth.

Mercury grunts but stays silent since he knows that she is right. "Whatever." He walks back into his corner and sits back down while rubbing his temples.

"She's not crazy… She's just _very_ stressed out." Emerald says in an attempt to defend Cinder.

"Heh sure Em whatever you say."

"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not but you deserve to know, No matter what happens I will be loyal to her. She saved me and I owe her everything. Do you understand?" Emerald asks with venom in her voice. Mercury doesn't say anything back for once, no lame comment, no nasty joke. Just a blank stare. He nods and shuts his eyes thinking. It's about to be an awkward 2 days.

* * *

 **AN- And thus this ends the tenth installment og Rwby:Oh gosh! This one was much easier to write since I had an idea for it at the end of last chapter. Im sorry that this took longer than expected to update. I had work and school and social activity bleh and all that shit. Thank you to everyone and anyone who has read this far! Thank you for enjoying my work! This has been so much fun to write so far. On this day one month ago I started this and wow what a journey so far.**

 **Question: What is your favorite chapter so far? Favorite scene? Favorite word? I don't know but I'm curious and I want to write more words.**

 **Any Ideas for me? Requests? Advice? I'm open for any and all Ideas. Please review and let me know how I am doing!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Rwby in any way shape or form.**


	11. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 10

**AN- First thank you to my FIVE reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Kage-kitsune9001- I'm sorry but no. Hector will not be getting any more dragon ball abilities. He can't be THAT op lol. I hope you enjoy the story anyway!**

 **Guest 1- Maybe i'll consider that, it does sound hilarious. Thank you for enjoying my story!**

 **Guest 2- So far the votes are**

 **Ruby- 2**

 **Weiss-1**

 **Yang-1**

 **Nora-2**

 **The votes are still going on until the beginning or middle of the battle of Haven arc or whenever I decide to end it lol. But so far Ruby and Nora are tied and I don't know what I'm going to do with that if it stays that way.**

 **Writing a harem on my first fic isn't something Im going to do. This is my first time writing a fanfic and also my first time having a pairing and I want to make it as realistic as I can possibly make it.**

 **Envoy of Torrask- Thanks a lot! Thanks for the smile you put on my face.**

 **Zeldawolffang- Thank you! Same goes to you!**

 **You guys put a smile on my face with every review I read. Thank you so much for the endless amounts of positive reviews that I have been getting!**

 **I love you guys 3**

 **Onto the show!**

* * *

Chapter 10 The day before the fight of our lives. Battle of Haven is tomorrow night.

Hector is doing mental training one final time before the imminent battle. Professor Ozpin does not want anyone doing any rigorous physical training in case the suspicion of an ambush is in fact a true threat. Even though he knows it's true from Hectors memories he really hopes it is not true. Hector is working on his pain tolerance so he can fully utilize his semblance to its fullest by imagining himself in an oven. Yes he is actually doing that. He gradually turns up the heat and does his best to sit in the burning oven for as long as he could. Professor Ozpin objected to this idea but Hector insisted by saying

" _Bitch you live in my body so we go by my rules."_

So needless to say he got what he wanted on the one condition that Professor Ozpin is the one who controls the temperature of the imaginary oven. On the outside Hector is sweating profusely, his face is scrunched up in pain and his skin is getting red like it's being burned by the sun, but on the inside it is much worse. All Hector sees is fire and burning coals, his aura protects him the best it could but it can only do so much to dull the burning pain all around his body. He sits in the middle of the oven with his legs crossed and his hands on his knees, he grips his knees tightly and squeezes his eyes shut trying to block out the pain the best he could.

Ruby enters the room as she usually does to hang out and notices Hector's current state. She runs up to me and kneels down in front of me asking me if Hector is okay. She goes to touch my forehead my the heat coming from my body almost burns her at the moment of contact and she instinctively yanks her hand away. She starts to panic since she doesn't know what to do at this point. She remembers something about the mental training that Hector does with Ozpin.

"Hector whatever you're doing you need to stop! NOW! Its hurting you!" Ruby shouts out hoping to get to Hector through his mental concentration.

 **Meanwhile**

 **Hector POV**

" _Are you sure you don't want to get out now? It seems rather hot in there."_ Ozpin asks looking through the bars of the giant old styled oven, brushing over the fact that Ruby is freaking out at the moment.

"Nope... a couple... more minutes… Por favor" I say through gritted teeth.

" _You've been in there for approximately four minutes so far. Even though one day of training is nowhere near enough to gain a substantial amount of tolerance to pain I am impressed by your tenacity."_ Ozpin says looking at his wrist as if a watch was actually there. " _That should be all the time you need to defeat any enemy that could push you that far."_

"Hold onnnn…" A couple more seconds pass. "Alright fuck this take me out." The moment I finish my sentence I am freed from my trance and my body instantly relishes in the much much cooler temperature and I fall forward physically.

Ruby catches me in her arms but of course in such perfect anime fashion my face ends up right in her chest, right on the soft bits. Ruby barely notices this contact since she is too worried about me.

"Hector! Are you okay?" Ruby asks with worry and concern etched into her voice.

"Oz... shut up I'm tired." I mumble up leaning into and hugging what I think is a pillow. Ruby blushes massively when she realizes what I'm leaning into. The color of her face could be mistaken as the same color as her cloak.

"H-H-Hector… Please wake up." Ruby asks stuttering trying to pry my arms off of her, I only tighten my grip at this. She can't reach her scroll since it is in her back pocket so she can't even her friends call for help.

' _Oh dear… Hector I do believe it is of utmost importance to wake up now.'_ Ozpin says in a vain attempt at waking me up. He cant take control because of how weak his body is currently.

"Sigues hablando de esa mierda gay." I respond out loud in spanish without really thinking.

"Uh… What was that?" Ruby is confused when she hears this but goes back to trying to pry my arms off.

' _I don't know what that means so I will assume that is a no… I'll lend you some of my aura for now so you can wake up soon. I wonder how you will react to the current situation.'_ Ozpin says as my body begins to grow an aura that is a mix between my dark red and his bright green, somehow not mixing into brown. Ruby notices this and stops struggling since she now knows that Ozpin is doing what he can to help.

 **Meanwhile**

The rest of team RNJR and RWBY are doing their usual thing, which is basically nothing, and sit around talking like they have been doing for the past damn month and only gets off their asses to be emotional or train. However in this fanfic they actually do something; They wonder how my training is going and are slightly worried when I told them what I was going basically going to cook myself alive in my own head this morning, so it's just a little warranted.

"Shouldn't one of us go check on him?" Jaune asks breaking the silence. "I can't imagine that he is enjoying himself right now."

"Ruby already went to go hang out with him like she usually does Im sure he's fine." Yang lazily responds, still a little sore from our rematch yesterday.

"She doesn't know what he is doing to himself right now." Ren points out. "Would it not be wise to at least warn her?"

"She'll figure it out when she gets there." Yang nonchalantly says.

"Well if you say so. I wonder how she is doing…"

* * *

Ruby has been in this position for about two minutes so far as Ozpin pumps some aura into to me, both healing me and gradually making me regain consciousness ever so slightly. I've tightened my grip unconsciously making it a bit harder for Ruby to breathe. I leaned forward to much and my bodyweight and sleeping strength pushed Ruby down onto her back in perfect anime moment fashion.

"Hector… Too much… Can't breathe." Ruby chokes out while locked in my vice grip.

"Hold on… one more... minute." I respond tiredly half unconscious half asleep at the moment, -yeah I found a way to do that somehow- and I am enjoying my well deserved rest much to the dismay and embarrassment of Ruby.

"How… are you even… managing this?" Ruby asks between deep breaths.

"Fuck you thats how." I respond laughing at my own joke in my sleep. Honestly I have no idea how I haven't woken up yet.

Ruby's eyes widen at my answer.

"What the… Are you awake!?" She asks loudly thinking I'm doing this on purpose and starts struggling to get out from under me again.

Finally I start to show signs of waking up from the loud noise and constant moving by squinting my eyes and opening them ever so slightly, I smell something… Flowery? I fully open my eyes much to Ruby's excitement at finally being able to be free after several minutes (It was actually like two and a half) and I instantly let go and jump back, adopting my own shade of red as I mutter out incoherent, unrecognizable words. Of course being me and from a different world my mind goes straight to the gutter.

"Oh gosh- How long- Did we- whasfb- sfuama."

"Finally you're awake!" Ruby says cutting me off from rambling any further. All her frustration disappears and she's just happy that I woke up in the first place after the little stunt I pulled, she smiles happily and jumps up to her feet. I calm down when I look around to find out where we are and I remember everything I just did to get to my current position.

"Oooh… How're you?" I greet as if what just happened never happened in the first place.

"How am I? How are you!? You are the one who had a one hundred and ten degree fever!" Ruby says placing a hand on her hip and pointing the other one up in my face while wearing a scolding mom face.

I lean back with my hands up out of fear and surprise of her sudden change in attitude as I look down at the much shorter adorable girl with a nervous smile on my face.

"Well to be fair... I did tell everyone that I was doing special training today…" I say nervously, a single sweatdrop on the left side of my forehead.

"No excuses! I didn't know what was wrong with you… I thought you were dying." Ruby says looking down. Her demeanor completely changed from happy to scolding to sad so fast.

My eyes widen when I realize what I just put her through. I had no idea that doing that kind of mental training with Ozpin would make my physical body look like it was dying. I pick up Ruby's chin and she looks at me with sad eyes.

"Hey cheer up please, no sadness allowed in this part of town. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I actually made you sad anyway, you're too cute for that. No more training like that anymore, I promise." I declare making Ruby smile and blush from my compliment.

"Hehe well… thanks. You always know how to cheer me up!" Ruby suddenly wraps her arms around me, I look down at her to see her smiling and her eyes closed. "I'm glad you're okay." My heart skips a beat after hearing this and I half awkwardly half happily hug her back.

' _Did your heart just skip a beat? That is precious.'_ Ozpin says in a very oogly cutesy voice that is very uncharacteristic of him.

" _Shut. The fuck. Up."_ I growl back at him in my thoughts.

' _Hahaha'_ Ozpin laughs out loud. Wait… Ozpin just laughed out loud? Holy shit I really am having an impact on him.

Me and Ruby stay in our position for what seems like an hour but is actually like 3.7 seconds and we separate from the hug. What an adorable moment. We stare into eachothers eyes for couple moments before both looking away bashful at what we just did.

"I should probably get back to the others now, the last thing I told them was ' _I'm going to bake myself alive so I can feel less pain from my semblance.'_ so I think I should let them know that I am indeed okay." I say rubbing the back of my head breaking the awkward silence before it could even begin.

"Yeah that seems like a good idea. Ooo how do you like your weapon so far?" Ruby asks excited for the answer and entering weapon geek mode.

"Its awesome! Thanks for convincing me even though it got annoying. It barely feels like it's there and it packs a punch!" I say entering my own weapon geek mode even though the only knowledge I have of weapons is my own I try to keep up with her and pretend to understand what she's talking about to make her feel happy since she has someone who understands what she is rambling about. But she doesn't need to know that.

"Awesome! I actually have a list of last minute upgrades that I thought of for you that consist of…" She goes on listing off about a dozen things that I simply say _interesting_ or _that sounds cool_ while nodding and smiling while on the inside I have no idea what the fuck she is talking about. Even Ozpin has trouble understanding what she is talking about and he's like as old as Remnant… I think. Everytime I ask him how old he is he changes the subject or ignores me completely.

"It'd take only a couple hours of work for me to put that into place." Ruby says finally ending her rant as we enter the room.

"As much as cool and innovative your ideas are I don't think we have enough time to put any of them into action, since y'know… we have until literally tomorrow night." I remind her.

Ruby's eyes widen as she remembers that little detail and laughs nervously.

"Oh yeah forgot about that for a couple minutes." Ruby mutters growing a light shade of pink on her pale face from embarrassment.

I snicker.

"Don't worry Lil Red I get moments like those to." I say patting her back.

"How did your training go?" Ren asks looking up from the book he is reading.

"Well I almost died apparently so it went about that well." I say nonchalantly as if nothing is wrong with that.

Ren blinks once, then twice before nodding twice slowly.

"... I see."

"You almost WHAT." Nora says seemingly teleporting to my side scaring the ever living shit out of me.

"AH! HOW DO YOU DO THAT?" I shriek loudly jumping away almost knocking over Ruby in the process.

"Are you okay? Where are you hurt?" Nora asks as she seemingly teleports all around me inspecting my body from several angles. Everytime I get my eyes on her she dashes to another spot around me before stopping in front of me with a hand on her chin wearing a thinking face.

"Nora please stop doing that you're scaring him." Ren says not even looking up from his book.

"Yes please I am very shook right now." I say finally getting a hold of Nora by grabbing her by the collar of her shirt stopping her in her tracks. Nora looks at me with a confused look.

"Shook? Is that something from your world?" Nora asks.

"Oh yeah forgot that you guys dont have alot of the same terminology of my world. Shook means freaked out or scared in a playful way. At least that's what I think it means." I explain after releasing her collar so she could turn her body toward me. "Wow the longer I'm here the more I realize how fucked my old world actually is."

' _Language!'_ Ozpin scolds.

" _Oh shut up Oz."_ I respond to him, turning my eyes up and to the right as if he is right behind me.

"Oh hey they're back! Told you they would be fine." Yang and Weiss join the group conversation after wondering what the commotion was all about between the shouting and the girly scream.

"Now the gangs all here look at that- Oh wait no Im wrong where's Jaune?" I ask cutting myself off mid sentence.

"I'm right here dude." Jaune speaks up from one of the couches that happened to be out of my vision. I'm disappointed in myself for not noticing him but also impressed by his unintentional stealth.

"When did you get there?" I ask blinking a couple times in surprise.

"I calmly refer to it as stealth mode." Jaune says with a goofy smile. I laugh Immediately and uncontrollably not because of the joke but because of the reference to Dragon ball z abridged Jaune accidentally made. The way I laugh makes everyone else stare at me in confusement at how much that little joke killed me comically. "Was it really that funny?"

"Oh hell no you just reminded me of a show I used to watch all the time back in my world." I say honestly after I recover from laughing.

"Oh... well that makes more sense now."

"How did your insane training go? I see that you managed to get out of it without any permanent injuries." Weiss says crossing her arms.

"Oh yeah you weren't here earlier. I basically baked myself in an imaginary oven with Oz controlling the temperature." I explain with the short version for the sake of simplicity.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Weiss yells out stomping her feet for added effect. I recoil back and return to my nervous position from earlier.

"Okay never again I understand. Ruby already gave me this talk." I plead trying to save myself from the wrath of the Ice queen.

"Hmph, I'll spare you this time since you seem to be completely healed from whatever happened to you." Weiss says crossing her arms and leaning on her hip.

" _Whew_."

"Aww~ My little sister all worried about a guy, how adorable!" Yang teases putting Ruby in a one armed headlock. Ruby's arms flail around and her eye turn into anime white circles.

"Yaaaang stop!" Ruby pleads, pulling at her sisters arm.

"I don't know this is kind of hilarious to watch." I speak up unfazed by Yangs teasing.

"Hector not you too." Ruby whines.

"* **GAAASSSP*** " I gasp suddenly at a certain realization that originates from my world drawing the attention of everyone in the room. They all stare at me awkwardly awaiting my explanation but I just continue to wear a shocked face with a goofy grin.

"...What was that for?" Weiss asks breaking the silence. I suddenly grab Weiss's shoulders causing her to shriek at the sudden moment and contact and I look her in the eyes with determination.

"What's the date?" I ask in the most serious voice I have mustered up ever since they've known me.

"... May 14th." Weiss hesitantly answers. Thank god the RWBY world has the same months and days as ours do.

"Eeeeeeeee." I incoherently and childishly shriek.

"Okay stop that and tell us what's got you all excited." Weiss demands what everyone wants to know at the moment.

"Okay okay fine. My birthday is in like 13 days and I'm excited now." I explain calming down instantly at the realization that I'm just getting a year closer to death.

"That means you need a BIRTHDAY PARTY!" Ruby yells out and jumps happily now free of Yangs grasp.

"Yeah no. Like I said, in 13 days so we have to wait. Besides we still have things to do before we can even think about something like that. Besides parties were never my thing anyway." I say calming her down right away.

"Well what do we do now?" Ruby asks. "It's almost night."

"I don't know what do you guys want to -wait did you say it's almost night?" I ask when i realize what Ruby just said. "What time is it?"

Ruby takes out her scroll to check the time and confirms that it is indeed 6pm.

"WHEN? I MEAN HOW? HOW LONG WAS I THERE?" I ask genuinely confused, looking out the window to see the sun is indeed on its way down.

' _7 hours.'_ Ozpin says confirming Ruby's statement.

"The longer I am here the more I get confused." I say rubbing my temples in disbelief.

Ruby walks up to me and pats my shoulder like I did to her earlier.

"Don't worry RJ I get moments like those too." She says replicating what I said to her earlier and calling me by the nickname I specifically told them not to call me by, but I can't help but smile anyway.

"Wow thanks Lil red I'm glad someone finally understands me." I say while playfully rolling my eyes.

"Hey, biggest kid, get over here." Qrow calls out to me from his room. Probably still half drunk but he makes us laugh so we love him anyway.

"And that's my cue to leave. Tis' has been fun hanging with you guys but the crow man has requested an audience with me." I say with the most royal accent I can muster up on the spot like that.

"See ya!"

"Miss ya already!"

"Goodnight because it'll probably last until we go to sleep." Everyone says bye in their own way as I walk backward around a corner.

* * *

I walk down the hall wondering what Qrow could want with me this evening. I have no idea where he has been and honestly forgot that he actually came back to the room last night since y'know, the whole old funny drunk guy thing he has going on.

"Alright Qrow what is it now?" I ask as I walk through the open doorway and sit on the spare bed in his room that nobody uses.

"A little blonde bird told me you've been getting a little _too_ friendly with a certain red wearing silver eyed girl. So what's up with that?" Qrow asks taking a swig of his flask before glaring at me.

"I mean… what's not to like about her?" I answer honestly with another question shrugging my shoulders and smiling nervously. Qrow stares at me for a couple moments before nodding and has another swig of his near peroxide levels of alcohol from his flask.

"Hmm thats an acceptable answer but this discussion is not over and It's not what i called you here for in the first place." Qrow reveals putting his flask back in on the inside of his coat pocket.

" _Oh thank god."_ I think to myself and Ozpin. "So what is it then?"

"If you're right about the ambush tomorrow, there's going to be two maidens and a lot of tough opponents. I need to know if you think you're ready to take them on." Qrow says seriously.

I look down at my lap and think hard on the subject. Sure Mercury and Emerald could be no problem one on one, but together they might be an issue, but if I get used to the illusions and stop falling for them I could win that fight, although it wouldn't be without taking a lot of hits for sure, or I could abuse my semblance and fuck em up right away but that drains a lot of stamina. The Fall and Spring maidens, and Hazel are a whole other story, I honestly don't know how I will fair against them but we'll just have to find out now don't we?

"Against the grunts I could probably win using a small power boost from my semblance, but the maidens and any of the bigger tougher guys that can take a lot of hits could be a huge problem since stamina sucks still even though it got much better. Ozpin says I'm already strong enough to take them on as their better in terms of power but I honestly don't know." I answer as honestly and explain the my situation the best as I could.

Qrow arches his eyebrow and continues to glare at me before shaking his head and leans on his lap with one of his elbows.

"Listen Hector." Qrow calls me by my name for I think is the first time? I don't know I might've forgotten if he another time. "I need you- No we _ALL_ need you to be certain that you can take them on. I know you're new to the whole Huntsman thing but something like this isn't something to take lightly and I need you to give me a straight answer. Now I want you to try again because this serious. The last time Ozpin went up against a Maiden he ended up becoming a roomate with you in your own head. I will ask you one more time. Are you ready?" Qrow asks again with more umph this time.

I think on my answer much longer this time longer this time. " _Am I ready? I've been training to fight for just a single month give or take. The only reason Im this strong and skilled now is because of Oz's muscle memory and his own skill-_

' _No its too late to think like that, it's now or never, I know you're ready.'_ Ozpin surprises me by cutting me off with his verdict. I mentally thank Ozpin for his vote of confidence then I smile and look back at Qrow into his waiting red eyes as he awaits my answer.

"Yes, I'm about to kick all sorts of ass come tomorrow night, just watch me." I say with a confident grin. Qrow smirks and takes out his flask and tosses it to me.

"Just in case you're full of shit you might as well take your final drink now." Qrow says giving me a nod. I look at the flask in my hand but shake my head and toss it back to him.

"Nah I'm not a drinker, but I'll share one with you after the fight. Besides the last time I drank from this thing it felt like my throat was being disinfected." I say before chuckling a bit at the last part.

"That's how you know it's good booze." Qrow states before joining me in my chuckling. "I like you kid. You make me laugh and you make my nieces happy. I'll consider you a friend now." Qrow says while smiling.

"Wait this whole time we weren't friends? I thought we were like besties!" I say with half sadness and disappointed but half happy that I have Qrows approval now. It's like a good dream come true but at the same time you are eating your least favorite food.

"Don't push it kid. Now get out of here before I come to my senses." Qrow says before falling half asleep out of nowhere.

"Actually I have a question for you that kinda may or may not but most likely may involve your relation with Ruby." I mention hesitantly as I tap the tips of my fingers together.

Qrow looks back at me with a glare that could kill that makes me shrink on the spot, luckily his look softens and he closes the door with his foot just in case anyone is eavesdropping.

"What is it?"

"Well… I don't need to tell you that in my old world, your world is just a show. So i'll assume that you know how I know some of the things I'm about to say." Qrow nods in understanding. "Good I'll just get straight to the point then. There's this fan theory that went around saying that you were Ruby's real father- Now before you straight out deny it let me continue. You're telling me that Tai was with your sister for a good amount of time and loved her so much that they had a kid together. Then when Raven left leaving him heartbroken and depressed he got with Summer in less than half a year and got over Raven and had ANOTHER kid with Summer. See where I'm coming from? In my world people just don't have a kid with one person then get over them in less then a year and have a kid with another person. And that's not including the fact that Ruby has literally no traits from Tai or looks anything like Yang." Qrow looks at me before nodding, kinda impressed with my evaluation but shakes his head no anyway.

"I knew you were going to ask about this eventually and I can see where you're coming from kid but no your little theory isn't true. I know it sounds crazy but yeah that's how it happened. Ruby's not my kid, and that is the truth." Qrow says putting up a valid point. I am living in an anime world after all so literally anything is possible.

"Alright I rest my case, just wanted to get that off my chest." I say before standing up and walking up to the closed door and wrapping my fingers around the doorknob but stop myself and I look back at him with another nervous smile. "We're still friends right?"

Qrow chuckles.

"Yeah kid we're pals, don't worry." Qrow confirms before laying down flat on his bed.

I smile to myself and head back to my room since everyone is packing it in for the night early so we can be well rested for tomorrow night. I grab a drink that I no idea how to pronounce the name of from the fridge that I just found out was there the whole time before I head to my room and sit on my bed. I can't close the door because of a certain super hyper ginger who decided it was a good idea to destroy it in order to come wake me up so she could hang out with me for the day, so it's just a open doorway with no door.

' _I feel a dark presence, be on your guard.'_ Ozpin warns me.

I stand up with my guard up and look around the dark room. I see a dark evil red light coming from my bathroom and the same Grimm jellyfish looking thing that I remember from the show comes out and floats its way toward me and stops a couple feet from me, I look at it with my guard up and I slowly reach for Ozpin's cane since its the only weapon I have on me currently.

"What do you want Salem?" I ask as I place my hand on Ozpin's cane.

" **So you're the mysterious huntsman I've been warned about so many times."** Salem says as her snow white face appears on the globe. It feels like she is staring into my soul.

"Depends. Are you the housekeeping service?" I ask with a cocky grin. I may be putting on an confident act but on the inside Im scared shitless. If Salem knows about me now, it won't be long until she learns about Ozpin sharing a body with me.

" **Hmm. Not as intimidating as my pawns have described you to be. But at least you have spirit. I have an offer for you, it's simple-"**

"Yeah you can just go fuck off in the deepest part of your own asshole. I'm not about to be tricked into working for a monster." I say angrily cutting her off bravely. Salem narrows her eyes irritated at my outburst.

" **I can sense your fear. You're not as powerful as you or your comrades believe you to be. Continue down this path and you will face all kinds of terror. I will personally punish you for making my plans more difficult than they need to be."** I think on my next words. There's no way I will join her but I can't help but to be afraid, so I cope with it the best way I know how

"Who wouldn't be afraid of your fucked up face. Like holy shit you look like the offspring of a Grimm and Santa claus." I insult placing my hands on my hips and laughing at my own joke.

' _WHAT ARE YOU DOING.'_ Ozpin demands to know.

" _Shut up I'm coping."_

Salem's eyes scrunch up in anger but calms herself down since she was warned that I wasn't the smartest person in the world. AS much as I annoy her if I was on her side she would be in a much much better spot and her plans would go down even better.

" **You have one more chance Hector. Join me or fight an unwinnable battle and die."**

"Yeah i'm going to go with secret option C and work with my friends and kick your ass and win. You're not winning me over, and trust me you will not get anything to hang over my head." I say bravely. My fear fading away gradually but slowly.

" **Hmm disappointing. I will save you a spot just for you when the world is under my heel."** And with that her Jellyfish zooms out the closed window, shattering it and causing the glass to fly all over the room.

"That was my favorite window…" I say sadly before releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding. That was intense.

' _You are the bravest man I've ever met to be able to say something such as that to her face.'_

"Thanks but I don't want to sleep here anymore." I declare as I jog out of my room. The second I round the corner I bump into someone knocking them down on accident.

"Owie…" Ruby whines.

"Oh sorry about that Ruby you okay?" I ask helping her up to her feet.

"Yeah I heard something shatter from your room so I came to help! Are you okay? What happened?" Ruby asks so fast that I barely understand. I don't want to worry her with the truth that I was just talking shit to an evil Grimm god so I settled with something I came up with on the spot.

"I may have slept walk so violently that I headbutted the window in my room." I say before falling on the couch on my side and heading to sleep immediately. Ruby doesn't even get time to process what happened so she just shrugs and heads back to her room to go back to sleep. Today was an interesting day/night to say the least. And tomorrow night is going to be quite the fight night.

' _I have faith in you Hector.'_

* * *

 **AN- AND THE FINAL CHAPTER BEFORE THE BATTLE OF HAVEN BEGINS HAS BEEN FINISHED! Woof I started this the day I posted last chapter and finished it today. I had to take some time to think of what to write next and when I do I go on a 4 hour typing spree.**

 **Did you guys see Salem trying to recruit Hector coming? I thought it would be a good thing to do for the day before the beginning of the battle of Haven.**

 **Regarding the pairing its most likely going to me Ruby. As I was writing this I got a lot of messages for Ruby so there we go. She's fun to write and I feel like it would be easiest to write a pairing with her anyway.**

 **Thoughts? Questions? Favorite chapter? Anything you want to say or request? I'm all ears! Please review and let me know how I'm doing so far! Thank you to anyone who has read this far! I'm going to take my sweet time with this begining to make it as enjoyable as possible.**

 **I made my profile finally, go take a look! I have two upcoming stories that I will write in between the Hiatus Oh Gosh will go on until Volume 6 comes out finally. But don't worry! Oh gosh will have plenty of one shots until then!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Rwby in any way shape or form.**

 **Edit: Okay after the first couple hours after I posted this about 5 more votes for Ruby as the lucky girl for Hector. So this is a official announcement that this will be a OC X Ruby Rose story. The votes have closed.**


	12. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 11

**AN- Last chapter I had TONS of pairing votes being casted. This is the result:**

 **Nora- 2**

 **Yang- 3**

 **Weiss- 2**

 **Drum roll please...**

 **Ruby Rose- 9**

 **Poor Nora… She was tied with Ruby like just yesterday.**

 **So I think it's safe to say that Ruby is going to be the lucky girl for this fanfic, just don't expect it to be very soon. I'm sorry to anyone who wanted any of the other waifus. But don't worry! Once the battle of Haven arc is over I will make one-shots involving Hector with other girls and other crazy adventures. So it may not be canon to the fic but hey, at least you would get want, even if its a one shot.**

 **Now to the people who didn't vote and just made a normal review:**

 **Kage-kitsune9001- Hector will be getting a new power involving his weapons so you can look forward to that! I will consider your idea though. Thanks for the review!**

 **Guest- I just realize that now and now I feel stupid, sorry for not realizing it earlier. Thanks for the review!**

 **Guest 2- I'll include more "Option c's" moments just from reading that now. Thanks for the review!**

 **Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed and/or favorited this fanfiction. We're at 65 followers and 49 favorites and I am just astonished. That's like a whole large college classroom at the beginning of the semester but the next week half of them drop the class, but that's not the case here… Hopefully.**

 **Bad jokes aside thank you all for loving or liking or however you want to describe this story. It warms the heart.**

 **To anyone with concerns on whether the story will be ending or not after this arc is over i'll put an end to that little rumor right now. This story will last as long as RWBY itself does and after that is over I'll do a canon divergence. So I don't know how long RWBY will last since Roosterteeth like to make their series like 20 years long *Cough* Red vs Blue *Cough* This fanfic is most likely never going to end. Unless I die of course but that's unlikely anytime soon since i'm only 18.**

 **Just a warning to whoever doesn't like blood. This chapter gets a little… Graphic to say the least. You guys will see what I mean.**

 **Now without any further adieu or distractions let's get on to the first chapter of the Battle of Haven arc! Yeah I started it early I got too bored writing out the actual 5th day don't hate.**

* * *

Chapter 11 The night we've all been waiting for! (Battle of Haven part 1)

Team RNJR (With me as the R) and the present members of team RWBY all walk side by side in a group not too far apart with me and Qrow in the front. Qrow walks in a slouched posture with his hands in his pockets, I walk in a similar fashion but I am in a more straight posture and I have Ebony and Ivory on my hands, luckily I ended up taking Ruby on her offer and adjusted my pockets so that they could fit. All morning and afternoon everyone was in a much more serious mood, this night could either be the fight of their lives or not, it's as simple as that. The night we've all been waiting for has finally arrived. Ozpin has not spoken to me in some time, preparing himself for a battle just in the case he needs to get involved. I stay confident in my abilities but still hold some doubt within me.

" _I'm making some adjustments to this night."_ I think to myself.

Ruby takes in the sights before her, looking to her right at a lit up tower before looking back to the front of the group and into my back. I haven't been as sociable as I usually am today but she understands. Today is going to be my first real fight with an actual threat, _multiple_ very powerful threats at that, some that I am most likely going to have to deal with myself. She speeds up her pace to catch up to my side and I turn my head slightly and give her a nod of acknowledgement before looking back to what's ahead of me.

"Hopefully he didn't do anything wrong and this isn't about to be an ambush." Ruby says hopefully gaining everyone's attention.

"Don't get your hopes up, get ready for a fight." I say in a very serious tone cutting off anyone who even thought of speaking up. Everyone is slightly taken aback at my tone, even Qrow looks at me through the corner of his eye with some concern. We near the door to the hall Lionheart told us all to meet him in. I move to open the door but Qrow grabs my wrist. I look at him with a questioning look waiting for him to explain

"Hector don't go in with us yet. If they don't know about you and this is going to be a fight you'd have the element of surprise." Qrow explains letting go of my wrist. I think on his plan for a few moments.

" _There's no way they dont know about me by now if Salem herself does… Although This is the same door that Hazel went through to get to them in the show from what I remember… but at the same time Cinder attacks Ruby in the beginning of the fight… Fuck important decisions."_

I nod my head in understanding as I secretly formulate a plan in my head on what I should do. I walk away about ten feet away from the door and lean on the wall, looking into everyone's eyes one by one and give them a reassuring smile. The first smile coming from me on that day in fact. They all nod at me and Qrow opens the door and enters the room, followed by everyone else, Ruby gives me one last look and a nod before joining everyone else. I could've sworn I saw her eyebrows arch in sadness for a sec but I think nothing of it. I focus on my hearing which is much much better due to my training with Ozpin and listen to the conversation on the other side of the wall.

"Why hello. Thank you for… coming. There… seems to be more of you than last time." Lionheart nervously greets.

"Eh, you know what they say, "The more the merrier." So what's going on with the council?" Qrow asks while keeping his cool and temper under check.

"Is this… all of you? And why did you bring your weapons?" Lionheart asks trying to dodge Qrows question.

"What? Leo this is all we got. Also we're huntsman, kinda comes with the job, you okay?" Qrow says arching his eyebrow. Everyone tenses up slightly knowing what this means and puts their guards up.

"Of course! Of course sorry. Just havent had my evening coffee." Lionheart says.

"Look it's nice to see you but we got work to do. Are we getting support from the council or not?" Qrow says secretly placing a hand on his weapon behind his back.

Meanwhile Yang looks around the room and notices a black raven with very noticeable red eyes. A raven that looks very familiar…"Mom?" Yang calls out to the bird.

Immediately Qrow takes his weapon out and shoots at the raven but it flies away just in time to avoid the buckshot. The raven circles around the room before flying right behind Lionheart. But instead of the black bird Raven Branwen comes out the other side. She wears her Grimm mask and is dawning her usual sexy red samurai looking outfit.

Back with me I hear the gunshot and I tense up knowing that Raven has revealed finally herself. I was leaning on that wall for about 2 minutes but every second felt like thirty seconds. I move off the wall and move toward the door but before I can reach the door Ozpin stops me, taking control of my arm and freezing my body. The only part of my body I can move are my eyes. I look around freaked out about what is happening to me.

' _Now is not the time Hector, someone is near.'_ Ozpin instructs giving me back control and I immediately start panting. I hear footsteps coming from behind me. Big, heavy, slow footsteps. I turn around to meet the brown eyes of Hazel who is standing about 2 meters away from me with his arms crossed.

"So. You must be Hector the mystery Huntsman. I'm under specific instructions to bring you back to my boss alive." Hazel says in his deep gruff voice.

My eyes widen at the reveal that Salem wants me to be brought back to her, alive no less. Certainly this has to be a fate worse than death or… Does she know about me and Ozpin? " _No if that was the case Hazel would've tried to kill me right away instead of stupidly blurting out his plan to me."_ I think to myself. I stay silent as I widen my stance and take my hands out of my pockets, revealing Ebony and Ivory for the first time to Hazel.

"Strange… I was told you were quite the talkative one." Hazel says as he uncrosses his arms.

 _"UUGGHH!"_ A unmistakable voice groans out.

I drop my guard and look toward the door knowing that I just heard Ruby get hit by the fireball. Hazel sees this and goes to attack me right away but luckily I manage to turn back around to face him just in time to dodge his punch and kick him away, pushing myself back in the process. He doesn't give me any time to think about my next move as he lunges at me again, this time faster and aggressive. I can tell he's doing this purposely to stall for time so his colleagues can slaughter everyone in the room right behind him. I growl at his plan and get in my fighting stance. Me and Hazel lock eyes once again before lunging at each other once again. I am holding back on the Kaioken purposely because I need to save it for the stronger more magical enemies on the inside.

" _What is the HELL is wrong with you!?"_ I hear Jaune yell loudly at Cinder.

' _Every second counts.'_ I think to myself as I catch a punch from Hazel with Ivory and electrocute him causing his body to tense up uncontrollably opening him up for an attack, I use this opening to use Ebony to grab his face and adjust my grip with Ivory so I have a hold on his wrist and throw him over me so my back now faces the door.

" _...and rub it in our faces like it's something to be proud of!… All with that DAMN SMILE ON YOUR FACE!"_ I hear Jaune yell a very familiar line.

I curse under my breath and start running to the door before Hazel can get back up from my throw. I am picturing the way the room looks trying my best to memorize where Cinder, Mercury and Emerald are all standing. I hear all my friends ready their weapons. The world starts to move in slow motion, including myself as I near the large double doors.

" _Everybody stay calm!"_ Qrows shouts. ' _Damn it where the hell is Hector? He should've made his move by now.'_

" _I'm going to make you pay for what you did! Do you hear me!? Well? SAY SOMETHING!"_ Jaune screams out as he is crying.

' _Now is the time.'_ Ozpin points out. As if I needed him to give me a signal.

"KaioKen times 5!"I activate Kaioken and focus every ounce of it into speed. Instantly my muscles are in pain and burning.

" _Who..."_

The world around me stays in slow motion as I speed up, my hands are now on the door. Kaioken times 6

" _Are you…"_

I barge through the doors at breakneck speeds but the only one who seems to notice is Ruby as she turns around being able to see me. Even she is moving like a turtle to me but much faster compared to the others. My footsteps now crack the floor with each step. Kaioken times 8

" _Again?"_

" _ARGH!"_ Jaune yells as he readies his sword and prepares to charge.

I charge past Jaune and cock the fist that bears Ebony and focus my semblance into that arm while I keep up the speed. Kaioken times 10

Everyone's eyes widen including Cinders as the sound of the doors slamming open finally register into their ears and Cinder sees me in front of her. It is too late to even react to my incoming fist. I slam my fist into her face sending some lighting through her body and sending her flying back into the wall behind her, becoming embedded in it. After that I roundhouse Emerald and Mercury away in a single stroke sending them tumbling away. Raven and Vernal jump away a good distance before I can get to them but Qrow attacks Raven right away. They share some words before Raven kicks him away and they begin fighting in a random corner of the room out of sight. Lionheart just stares at me in awe from his position from above. I power down from the Kaioken sending relief throughout my whole body and I look to Cinder with an intentionally cocky smile on my face. She returns my smile with a sharp angry fiery glare that could kill a man as she breaks out from the wall, her body still coursing with electricity but she barely seems to notices. I point to her with Ivory and then I convert my point to a middle finger.

" _That_ was for Pyrrha Nikos you _**bitch**_." I say that last word for more emphasis and venom. "And there's plenty more where that came from you Sasuke looking ass, insane _**cunt**_."

Cinder eyes gain a orange fiery aura to them after hearing me call her that. She forms a glass sword in her right hand but before she could move to attack me Jaune runs past me with his sword up and attacks Cinder, but of course Cinder blocks the reckless and telegraphed attack and kicks him away. We lock eyes for a moment before I turn away and run toward to stairs that lead to where Lionheart stands. She looks at me with confusion but turns her attention to Jaune as he tries to attack her once again.

Meanwhile Ruby and Yang begin fighting Emerald and Mercury respectively while Weiss takes on Vernal, and Ren and Nora take on Hazel who finally showed up. I know Weiss gets her ass handed to her so I make a mental note to help her out in this fight. I have to let Jaune fight Cinder for now so Ruby can unlock her silver eyed power again.

Besides I need to keep _some_ things the same.

As I run up the stairs I see Weiss put up her ice wall to cover herself so she could begin summoning that big white atlesian knight. But I know from the show that she takes a ridiculous amount of time to do that and gets punished for it multiple times losing her aura and later gets fatally wounded by Cinder.

"Weiss! What the hell are you doing!? That's not going to work against her, she won't give even give you time to breathe!" I yell at her as I run past and up the stairs. Luckily Weiss took my advice and jumped away from the hot slash of Vernals wrist blades that cut through her Ice wall like it was nothing but air. Vernal stands on top of the melting ice wall and gives Weiss a cocky smirk.

"He's right you know." Vernal says as she attacks Weiss once again.

I run up the stairs and stop behind Lionheart. I cross my arms and clear my throat to get his attention. He spins around and readies his weapon, pointing it at me.

"I don't know who you are but you should leave… now." Lionheart threatens as he spins his disk setting it to fire dust.

I laugh at his threat that I know will amount up to nothing.

"Yeah I'm definitely going to leave _just_ because you told me to." I say with sadistic sarcasm as I step towards him. He fires his weapon but I use Ebony and Ivory to redirect the fireball into the ground beside me. His eyes widen in shock and fear at how easily I took care of the fireball, and he lowers his weapon slightly.

"Where did you even come from?" Lionheart asks.

"From the horse's ass." I answer with a roll of my eyes. "Honestly I have no idea how I got here I just kinda woke up in the woods one day."

"W-what? Are you being serious?" Lionheart asks utterly confused. I answer him with a punch to the gut. But instead of using my fist I used Ozpin's cane. For the first time since I got here, I used his cane as a weapon. I grab a fistful of his hair and raise him up to my head level. Leaving his legs dangling slightly as they barely touch the ground. He struggles and thrashes in my grip.

"More than you deserve to witness you little fucker." I spit loudly into his face. "I would take you out now, but I got someone who wants to speak to you." My eyes flash green and I drop him from my grip, he lands on his butt and rubs his head where I grabbed him at. He looks up with fear in his eyes and stares directly into mine. At least that's what he thinks.

Ozpin extends his cane and slams the bottom of it right between Lionhearts legs, making him yelp. He opens his eyes and sees the familiar cane. His eyes widen and his pupils shrink as he realizes who this belongs to. He slowly tilts his head back up to meet Ozpin's eyes. Ozpin wears a look of disappointment and he sighs.

"What happened to you Leonardo." Ozpin asks a question with an obvious answer in a voice that echoes in a combination of mine and his own, not even making it sound like a question.

"O-Oz-Ozpin… You're here… In this man. How did you reincarnate so quickly?" Lionheart asks once he regains his composure.

Ozpin answers him by hitting the side of his head with his cane. Effectively knocking him out and sending him flying over the railing to land right on his back and shoulder. He rolls a couple feet until he is right in front of Hazel. Hazel looks down at his unconscious body and sighs dissapointed.

"He's a coward _and_ he's useless." He mutters as he softly kicks his body away and into a wall. He looks up at me just as my eyes glow a dark red and we lock our gazes. He is forced to look away as Nora hits his guarding arm with her hammer.

I see this and smile at the sight before me. "Good he's not going to go crazy on me since our ol' pal Leo got knocked out. I also managed to do that much faster than Oscar could've ever hoped for so now I have plenty time to help the others." I mumble to myself as I jump down the stairs and run straight ahead to Ren and Nora as they are on their knees and panting.

"Sorry about taking so long to come help. What's the sitrep?" I ask helping them both up and setting them behind me and I get into my stance.

"I don't know what that means but we're getting our butts kicked by this guy." Nora says between breaths. Ren nods in agreement. I look at Ebony and the electricity that is sparking off of it. I look to Nora and formulate a _shocking_ on the spot plan.

"Hey Nora." I say getting her attention. I gesture to my sparking hand and she nods in understanding and raises her shirt to reveal the skin on her belly. Ren is confused at first but once he sees my sparking hand he understands what I am planning and moves out of the way. "I don't know if this kind of electricity will hurt or not but it will make you a lot stronger right?" I ask as my hand nears her belly.

Hazel looks on in confusion as to why I'm about to electrocute my own teammate but doesn't move to stop me, unaware of my plan.

"Only one way to find out right?" Nora says with her usual cheery smile.

I nod at her and grab her belly with my electrically supercharged gauntlet, and all at once release the current into her body. She yells out in pain and I am able to see her skeleton every second or two, but after a few more moments she begins to growl with power and I see her muscles grow and tense up and her body course with pink electricity. Hazel realizes what I'm doing and makes a move to stop me but it's too late. I release my grip on her belly and grab her hand. I spin two times before throwing her with all my might into Hazel. Nora yells as she swings her hammer into Hazel sending him flying through multiple walls. He definitely felt that, a little bit at least. He gets up dazed and disoriented. I smile at my master plan working, and look around to see Weiss still getting her ass handed to her. I look to Ren who gives me a nod.

"Go help her, me and Nora will handle him." He reassures before jumping into the hole Nora made with Hazel. I nod back and smile before running toward Weiss and Vernal. But before I can even get within 5 meters of them, Raven slashes at me from the side. I barely block the attack with Ivory and I turn to face her, using Ebony to help out with the power struggle we got ourselves locked in.

' _What the hell happened to Qrow?!"_ I think to myself frustrated. This was not part of my plan, that's for sure.

"You're not getting anywhere near her _Ozpin."_ Raven says loudly intentionally, allowing everyone in the room hear her, save for Hazel who is somewhere else in the building. My eyes widen at what she just said to me. She pushes me away with a kick and lunges toward me again, I ready my guard and prepare for a fight but luckily Qrow comes in switching from his bird form back to his human form, and blocks the attack and forces her away from me. I sigh in relief at the clutch comeback of Qrow and turn to make my way to Weiss again. But as I start taking my first step a bright white, silvery light fills the room. I move to protect my eyes with my hands.

"NOOOOO-" Ruby's power is cut off as Emerald whips the back of her neck. I took too long…

The bright white light fades away instantly to reveal Cinder on one knee and Jaune running toward her with his sword out, intending to stab Cinder right in her arrogant little head. Time seems to slow as Jaune _just_ misses her entire face, just nicking her on the side of her cheek. Jaune falls onto his back from exhaustion and heaves.

" _C'mon man you couldn't have moved your sword like I don't know, just an Inch to the left? That would've definitely made my life easier."_ I complain to myself as my eyesight fully returns.

"AHH!" Weiss screams in pain on my right, she is knocked onto her knees after Vernal fires her lazers right into her back. Her aura has been broken…

"Ruby!" Yang shouts as she kneels next to her unconcious little sister.

"Guh." Jaune grunts as Cinder steps on his chest knocking the wind out of him, and threatening to break a rib.

I have a choice to make. Save Weiss from the stab in the spine that Vernal is coming at her with, help Yang and Ruby against Emerald and Mercury, or help Jaune who is currently getting the life choked out of him as Cinder yells into his face about how he could have never beaten her. As time passes at a turtles pace Nora and Ren come flying out of the hole. Hazel comes out with his orange dust crystals injected in each of his arms, super powering him. To make the matter worse Qrow just got knocked into a wall and he is desperately trying to keep Ravens blade away that is mere inches away from his throat.

" _5 fucking options huh? Well… let's go with secret option F!"_ I think to myself as I start screaming, gaining every villains attention.

"KAIOKEN TIMES TWENTY." The room turns glows a blood red, with me as the light source. All I see is literally red as my blood red aura covers my entire body. This pain is worse then I could ever have imagined. My eyes roll to the back of my head making them appear white and my leather jacket and white t-shirt literally burn off my body due to the insane heat radiating off my body, leaving me in just my green pants and black boots, Ebony and Ivory stay on to but glow orange since they are being heated by my body. My eyes start crying tears of blood and my muscles feel like they are about to melt off my bones, and my bones feel like they are about to turn into dust from the amount of pressure. Later my ears, mouth and nose start bleeding as well and the blood flow down my body. Mercury and Emerald are terrified at the sight, Hazel is in awe at how much power he feels im giving off. Raven drops Qrow down to the floor and he lands on his hands and knees but doesn't even take his eyes off of me. Raven looks at me with shock and awe. Vernal stops her stab at Weiss, and is blown away along with Weiss since they are closest to me. Yang looks in horror at my state. Bleeding this much without your aura going down is scary to watch, and the worst part about it is that it doesn't even stop. The blood just keeps coming. Ruby stirs at the sensation of all this power and loud screams but does not regain consciousness completely. Jaune, now released from the heel of Cinder, props himself up on his elbows and looks at me. He knows by the look of me that once I power down it's all over for me.

"Hector STOP! IF YOU KEEP GOING ON LIKE THIS YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!" Jaune screams through the skin ripping winds I'm creating. "I can't lose another friend please!" Jaune pleads with teary eyes.

My eyes slowly roll back to where they are visible and I stare at all my opponents. My hair flows wildly along with my aura and even the color has changed slightly to a very very dark red that is barely noticeable from a distance. My aura is working double time to heal the damage I am doing to myself, and Ozpin is supplying all the aura he can from his own soul to help out in the effort of healing my self destructing body.

"Sorry Jaune…" I say with a echo in my voice. "This way I can end all the threats at once." I say before screaming once more and charging toward Cinder at breakneck speed, too fast for the human eye.

Cinder smiles at my choice of a first opponent and readies her two glass swords instantly. The plan has been already majorly altered but if she doesn't take me down now the plan wouldn't work out anyway.

Raven takes Vernal down the elevator leading down into the vault in the ensuing chaos, being unseen by everyone.

* * *

White fang soldiers who are setting up the bombs stare in awe at the red lights coming from the windows of Haven academy and the constant vibrations throughout the earth beneath them. Sirens go off throughout the city as the kingdom is placed on high alert.

"What the hell is going on in there? They're supposed to be quiet about it!" Adam yells out in frustration. "Squad seven! Come with me!" Adam orders as he makes jumps from rooftop to rooftop on his way to assist Cinder and the others.

Meanwhile Blake and the army of faunus that hail from Menagerie just land on the shores of Mistral.

"Hurry! The attack must've started already we have to help!" She shouts to everyone on board her ship and the ships around her. They relay her message and gets everyone off their ships. Whether they have to dive in the water or get on one of the boats to land on the sand itself.

Ilia is scrambling to get all the bombs disarmed in time before they go off and really doom Mistral to the Grimm. She is working as fast and as discreetly as she can in the chaos around her. She has gotten around half of the bombs so far and needs to keep going. This kingdom and its people are relying on her now.

* * *

Back in Haven me and Cinder are seemingly teleporting all over the room with our inhuman speed. The fight has only lasted seconds so far but to us it feels like half an hour. Every movement I make, every strike I land or miss and every strike taken, makes my body burn in pain and strains me mentally and physcially. I scream as I fight which goes on for what seems like forever.

' _You can't last much longer like this Hector. Fall back!'_ Ozpin warns. The amount of aura he is supplying to support my body is getting lower and lower with each passing second. Our battle is going to be cut short very soon if I don't end this fast. We move at inhuman speeds throughout the area, clashing with each other at every interception. It is very reminiscent of the Ozpin vs Cinder fight from Volume 3. Only this time it seems like we are on equal ground with me having a slight edge even. I land three consecutive powerful strikes on her face, torso, then in the right into her left arm. I'm pretty sure I felt a crack on that one. Cinder attempts to retaliate with her undamaged arm and tries to slash at my chest, but I break her sword with Ebony and punch her in the face again, giving her a black eye on her one good eye. My heart pumps hard and palpitates, leaving me open to attack as I recoil back with a hand grasping the lest side of my chest which Cinder takes full advantage of, going on the offensive.

" _Oz if I let up now I'll die anyway! I have to keep going until my body fails me."_ I bark to Ozpin in my head. " _Im sorry Oz, but it looks like this is where my story ends."_ My body is being bruised and cut with every slash, stab and kick she lands on me and my wounds bleed profusely. I've landed plenty of strikes on her to but nowhere near as much damage as she has done to me since I'm practically taking triple damage due to my semblance. My aura being long gone, I've been relying on the aura from Ozpin for even the slightest amount of healing and protection. Cinder kicks me away again and this time I tumble across the ground several meters. My Kaioken forcefully gets weaker, lowering to a times 15 multiplier, I stumble as I try to simply stand up, and barely get to one knee. Cinder wipes the blood from her mouth and favors one of her arms as she limps slowly toward me. She now sports a black eye on the only eye she has left, much to my amusement and satisfaction. She coughs a couple times before going on one of her self absorbed monologues.

"To think that there was someone out there like you… A man with the power to rival any Maiden... You really are as dangerous as I was warned but the result of this battle is clear… I would kill you for putting me in such a sorry state but my queen wants you alive for some unknown reason, probably because of Ozpin…" Hazel perks up after hearing this and growls at me, clenching his fists. "But it's going not going to be my fault if you killed yourself, Im sure she'd find it quite funny actually." Cinder says between deep breaths and a cocky smile on her face from her apparent victory. Even though her aura was broken and she took more damage then she would have liked it was still very satisfying. She is regenerating her aura much faster than any normal person would due to her Maiden status anyway.

"Well that's not very nice Cindy." I taunt through tight muscles as I am down on one knee. "As you can see I-"

I try to get onto my feet but I as soon as I do I run out of aura to borrow. And my Kaioken forcefully turns off all the way. Causing me to go into another Kaioken induced seizure like the one I was in when I first unlocked my semblance but this time much, much worse. Everyone stares at me in horror save for Cinder and Hazel. Even Mercury and Emerald are feeling a little bad for me, even if it is just a little bit. Ruby woke up during my fight and is now tearing up at the sight of me in a bloody mess. Cinder just chuckles at my thrashing before looking around to her allies.

"What are you three doing!?" Cinder yells angrily gaining their attention and snapping them out of their trance. "Keep them distracted, I will retrieve the relic." Cinder demands as she jumps down the elevator shaft using her flames to keep her from falling too fast.

Hazel makes a break for me as soon as Cinder leaves. "OZPIN!" He yells as thunderous footsteps get louder and louder.

"Well now that cats out of the bag." Qrow mutters.

Ren and Nora intercept Hazel as Jaune makes it to my body and places his hands on my shoulders to try to keep me still and from hurting myself. Ruby also runs up to my side and grabs my free arm to help, leaving Yang alone against Emerald and Mercury. Qrow is too exhausted to move and settles for keeping Leo down just in case he gets up, although once he gets good enough he will help with the fight against Hazel. Weiss is in a similar position although she will provide support for Yang.

"Hector!? Hector come on man I need you to calm down listen to me!" Jaune yells trying to keep me awake, holding onto my shoulders. I slowly close my eyes and I am slowly drifting farther and farther away from life. I open my eyes one more time and look at Ruby. I manage to move my hand to wipe a tear from her face before letting it fall to my side. I close my eyes and force a sad smile before I fall unconscious and my body goes limp.

"No… Not again." Ruby chokes out as she shakes my dying body.

' _Hector I… I'm so sorry... I couldn't keep up with the healing... I'm so so sorry.'_ Ozpin says sadly and tiredly before fading away into my subconscious so he can recover his aura as fast as possible.

* * *

Cinder has landed in the vault attracting the attention of Raven and Vernal just as they were about to open the vault. Raven curses under her breath as she quickly takes her hand away from the vault door and onto the hilt of her sword and turns around. Cinder lands and walks toward them, favoring her left arm and appearing to be bruised and bloodied slightly but her aura is getting to work on that right away.

"Well don't let me stop you. Open it Vernal." Cinder says with her usual smirk and returns to her usual posture. Luckily for Raven, Cinder didn't see her hand nearly on the door as she came down the shaft. As Vernal turns around and reaches toward the door she gets a nod from Raven. Using her free hand she reaches for her weapon and aims it at Cinder but as soon as her arm is raised she gets grabbed in the stomach by a dark black mass with claws and pulled to the ground. She screams in pain and looks to Raven for support but she is frozen in place in the middle of unsheathing her sword.

Vernal screams in pain as Cinder tears her belly apart, revealing some organs and some of her ribs before stabbing her with all five claws. Cinder laughs maniacally at the screams and blood choking gasps of pain coming from Vernal. Raven is frozen in place and is forced to watch this happen before her as she tries to thaw her way out as fast as she can. Cinders laugh dies down and is replaced with a look of confusion and almost contains fear. She hyperventilates for a couple of moments. Vernal's eyes go lifeless and she stops struggling, the hold of death overtaking her.

"Where is it? Where's the power!" Cinder screams demanding an answer from the frozen Raven as she yanks away her Grimm arm from Vernals now lifeless body splashing blood all over the floor and her clothes.

Raven explodes from her Ice cocoon and rips off her helmet and throwing it to the ground almost shattering it. She seemingly literally steams with anger as she stands their taking deep rugged breathes. "Vernal was never the Spring Maiden **you stupid bitch… I am the Spring Maiden!** " Raven reveals as her eyes gain a blood red fiery aura very similar to Cinders flame eyes.

Cinders confused look turns into one of shock and then into a scowl. This is not good for her. She was already in a blood boiling fight she is too tired for this.

" _Ugh of course she is the Spring Maiden how could I have not been able to tell?! I don't know if I can win this fight- NO I WILL win the fight! I am the most powerful Maiden who has ever existed!"_ Cinder yells to herself in her own head as she powers up for another tough fight.

* * *

I am barely clinging to life as Yang and Weiss hold off Emerald and Mercury while Ren and Nora hold off a supercharged Hazel. Luckily Qrow got off his ass and decided to go help them finally.

"How is he able to keep fighting like this? He's been tossed around so much but he just keeps getting up!" Nora exclaims as she breathes heavily and is on one knee.

"It's his semblance!" Qrow yells to them as he holds off an arm from Hazel. "He can block out pain! It's how he is able to keep fighting no matter what happens to him!" Qrow explains as he gets knocked aside by Hazels other arm.

Hazel looks passed Ren and Nora and sets his sight on my unmoving body. He growls at the mere sight of it. "You kids don't even know what you're doing! Defending a monster like him. People like him don't deserve to live! I will make sure he dies time and time again!" He declares as he burst into a thunderous sprint that vibrates the entire room.

Meanwhile Yang and Weiss holding their own against Emerald and Mercury… for now. Weiss barely recovered any of her aura after her fight with Vernal and using her glyphs to boost Yangs power, speed, and abilities is extra draining for her at the moment and between the illusions and Mercury's own natural speed she can barely keep up. What makes things worse is that Mercury isn't holding back like he was at the Vytal Tournament.

' _All this is going on because I couldn't make a split second decision and pushed myself too far to a point I knew I wouldn't return from. I made too many mistakes, I panicked. I shouldn't have tried to fight Cinder so early like this, I only started training a month ago!'_

All these negative emotions go through my unconscious mind as I lay in a puddle of my own blood. My wounds still aren't healing. Which means my body is still dying.

Ruby holds on to one my bloody arms in tears as does Jaune who is trying his best to keep the wound I sustained on my chest from bleeding. "Please… Not again… I can't lose anyone else. I just can't. I'm so sorry this happened." Jaune says as he begins to breaks down. As they seem to just give up hope Jaune seems to calm down and focuses for a couple of moments. His forearms and hands start to glow with a flowing white that leads into my body, soon my body begins to glow a feint dark red with dark white as a mix, making it look almost pink. I suddenly start screaming as my body is literally being stitched back together by Jaunes borrowed aura. Ruby tries to comfort me me by squeezing my shoulder since my hands still have Ebony and Ivory on them. Though she realizes that this is not the time to be getting emotional, and stands up wiping her tears from her face. Jaune looks up at her with questioning eyes.

"Keep doing what you're doing Jaune, you're healing him somehow. I have to go help my sister." Ruby explains as she whips out her scythe and runs toward a struggling Yang and Weiss.

Jaune takes his hands off my wound and watches it be healed forcefully by his aura. He cringes a bit after seeing that but he knows he has to do this if he wants any chance of me surviving this encounter. I scream my lungs out as I continue to be healed.

"Sorry man… I can see that this must hurt, but I gotta do this to save you. Just hang in there." He says in an attempt to comfort me.

"We _need_ you if we're going to win this fight." He says with newfound determination.

Ruby blocks an attack from Mercury to save her sister and pushes him away using the recoil from her sniper. She flips away and gets in a stance next to her sister with her scythe behind her back on an angle before catching it with her right hand.

"You alright sis?" Yang asks concerned.

"No… Im angry."

* * *

 **AN- Okay I am never writing over seven thousand words in one go ever again. I just couldn't stop myself or take a break! The ideas just kept flowing into my head as I wrote and I am happy with the result. I spent literally all day and some of the night on this so I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Were you guys expecting the beginning of this arc to be so intense? Come on be honest. I've been waiting to get to this part ever since I started this fanfiction and it was well worth the wait. I may have a headache and my eyes my hurt from the light from my screen but it was worth it in the end if it meant making you guys and girls happy. As you may have noticed this is mostly different then the fight we all saw in Volume 5, as I said before I am redoing the entire battle of Haven coming from my own head. So please enjoy!**

 **Any thoughts? Requests? Advice? Anything you want to say? Please review or PM me anything you want to say! I'm all ears.**

 **PS: My favorite TFS reference will be in the next chapter. Keep an eye out for it!**

 **I'm going to need a couple days before I start writing again because I am shot. But if I feel better faster than expected I'll definitely at the very least start it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	13. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 12

**AN- First thank you to all my sexy reviewers from last chapter. Also welcome to all my new followers!**

 **Sopher007- You'll have to wait and find out! I got plenty of Ideas for Hector in his future.**

 **Zeldawolffang- Thanks you! I put a lot of effort and about 13 hours of straight writing and editing into the last chapter. I don't know how my fingers are still functioning. Im glad you enjoyed it as much as you did.**

 **GamehunterMC- Well here comes the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it even more than the last chapter.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- My man or girl back at it again with the long ass but awesome review! I'm glad you noticed that :) I couldn't help myself he had to get at least one sucker punch in. Yeah Im pretty sure you guys figured out my plan with unlocking Jaune's semblance once Weiss was spared from Cinders spear, originally I was going to have Hector Sacrifice himself and take the spear into his own body and end the chapter on a cliffhanger but I changed my mind and got the great idea of him going full power right away. Bet I surprised you guys there. I have to correct you on something though. Vernal is dead, like dead dead. She got her torso torn apart and ripped open by Cinder instead of being just fatally wounded like from the show. In this fic I made Cinder just a bit more insane then she is in the show, also she was kinda already losing it when she almost lost to Hector. Hector will take much longer to heal then Weiss did since he literally ripped his body's muscles apart, he is a bloody mess right now and there are lacerations all over his body, poor guy is in so much pain while he is getting healed. But when he gets back up… Just wait and see what I have planned for poor Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel. To answer your question the highest Hector can go with his Kaioken is times 15-18 in short bursts, and for longer battles he can use times 10-13 but it still hurts alot. Just not nearly as much as the times 20 as you have just seen last chapter, he only uses that in desperate situations, and the situation he was put in right before he went all out was the trigger. About Hectors and Hazels little scuffle before Hector went all sonic boom on Cinders face, Hector didn't match or overpower Hazel so to speak. Hazel wasn't going all out and he didn't know how Hector fought, Hector is more skilled than Hazel because of Ozpin living in his head, but Hazel in terms of raw strength, still far outclasses him. Ebony and Ivory just evened out the playing field, since he got that surprise lighting attack on Hazel and threw him away. Regarding that last question I didn't get to answering yet, I'll think about it. There's still a couple chapters to get through. And finally for the last bits of your review. Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you! I just miss Neo so I decided to have her make a little cameo. Thanks for another awesome review!**

 **If any of you are wondering why I gave this guy a much longer response than the others, it's because he gives long ass reviews.(Not that Long reviews are not bad, I actually like the longer reviews) Therefore I will give him a long ass response. Also he asked like 4 questions so there's that to. Dont worry! I'm not playing favorites!**

 **Pairing talk time yaaay. The pairing probably isn't going to go into full hugs and kisses mode for probably a while, I want it to be realistic while also keeping it interesting to read. There will be times when Hector and Ruby will have their moments but no full blown relationship stuff right away. In real life you don't just have a crush on someone and then in the next couple weeks you two are all I love you and start fucking and shit. I come from experience with that. So I am going to enjoy teasing you guys every now and again. Muahahahaha.**

 **Jesus christ I already went through a whole page just from responding to you guys. That's both awesome and bad because now I gotta write even more words than planned. Meh I'll improvise like I always do.**

 **I edited last chapter a lot more as I read it myself, so most if not all of the mistakes that I found have been fixed, even added a few extra snidbits here and there, go see if you can find them!**

 **Let's get on to the show right away! I'll finish my response to you guys at the end of the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 12 Struggling for time. (Battle of Haven part 2)

Everyone has chosen their opponents. Ruby, and Yang with the support of Weiss are up against Emerald and Mercury. Ren, Nora and a weakened Qrow are up against a supercharged Hazel who feels no pain and has the worst kind of anger management problems, and of course let's not forget the super hate boner he has on for me. My current condition is improving but very _very_ slowly. Turns out forcibly mending about 3 dozen broken bones and repairing every single muscle in the human body takes more than a couple seconds. Oh I did kinda forget that I can feel every little thing so I am currently screaming bloody murder without taking any breaths. Poor Jaune.

"Looks like the big tough guy is down, what're you girls gonna do now without your carry?" Mercury taunts laughing at my current situation.

"We don't need him to beat you two." Yang barks back, cocking her ember celica. Ruby follows suit by spinning her scythe around and aiming it at the opponents in front of her.

"I don't know what you are boasting about. You looked really terrified when Hector went all out there the whole time." Ruby taunts surprising her sister and those around her with her unexpected comeback.

"Huh, guess the rose has finally grown thorns." Mercury says with a impressed look on his face.

"You still never learned to shut up I see." Weiss insults, preparing to activate her glyphs to assist her teams.

Before the pre battle conversation could continue Ruby spins her scythe and fire herself toward her enemies, Yang follows suit this time by firing her shotgun gauntlets rocketing herself along with her sister. They spiral around each other, swapping each positions with every shot fired in an attempt to disorient their opponents, Weiss uses her glyph to speed them up even further from a safe distance. Yang goes for Emerald and Ruby for Mercury but at the last second they switch targets in perfect sync, with Ruby attacking Mercury with her scythe in a horizontal slash, Mercury dodges just in time by jumping back and does a few backflips to gain distance. Yang attacks Emerald with a right cross which Emerald foolishly tries to block, she slides back several feet and her defensive guard is easily broken, before she can make to recover Yang dashes in a punches her again, this time landing the money shot right on her face, at the moment of contact Emeralds mint colored aura flashes as it protects her from serious damage. Emerald's aura protects her from most of the damage but she lost a good chunk of it after that attack.

At the same time back with Ren, Nora and Qrow. They are all struggling against the seemingly endless amount of stamina and durability that Hazel displays. Every Time they think they have finally put him down he just stands right back up with replenished aura and unwavering anger. They desperately hold him back from me and Jaune as he is healing me as fast as he can with his newfound semblance.

"GRAAHHH."Hazel roars with electricity in his voice as a side effect of injecting dust into directly into his body. "You don't understand _what_ you are protecting!" Hazel screams out frustrated at the stubbornness of his opponents.

"We are protecting our _friend,_ a man like you would never understand." Ren snaps back angrily, shooting at Hazel with his weapons which of course he blocks completely unaffected. Qrow uses this opportunity of Hazel being distracted and slashes at Hazels back with his sword cutting through his shirt at the surprise attack. Hazel grunts in pain and swings his free arm wildly at his back but hits nothing but air as Qrow transforms into his bird from and flys away, landing a few feet away from Ren and turning back into a human, and readying his weapon once more.

"Where's the ginger?" Qrow asks tiredly noticing Nora's absence.

"She will make her presence known when we least expect it. I can promise you that." Ren answers without hesitation, giving Qrow a small nod.

"RAAAH!" As if on cue Nora slams her hammer into Hazels back sending threw a wall that conveniently is right next to the hole she made with him before. Then drops to her knees and begins to pant since she just used up the last of her power that she got from me earlier. Since Hazel saw me power her up with electricity, he has been careful not to electrocute Nora specifically. So unfortunately for Nora she hasn't been able to power up like she was able to in the show. Ren runs up to her side a pulls her up to her feet.

"We're not done yet, I doubt that was enough to put him down for good." Ren says before looking toward me and Jaune. "How is Hector doing?" Ren asks Jaune.

"Uh… Well he hasn't stopped screaming bloody murder for the past 50 seconds, while I do think it is impressive, I dont think it's healthy." Jaune says as he keeps on with the healing but one of my thrashing hands hits him in the cheek, giving him a small cut. "Oww." Jaune whines. I finally take a very deep raspy breath much to Jaunes relief. "Oh look he took a breath."

"What was that?!" Ren asks loudly since he didn't hear what Jaune said the first time.

"He's doing fine-"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH." I start screaming in pain once again, cutting Jaune off.

"HE'S DOING FINE!" Jaune yells over my scream. Ren didn't hear him again but was able to read his lips and nods to himself. Jaune is healing me pretty well but can't stop scars from forming. All my major cuts and gashes leave scars as they are being healed, so by the end of this i'm going to have a bunch of sexy new badass scars.

* * *

Meanwhile Adam and his squad has made it to Haven, as soon as they land on the ground Hazel comes flying at them through the wall, tumbling over himself before stopping and standing up right away. Adam looks at him, mouth opening with shock and anger.

"Hazel what the hell is going on in there? We were supposed to wait another hour before making ourselves known! And what was that red light?!" Adam screams angrily, taking a step toward Hazel.

Hazel looks at him through the corner of his eyes and scoffs. He takes out his red crystals and injects them straight into his body, right next to the orange ones. His body now courses with red and orange electricity. He turns his body fully toward Adam.

"The plan has been altered, turns out our mystery huntsman had a lot more power than we originally thought." Hazel explains as he cracks his neck. "The plan doesn't change with this complication. Continue with your part." Hazel demands before jumping back through the hole he was just sent out of.

Adan groans in frustration then facepalms, thinking of a way he could salvage this so far botched mission. "Okay you guys stay out here and take out anybody who dares try to stop us. I'm going to go in there and fix this complication myself." Adam says as places a hand on his katana and begins to walk toward the hole Hazel came crashing through.

"No you don't!" A male teenage voice calls out before Adam is kicked in the side and sent away from the makeshift entrance.

After recovering Adam looks around angrily before setting his sight on a blonde monkey faunus wearing jeans and a unbuttoned white shirt. Said monkey faunus twirls his staff around a couple times before firing the shotgun parts of it toward Adam and his goons. Adam blocks all the shots with his blade but his mens auras are damaged. Adam notices this and growls at the young man, preparing to attack him.

"How dare you, a fellow faunus interfere with our revolution!" Adam barks out as he runs at him in a low running form, hand on hilt. As he nears his target an all too familiar black haired cat faunus jumps in his path and deflects his blade away from herself and her friend.

"Adam! Stop this insanity!" Blake shouts while pointing her blade at him.

Once Adam realizes who it is, which is almost immediately, he burst out laughing hysterically. He stares at her and smiles evilly. "Too think that I went through all that trouble to find you, Just so you can foolishly deliver yourself to me." Adam says, standing up straight.

"I didn't here for you Adam, I came here for Haven, and this isn't what's right for the faunus!" Blake says looking around to the other White Fang soldiers. "Stop what you are all doing and we can end this peacefully. No one needs to get hurt tonight."

"Thats where you're wrong Blake. The humans will never accept us as equals, so the only way is to become their superiors and..." Adam begins to go on a monologue that only a few of the soldiers in his squad listens to.

Meanwhile Sun scoots over to Blakes side and whispers to her. "The army we came with is still like 20 minutes away, how are we going to hold him off by ourselves?" Sun asks worried. Blake tilts her head slightly so Sun could hear her reply.

"We just have to stall for time Sun, we don't need to win." Blake whispers back before turning her attention back to Adam.

"And there's not anything you two can do to stop us." Adam taunts, spreading his arms out as if his victory is assured.

"We don't have to _stop_ you. We just have to make sure we keep you distracted long enough. Adam tilts his head in confusion before realizing what she meant a little too little. Sun secretly created a clone and had it climb the building then come in for a surprise assassins creed like surprise attack, knocking Adam off balance and onto his butt, giving Blake and Sun an opportunity that they take full advantage of. They first go after the White Fang grunts, taking one out each right away who haven't unlocked their aura, they managed to get out of the way from Suns line of fire in case you're wondering, and knock out several of them with quick attacks to their heads, making it slightly more fair, now its a 7 on 2 match up with really only one of those seven being a real threat to their lives.

"Everyone fall back! I'll deal with these two on my own." Adam orders the remaining of his squad. His squad does not hesitate to obey out of the fear of being hit by a big red staff or being slashed by a mini black katana. They're useless in this fight and they know it. He places his hand on the hilt of his sword and adopts a much more hostile demeanor as he gets ready to get serious. "I hope you're ready to die monkey, as for you Blake I haven't forgotten about my promise. Remember I gave you several chances to come back to me, my love."

"I'll never be your love again, and you won't take anyone else away from me." Blake barks back as she gets ready for the fight of her life.

"Dude the way you talk is really creepy, I just wanted to let you know that before we start fighting." Sun says chuckling at his own little insult. Adam stares daggers at Sun and Sun could feel it even though Adam is still wearing that mask that he never takes off.

"I'll take special care in the way I kill you." Adam threatens before taking a running start.

"See what I mean!?" Sun says, nudging Blake in the side who just rolls her eyes at his childishness before they together dash toward Adam as well.

* * *

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH-" I continue to scream in pain though slightly quieter. Jaune has been struggling to keep his focus due to all the fighting going on around him so he distracts himself by focusing entirely on me… and how long I can scream before I have to take another breath... But hey whatever works right?

"47...48...49… 50... 51." Jaune counts as we near my record, which is 57 by the way ever since he started counting.

"Huuuuaahhhhh." I breathe in finally.

" _Damn_ so close to a new record." Jaune mutters shaking his head in disappointment.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH-" I start screaming again but Jaune is immune to it at this point, after about 5 straight minutes of constant blood curdling screaming, and just starts counting again.

"1… 2… 3..."

Back to more serious things that are happening at the moment Ruby and Yang are still going at it with Emerald and Mercury respectively. Weiss is critical on aura so she is forced to stay back and away from any of the action. She settles with being the last resort of defence for Jaune and I. Just in case any of the bad guys manage to slip through everyone else. But instead of being a last resort defence she instead stabs her rapier into the ground and focuses on summoning something that could be a game changer. Something big, ugly, scary, can fly and all white with a extra long stinger. Using the last drops of her aura and focusing it into the summon… Only for it to fail. You see, Weiss needed a lot more aura then the 15% that she had left in order to summon something that big and dangerous. Also when she summoned it in the show she had full aura, _and_ was being amplified by Jaune after he had healed her. She curses herself under her breath as she falls to a sitting position beside me. She looks over to me and Jaune.

"So… How are you doing this? Are you healing him?" Weiss asks, ignoring my screams of pain as she observes my glowing body.

Jaune blinks one then twice, then hangs his head as he loses his count. "I don't think so. I think it's more like I am amplifying his aura with my own." Jaune explains without looking at her.

"Won't you run out of aura to give though?" Weiss asks.

"Pyrrha once said I have a lot of it, I still believe her." Jaune says relishing in his happy memories with her.

"Well congratulations on unlocking your semblance." Weiss says with a weak smile.

Back with the fight against Mercury and Emerald. "This time I'll do more then break your leg!" Yang threatens as she attacks Mercury with her bionic arm, which Mercury deflects with his feet quite handily, making her miss terribly and land her punch into the floor instead. A couple of meters away you'll see Ruby fighting against Emerald, but this time all her focus is on her opponent. Ruby uses her semblance much more now per my and Ozpin's suggestions. Ruby is almost literally running circles around Emerald before dashing away to reload Crescent Rose.

"Ugh, you're even more annoying when you fight." Emerald complains.

 **Flashback**

 _This ways the day where I fell asleep and Nora was sitting on my back. My mind stayed asleep as Ozpin took control of my physical body. While training Ozpin stomped the ground with the bottom of his cane, halting everyone from their spars._

" _Miss Rose, why don't you use your semblance to its fullest when you fight?" Ozpin asks with a teacher look on his/my face. Ruby gets slightly nervous at being called out in front of everyone._

" _Oh, Hector told me the same thing before. Well I just thought it wouldn't be a good idea to rely on it too much during a fight." Ruby answers a bit nervously._

" _Hmm, although that would be the case for many semblances, you are a special case. Let's hypothetically say you train so much with your semblance that you can now move so fast that you are invisible to even a well trained Huntsman's eye. No matter how strong your opponent may be, if they can't hit you, power is nothing. Now I want you to use your semblance as much as you can for the rest of our training sessions." Ozpin instructs. Ruby thinks on his words for a moment before looking up at him with her determined silver eyes._

" _Yes sir!" Ruby salutes making those around her laugh and giggle, even making Ozpin smirk a little bit._

 _ **Rewind to a few days before**_

 _Ruby is hanging out with me as she usually does, only on this day it's a bit different. Im taking a break from my training with Ozpin and talking to Ruby about my ever evolving semblance._

" _Yeah so the Kaioken can multiply my strength and speed, that much is already known, but what if I told you that it can also passively amplify my other senses, such as smell, hearing, and sight. Y'know stuff like that."_

" _Woah, that is awesome!" Ruby cheers me on as I go on my rant. She goes on her rants all the time about weapons and other shit I don't know about, so now it's my turn._

" _I know right? I was wondering why I didn't have my glasses when I first came here, and how I didn't notice until I actually checked for them on my way to meet Qrow." I say before finally taking a deep breath. "Anyway enough about my semblance, there was actually something I wanted to ask you about yours."_

" _Really? Go ahead." Ruby says giddly._

" _Heh well I thought about it and I wonder, why dont you use your semblance more when you fight? You could literally be a red hooded ninja moving at the speed of sound."_

" _Oh, well I guess never thought about it that way. I just don't want to rely on it too much, besides I got my trusty Crescent Rose to use for maneuverability anyway!" Ruby answers happily._

" _In all seriousness that's not going to work against all opponents. For example, since I'm right here, I can see you when you move fast, and I have the speed to counter you, and that's only with a small part of my semblance in short bursts. I can almost guarantee you that any of the Maidens would be able to see you to. I'm just worried that when we come across an enemy that can do the same will seriously hurt you." I mention turning my body to fully face her and look at her with a serious look._

" _Aww~ thank you!" Ruby exclaims as she jumps up and gives me a quick hug. "Just for you I'll start getting into training with it." She says with a cheery smile._

" _Ye-Yeah, you do that." I say turning my head away to hide the small anime blush on my face._

' _Mister Rivers-'_

" _Shut up I know."_

 **End flashback.**

Ruby smiles to herself, mentally thanking me and Ozpin for telling her to get into it, and train with her semblance more. She didn't get to train a whole lot but she definitely has much more stamina and control over her semblance now then she ever did. She finishes reloading Crescent Rose just in time to block the bullets Emerald fires at her after she gives up trying to physically attack her with her blades and whip. Ruby dashes away in her usual red cocoon shaped blur while roses trail. Back with Yang she is still duking it out with Mercury while surprisingly keeping her cool, much to Mercury's surprise.

"I see you managed to get that temper under control blondie. Im impressed!" Mercury taunts as he deflects another fist. Yang instead of punching the floor like Mercury made her do before she instead spins with the momentum and jumps up for an even more powerful strike. Mercury is caught off guard with this flashy move and gets hit right in his stupid little chin, that also rattles his brain a little bit. Yang takes advantage of his dizziness and combos him just as she did during the vytal tournament. With her head down and her body low she punches up into Mercury's body with consecutive lefts and rights, while at the same time shooting her shotgun gauntlets into him for extra power. She finishes the combo but delivering a devastating blow right into the middle of his body. It appears that Yang had won the fight, but as she was going to pummel Mercury's face in his body for everything he has done, his body disappears. Yang's eyes widen in shock as she looks around the area where they were just fighting in. She sees the floor cracked, and some walls with arm sized holes in them, even the ceiling has holes in it, resulting from the combo she _thought_ she was giving to Mercury. As she looks around she sees… her mom? Raven stands before her with her hand on her hilt, Yang gets battle ready but the figure of her mother disappears, and she gets kicked in the back of the head by Mercury, sending her tumbling into the ground.

"Yang!" Ruby calls out concerned as Yang's body rolls past her. She looks around and meets Emeralds eyes as she lets out a hmph. Ruby growls quietly as she realizes that as she was fighting Emerald she was using her semblance on Yang to give Mercury an advantage. Yang gets back up and runs up to her sisters side.

"You're not an illusion too are you?" Yang asks Ruby looking down at her through the corner of her eye.

"I don't think so, I feel real. Are you real?" Ruby counters with a playful smile. Yang smiles back and they get ready to fight together. "We fight together from now on, one on one fights aren't going to cut it with these two."

"Sounds like a plan." Yang agrees.

Ruby and Yang without warning rush in and attack Emerald, since it requires more focus and time for her to use her semblance on two people at once. And even when she manages to do it, it is hard on her mind and body, and would make her weak to an attack. Especially since she has already lost some of her aura from fighting both Yang and Ruby, so for now our heroes have the semblance advantage. Emerald struggles against the duo's attack and takes several hits from both attackers as the easily break her guard, and gets knocked to the ground. With Emerald down Ruby, and Yang shift their attention to Mercury who readies himself for the same attack. Little does he know that Ruby and Yang have a different plan up their sleeve.

"Orange assault." Ruby calls out her team attack name with Yang that she probably just made up on the spot. Yang nods her head and smirks, ready to finally deliver combo her and her sister came up with _just_ for Mercury himself. Yang charges head on at Mercury to distract him as Ruby circles around with her speed to get behind him. Since Mercury is dumb he falls for it and gets his legs sweeped my Ruby's scythe and gets kicked into the air by Yang, he yells as he reaches the ceiling and then slowly begins to fall back down. As Mercury falls back down Yang makes a last second adjustment and lightly pushes Ruby away from his falling path.

"I got this sis." Yang cocks her fist and prepares the strongest uppercut she would ever deliver to a man's jewels. Yang's eyes go red and her hair glows as if it is on fire, and she draws power from the damage she sustained throughout the fight so far, and with her bionic arm, -oh god this hurts my balls just writing this part- delivers the most savage, ruthless, merciless uppercut straight into Mercury's crotch.

For all the other guys in the room, except me of course since I am still knocked out, all cringe and stutter at the sight and sound of another mans balls being crushed. For Mercury it is as if time has stopped and calm soothing opera music has started playing as he screams in pain in slow motion. Emerald recovered from her attack just in time to witness the horrendous event right in front of her and she even cringes and the cracking sound coming from Mercury's crotch. As much as she hates the guy, she can't help but feel bad for him. Mercury goes straight back up while holding his dick, while Ruby and Yang prepare to do the rest of their team attack. Yang kneels down on one knee and with her hands, grabs Ruby's foot and launches her up into the air. Emerald isn't about to watch her annoying partner get decimated by these two any longer, and decides to help by using her whip to grab Ruby's foot while she is in the air, and pull her back down hard to the ground facefirst. Then uses her other whip to wrap it around Mercury and pull him to her side. He is just fine from the fall and the way he was unceremoniously pulled down to the ground, but he still whines like a sad puppy as he struggles to get onto his feet.

"Told you I'd break more than your leg this time!" Yang shouts victoriously.

"That. Fucking. Blonde. Bitch… I'm going to make her pay for doing that to me." Mercury says through gritted teeth and in between breaths.

"It's your fault for falling for a stupid attack like that in the first place." Emerald says, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, shut up and help me up."

Back with the other fight happening in the room, Ren, Nora, and Qrow all await the inevitable return of Hazel. They stand on guard forming a line of defence around the hole in the wall he was slammed through. After what seems like hours of waiting, Hazel jumps back through the wall, his aura about 60%, and his frustration deepening. Even Hazel has limits to how long he can fight and use his willpower to replenish his aura but luckily for him, his opponents are exhausted, weaker, and running out of time

"Qrow, what do we do now?" Ren asks Qrow, readying his weapons the best he can, Nora does the same. Ren and Nora attack Hazel together with well coordinated attacks.

"We can't beat him like this, all we have to do is stall him until Hector is better. This fight is as good as won as soon as he is back up." Qrow says before transforming his sword into a scythe. "Hey kid!" Qrow yells at Jaune getting his attention. "How long until he's good?" Qrow asks Jaune, snapping him out of his trance.

"Uh… well he's not screaming anymore so I think he should be back up soon, I don't know exactly when though. I just need more a little more time!" Jaune answers. Although he makes himself sound reassuring, he is worried that they won't be able to hold Hazel back long enough. He is honestly not sure when I'll be back up, even if I get back up he doesn't know if I'll be combat ready.

"I'll help!" Weiss says as she hops back up to her feet. "I'm sick of being useless, I can help with my glyphs to at least slow him down, but you guys have to take advantage of that." Weiss says to Qrow as she runs up behind him.

"Alright mini ice queen, stay back and do what you just said you were going to do, we'll distract him for as long as we can, but we can't hold him off forever." Qrow says as he speeds off to join Ren and Nora.

"Uggghh." I groan out as my eyes squint closed catching the attention of everyone in the room. My body is mostly healed for the most part due to Jaune's convenient semblance unlock time. Although I am riddled with scars and there is still dried blood under my eyes.

"Emerald! Mercury! Forget those girls and rush to that guy before he wakes up!" Hazel demands as he holds off Qrow's scythe, snapping them out of their oh shit moment.

"Defend Hector with everything you have left!" Qrow shouts to everyone as he slides backward as Hazel pushes him back with all his might.

 **Meanwhile, In my mind.**

I sit on a random chair in the middle of the same big white room me, and Ozpin trained in a couple times. Ozpin appears along with his old desk from Beacon, and that same old mug he was never seen without. He looks to me and smiles.

"I am proud of you Hector, you fought bravely and heroically. But now, it is time for you to rest." Ozpin says with what almost sounds like pride, hardly catching my attention.

"..." I raise my head slightly to look at him, then drop it right away, looking back into the white floor.

"There is no shame in defeat Hector, It was your first real battle, and against a Maiden no less! So pick up your head and stop feeling sorry for yourself." Ozpin says in a more scolding teacher voice. I chuckle sadly at that but continue to remain silent.

Ozpin sighs.

"Your spirit has been brok **en. Shame I was looking forward to doing that myself."** Ozpin says but his voice becomes more and more evil, and feminine. This catches my attention as I whip my head up and widen my eyes.

"You're not Ozpin, who are you!?" I ask, demanding an answer.

" **So this is how you got so powerful so fast. My longest and most powerful rivals soul lives within you. Ha, I guess that makes you my new rival."** The evil voice says through Ozpin's mouth.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" I yell getting up so fast that I knock over the chair I'm sitting on. The white of the room changes color to a evil purple mixed with black. Ozpin's body disappears with his desk along with my chair, leaving me in a dark black and purple void.

" **I'm sure you've already figured it out by now Hector."** Salem finally appears in front of me, dawning her usual dark purple or black or whatever the fuck color it is dress, and her pale snow white bun and skin, her purple veins show themselves off on her exposed skin on her arms, as well as her face. She stands just a few feet away from me, she is even about the same height as me, or maybe slightly taller, which is still very tall for Remnant standards I've learned. It is the perfect height for her to show me all of the features of the Grimm queen in all her glory.

"Salem… How are you doing this? You're not even here." I point out, fear etched into my voice as panic begins to set in.

" **Hahaha, you really think after all the thousands of years that I have spent walking on Remnant that I haven't learned any sort of telepathy? Boy, I have learned many ways to destroy a man's soul, and mold them into becoming mine."** Salem informs, her voice started off as amused but quickly becomes as cold as ice. She moves forward to me without even moving her legs, I am too petrified with fear to even be able to move away. It's almost as if everyone around her is filled with fear. When she reaches out with her hand and grabs my chin. Slowly the veins around that area begins to turn black. This begins to show on my physical body as well as my mental one, under my closed and squinting eyelids the veins in my eyes also begin to change, turning into more of a purplish black color, and my brown Iris begins to turn into the same color of that of a Grimm. She stares into my eyes as her own begins to glow. " **If you won't become mine willingly, I will take you myself."**

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" A bright white and green light bursts out of my body instantly burning away Salem from my mind, along with the effects of the spell that was being casted on me.

 **Back in the physical world**

My body lurches up and glows a green light which blinds everyone in the room for a few moments. When everyone recovers they loom to my now sitting up body, free of any wounds but scars and the pink aura that surrounded me earlier has vanished. I look around meeting Jaunes hopeful eyes, but there's something different Jaune notices. My eyes glow green for a time before settling back down to their dark brown color.

"Professor… Ozpin?" Jaune calls out. Ozpin nods out and makes to stand but stumbles on his way up. Jaune puts his head beneath his arm and helps him up, making all of the bad guys in the room sigh in relief.

"Yes Mister Arc. Hector has been attacked mentally by Salem herself and needs to rest for a time. He should be back very soon. In the meantime Im afraid I do not have the power I once had, nor the power Hector had displayed before. It took much of my magical power to dispel Salem's spell." Ozpin explains the situation to them.

"Hector was attacked by Salem? Is he okay!?" Ruby asks as she runs up to Ozpin.

"Yes, he will be fine, I managed to drive away Salem's dark magic, but not without great cost." Ozpin explains quietly so hs enemies do not hear.

"OZPIN!" Hazel screams out at the top of his lungs, cutting off Ozpin before he can explain his situation any further.

Qrow steps in front of Ozpin with his weapons at the ready. "Are you okay to fight Oz? You were kinda our last hope."

"I will do what I can to help with the fight against Hazel. I have faith that you three will finish your fight against those two." Ozpin says as he lets go of Jaune and whips out his cane and extends it. Ruby and Yang nod their heads and beckon Weiss to join them. She does so without hesitation. Ozpin pushes his way past Qrow and steps toward Hazel. Qrow tries to move with him but Ozpin raises his cane out in front of him. Jaune attempts to stand and lift his sword, but with all the aura he put into healing my body, he is too drained to do so.

"Let me speak with Hazel." Ozpin says to Qrow as he lowers his cane in front of him.

"I have nothing to say to you _monster._ But I will be glad to be the next one to kill you." Hazel barks out angrily.

"For what it is worth, I am sorry for what happened to your sister." Ozpin says solemnly as he hangs his head slightly. Ozpin's apology catches Hazel and those around him off guard, but Hazel only growls at him.

"You don't GET to be sorry! I told you I didn't want her doing anything too dangerous too soon, and YOU SENT HER ON THAT MISSION ANYWAY!" Hazel screams as orange-red electricity courses off of his eyes. He recklessly lunges toward Ozpin trying to grab him, but only to get tripped over by his cane. Ozpin jumps back from Hazel and switches his grip to overhand, holding his sword out like a sword.

"I do not wish to fight you Hazel. But continue on this path and I will put an end to you personally." Ozpin bluffs. He is doing a great job at making himself look like he is okay to fight but his body, or rather my body, is still rather drained from my outbursts of power earlier, even with Jaune spending a lot of time healing me. His remaining aura tries its best to keep my body up, but a body that has become accustomed with having two souls, needs both souls in order to heal itself properly, and while Ozpin is up and active, my aura is still regenerating, and my mind is still healing thanks to Salem's attack. Once my aura regenerates completely my body will be able to heal itself as normal, albeit a bit faster because I have two souls worth of aura. At least that's what my headcanon came up with.

Luckily for Ozpin, Hazel is too blinded with anger to be able to see through his bluff. "I will stop at NOTHING to be able to see you fall with this world! Only then will I be able to live in peace." Hazel yells as he runs in again to atack Ozpin. This time Ozpin is not able to redirect his attack and is forced to block it with his cane. Hazels punch hits his guard and he slides across the floor, leaving skid marks in the floor.

"How will you be able to live in peace, when there won't be a world to live in!? If Salem wins this war there will be _nothing_ left to live for." Ozpin shouts louder than anyone has ever heard him before. Ozpin's borrowed body falls to its knees as he begins to cough violently. Hazel takes this opportunity to attack him in his much weakened state. Qrow can't take anymore of this and pushes Ozpin out of the way, sending him tumbling across the ground. He then tries to turn fast enough to block Hazels punch but it is much too late as Hazels fist drives itself into the center of Qrows back, sending him in the same direction Ozpin was thrown. Another brawl breaks out and Ren is the first to go down. His aura drained and his head bleeding down his eye. Weiss since she was low on aura and stamina, worked herself too hard and knocked herself out. Ozpin props the front of his body on his elbows and calls out to me,

" _Hector… I can't keep this up much longer. We need you."_

* * *

 **In my mind**

" _Hector… I can't keep this up much longer. We need you."_ I hear Ozpin's voice call out to me.

I sit on my knees in the middle of the white void that was black and purple just moments ago. Feeling my soul itself being attacked was traumatizing. But the sound of Ozpin's voice snaps me out of my trance.

"I can hear you." I reply, void of emotion.

" _Then snap out of whatever you're doing to yourself and fight!"_ Ozpin demands angrily. He turns the white void into his perspective of what is going on in the room, so basically he is giving me my sight back. I see through my own eyes but I am not able to move. Ozpin looks around and sees everyone struggling against their opponents. Jaune, Weiss and Ren are down now while Qrow, Nora, Ruby, and Yang all struggle to keep themselves up. Qrow is closest to me as he stuck his sword in the ground as a last ditch effort to protect me and Ozpin. Ruby and Yang had the advantage earlier but after Hazel suddenly switched targets and surprise attacked them both by shooting lighting attacks out of his hands and into their backs. Cutting right through their auras. Yang is on one knee but Ruby is not faring as well as she is. She lays on her back with her scythe stabbed in the floor just next to her. That last sight is what fills me with anger.

"What… The hell happened?" I ask angrily as Ozpin pushes himself back up. Now that I'm conscious again my aura is rapidly regenerating, my will to fight returning.

" _We are losing this battle."_ Ozpin points out the obvious.

"Well… Not for long." I declare as I stand up in the middle of the white void. My spiritual body regaining its dark red aura finally.

* * *

Hazel stomps his way toward me, but he notices something. I'm not even looking at him, instead I have a look of concern on my face as I look in the direction of Ruby. He smirks and changes his path, with a new goal in mind. Qrow realizes what he is planning to do as tries to stand up to help but only clutch his side as he falls on his face, he finally ran out of aura and is unable to move.

"No… Ruby…" He chokes out as he struggles to move. His head moves to the side to loom at me. What he sees makes him smile and relax... My eyes glow red.

Hazel stops just before Ruby and picks her up by her hair. Ruby grabs his hands and kicks her legs as she is woken up. Hazel turns his body toward me but gets startled as he realizes that I am right in front of him. My eyes still glowing a dark red and and I have an angry look on my face. My body riddled with fresh scars and my fists clenched.

"You know what I'm going to tell you to do… So do it." I say with an echo in my voice.

Hazel drops Ruby and she falls on her butt and goes to punch me in the face. I catch his punch with Ebony and squeeze his hand, making it crack in several places. My body flares with an angry red aura as I turn on basic Kaioken. I don't even feel the pain at this low a level because of how filled with anger I am. Emerald and Mercury stop in their tracks at the sound of Hazels hand cracking and proceed to have another 'Oh shit' moment.

"Man you really fucked up you know that?" I say before punching Hazel in the chest, sending him flying and tumbling across the floor until he is in front of Emerald and Mercury. "I dont know why you hate Oz so much in the first place anyway, your sister got herself killed on a training mission, how is that anybody's fault but hers? Ruby's mom was probably sent on a mission given to her by Ozpin himself and you don't see her bitching about it." I say as I crack my neck and knuckles.

"Don't you dare talk about her that way!" Hazel screams as he charges up again, he reaches into his pockets and pulls out two more yellow dust crystals. But before I can inject them I rush him and kick him in the stomach, knocking away the two dust crystals and getting him stuck in a wall. Emerald and Mercury look at me before nervously laughing and jumping away.

"Pfft, now isn't this a sudden turn of events?" I say as I look toward my friends. As I say that the room shakes and vibrates with familiar power. "And there's another thing I'm probably going to have to deal with."

* * *

 **AN- Ooooo I wonder what's going to happen next chapter :). I realized at the end of this chapter that I completely forgot about Blake and Suns fight outside of Haven so when I put that in next chapter, just know that it is happening at the same time. Sorry!**

 **This chapter took aloooooot of thinking. I found myself having to explain a lot of things that I came up with which lead to a lot of long paragraphs. If you need to me to help you understand it better then feel free to PM me or leave a review! If any of you are wondering what's happening with Raven and Cinder during this chapter just know that Raven is basically kicking her ass as of this current moment. But who knows what will happen next chapter?**

 **Hector has finally woken up! AND he's pissed. Poor Hazel doesn't know what he just got himself into.**

 **This is my longest chapter I have ever written so far for this story, and I am proud of it! I am basically completely changing the way the battle of Haven went out, and needed to buff Hazel just a bit, oh and Salems mental attack on Hector! You guys mustn't have expected that :).**

 **There will be more to come in the near future. I can start the next chapter tomorrow but this week will be very busy so my guess of an estimated release date for the next chapter will be probably… next monday. I'm so sorry that I have to make you guys wait that long but I have a FUCK TON of finals and work to do, along with my birthday landing on Sunday next week, May 27th. But hey in better news that just means I'll have plenty of more planning time to come up with juicy content for you guys. But come summer, I'll basically be free everyday i'm not working. Which means more content!**

 **Please leave a review or PM me and tell me what you think so far! I worked hard on this one just for you guys.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	14. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 13

**AN- First thanks to my beautiful reviewers from last chapter. Also surprise! I had enough time to get his done for you guys! Right after this is posted I have to go to work so please enjoy.**

 **CD123505- When Salem attacked Hector she was attacking his mind and soul, making him feel fear and made him not able to fight back. If you remember from one of my earlier chapters I foreshadowed this by having Ozpin explain how Salem can mess with people's mind and soul. That's what she did here. That's why Hector was so traumatized after Ozpin drove Salem away from his mind. She was literally destroying his soul without him being able to do anything about it. I hope that helped you understand. To the last part of your review, Thank you! And to the beginning of your review, I'm glad someone decided to point out something they didn't like about the chapter instead of pointing out all the good, I'll try not to make things as overdramatic as I did at the end of the chapter there. Thanks for the insight and thanks for the awesome review!**

 **Shadowstorm-Vash- Lol that is good timing, I wish that happened with me when I read stories I really like. I'm glad you enjoyed the story so much as you did! I aim to make each chapter better than the last and trust me, this chapter** _ **will**_ **be better than the last. Oh yeah now that Hector is awake and slightly pissed off, he only needs a small powerup from his semblance that would make him equal or stronger then Hazel in terms of strength. Thanks for the review!**

 **Zeldawolffang- Lol yeah when I write these chapters I just get in the zone y'know? So I just go ham and just constantly type out whatever comes to my head and all of the sudden I wrote over 8 thousand words and I said to myself. "Okay I don't want to finish this entire arc in a chapter." So I end it off and where I think is a good spot to end it. Thank you for enjoying my story!**

 **Tigerbolcano5000- And last but not least this guy, who I now know is actually a guy (cant be too careful these days.) Mercury had it coming let's be honest, even though I felt phantom pains in my nuts when I was writing it I couldn't stop myself from doing so. Oh yeah Hector is back and he is not happy with Hazel, prepare for him to toy around with him a bit. Hector is at about 80-90 percent right now but since his will to fight has return he is regain some of it back slowly. Jaune did have to restore two peoples worth of aura. I'm glad someone understood what I had Salem do to Hector, I can't have her there physically but mentally I can work with that. Like come on there's no way that an evil being that is possibly even older then Ozpin hasn't come up with some way to attack someone's mind and soul from a distance. Blake and Sun are fighting Adam yes but you really think Blake and Sun haven't improved over the time they were in menagerie? It may not be as one sided as you think, although it won't be a cake walk either. This chapter you will see Raven and Cinder fight I can say that much. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **I'm sorry this took a lot longer to come out then usual. Like I said last chapter, I was very busy this past week and barely got any writing time in. But I have returned! I spent a lot of time planning this one out so it should be pretty enjoyable. The battle of Haven draws nearer to its end, I have about one or two chapters left before this arc is finished. This story will NOT END so before anyone asks know that. It's just going to take a while to update as I will be taking a break from this story and starting a new one! The next story I have planned will be Team HAMR (Hammer), featuring upon popular demand, Hector! This will be a different version of Hector, so don't expect him to be taking on Maidens so fast as he did in this fic, and don't expect him to get so strong so quickly like he did here.**

 **Now onto the next chapter! Gotta warn you guys and gals, this chapter gets a little… dark near the end. You'll see what I mean in no time.**

* * *

Chapter 13 Back in action (Battle of Haven part 3)

"Hector! You're okay?" Yang asks as she limps her way to my side while favoring her human arm.

"Yeah shit happened, sorry it took so long I was busy with mind attacks and all that boring stuff." I say nonchalantly as I crack my neck. "How is everyone else?"

"Well… honestly, we're not doing too well. Weiss, Ren, and Jaune are all knocked out and Ruby's aura is down-"

"Heeeey Hector, I'm glad you're okay!" Ruby waves and smiles weakly as she sits against the wall, with a hand on her abdomen. I return the greeting by giving her a small wave back with my own smile before turning my attention back to Yang.

"-and Qrow is... Hey Qrow how're you doing?" Yang asks turning her head to see Qrow who is still face down in the floor.

"Mmm, I feel great…" Qrow mumbles as he lifts one of his hands and gives a thumbs up.

"So yeah that's our situation." Yang says with a weak smile.

"Hmm, wait you didn't mention Nora." I point out as I look toward her with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh, I thought you knew how she is already, she is right next to you." Yang points out with a "How did you not notice" look on her face.

" ***Sigh*** I'm not even going to look." I with a shake of my head. I turn to meet Nora's giddy face anyway since I just couldn't resist the curiosity.

"Oh my god, I'm SO glad you're back! We were winning at first but then Mister _I'm going to stab myself and get stronger_ over there stabbed himself with some red dust that I forgot the name of THEN THOSE ASS-" Nora cuts herself off and bends over panting from saying that sentence without a single breath.

"I get it, Yang told me the situation." I point out as I chuckle and pat her back.

"So… what's the plan now?" Yang asks as she prepares herself to fight again.

"The plan is I beat all the bad guys and kill Cinder while you guys take a break." I respond without hesitation and then crack my knuckles through my gauntlets.

"What!? But you just got back up! Let us help!" Nora exclaims, determined to help.

"Yeah, we know you're uber powerful and everything, but you _just_ got back up, if you get hurt like you did before again, Jaune can't help you." Yang points out as she stops favoring her arm so she can look more fit to fight.

"Yeah I beg to differ, you can barely stand and your one good arm is hurt." I point out. "And Nora looks like she's about to pass out."

 ***THUMP*** As if on cue Nora falls over onto her side and passes out from all of her constant fighting.

"And as you can see Nora isn't doing that well either." I finish as I look down at Nora's unconscious body to my side. I could've electrocuted her again like I did earlier, but I don't know if it would have worked with her aura down, but thankfully no one mentioned it so I wouldn't have to see for myself.

"Let me at least help you. I still have some aura left, and I know if we work together we can win easily." Yang argues, I mentally facepalm.

" _Can they just stop standing there and attack already? I can't be that scary."_ I think to myself, blocking out all of Yangs pleading and rambling.

' _You did fight the Fall Maiden at her full power and_ _ **almost**_ _won. I believe that is reason enough to be cautious of you.'_ Ozpin points out.

" _Oh yeeeaaah, almost forgot about that."_ I mention with a small mental chuckle.

' _You almost forgot about nearly killing yourself?'_ Ozpin inquires, needing clarification.

" _Oh shut up, we all have our moments."_

' _And you are supposed to be my star pupil.'_ Ozpin deadpans.

"If Qrow was still able to move then it'd be fine but there's literally no one else that can help you." Yang finally finishes. I only heard the last part of her rant as Ozpin goes back to silence.

"Hey don't count me out just yet firecracker." Qrows gruff voice calls out as he steps up to join us, catching both of our attention.

"What the- weren't you just face down unconcious just a second ago?" Yang asks perplexed.

"Well unlike you noobies, us fully trained huntsmen can get back up after taking a tumble pretty fast." Qrow explains, readying his weapon, and rolling his shoulder.

"Alright new plan. Yang stay with Ruby and Nora, while me and Qrow clean house. Sound acceptable?" I ask, turning my attention back to Hazel, Mercury, and Emerald.

Yang simply gives up arguing and nods. She picks up and carries Nora to Ruby, then proceeds to move everyone else that is unconscious and move them out of the way of the incoming battle, so they won't end up as collateral damage. "You can still fight like you're my age?" I ask Qrow as we get ready to fight.

"I'll let you have that since you pretty much saved all of our asses, and to answer your question of course I can." Qrow responds.

"Oh thats nice. How long do you think they are going to keep staring at us?" I ask with genuine curiosity.

"No idea kid." Qrow answers honestly.

I chuckle and begin to think to myself and wonder what else was supposed to happen tonight. " _Ruby activated her silver eyes again, Hazel went ape shit, Vernal is probably dead, and wow I changed a lot of things already. Though I feel like I am forgetting something still… Oh yeah! Where the fuck is Blake?"_ As soon as I ask that question to myself in my own head Hazel is unsurprisingly the first to attack as he lunges at me right away. I block the punch with both hands using my base power. I want to hold back on the Kaioken for now so I don't end up with only 3 quarters of it in the case I have to fight one of the Maidens again. The floor cracks as we lock our hands and push against each other, but without my semblance I am weaker than him in terms of strength, so I am being pushed back. Hazel knows that when I have the red aura around my body I get exponentially stronger, too strong for any of them to handle, so he aims to take me out beforehand.

"Im going to break your arm, just warning ya." I say with through gritted teeth but not without a taunting smirk.

He responds by headbutting me, but I stay standing and look up at him with an angry look, but then I smile as I headbutt him back, right in the nose causing him to recoil back in surprise of the force of the headbutt, I use this chance to kick him away from me and then I lunge myself toward him, continuing our battle.

As me and Hazel fight, Qrow goes after Mercury and Emerald, and is faring quite well actually. He attacks Emerald first since she would cause problems with her semblance and what not. So he gives her no time to focus on using her semblance. Mercury attempts to help his partner out by going for a kick to the back of Qrows head as he did to Yang earlier, but Qrow senses this coming and spins around and blocks with his sword, he then pushes his sword up throwing Mercury away before turning his attention back to Emerald and goes for an powerful overhead slash that is barely blocked by Emeralds two blades, she struggles against his strength and falls to one knee. The shockwave of the attack is so powerful that it shatters one of the chandeliers that happens to be right above them, also making a hole in the roof. He uses this bad luck to his advantage and jumps back just as Mercury comes in for another attempted surprise attack. He misses but stops next to Emerald. He helps her up and they both look to Qrow who is just wears a cocky smirk as he rests his sword on his shoulder, he flicks his chin up. Mercury unlike Emerald actually looks up to witness the chandelier above them fall from the ceiling. Mercury quickly thinks and kicks up and shoots his foot gun thing that I forgot the name of and fires about 5 shots into the chandelier, destroying it before it can land on them and sending the pieces flying all around the room.

"You kids aren't so tough now since mommy isn't around huh." Qrow taunts, even adding an insulting yawn at the end of it.

"You're all talk now that you're carry is back up." Mercury counters.

"Well yeah, now that he is up you guys are fucked." Qrow counters his counter with another counter of his own. A counter interception.

Mercury cant deny his logic. This isn't going well for them so far, if they stay here they're going to end up captured or killed and Mercury is not in the mood for that. "Em, This is not good." Mercury says as he takes a step back.

"What do you mean? The fact that we got knocked on our asses or that your hair got messed up." Emerald aks sarcastically and bitterly.

"No you idiot, we're losing this fight. We're losing this fight bad." Mercury clarifies, annoyed at her unnecessary bitterness.

"We fight until Cinder comes back and kills them all." Emerald says with hope in her voice. After she says that the room shakes again, but this time it's weaker.

"You feel that? That shaking is coming from the vault, which means Spring betrayed us. Cinder is too busy fighting Spring right now to even think about us right now. And my bet is that she is going to _lose._ " Mercury says. Qrow stands back and stabs his sword in the ground and leans on it, letting them bicker amongst themselves, actually kind curious himself to see where this goes.

"So what? Then we beat these clowns and go down and help her, we've beaten a Maiden before." Emerald argues stubbornly.

"What? Do you even hear yourself right now!?" Mercury asks, baffled and in disbelief. "We're getting our asses kicked up here and Hazel isn't doing so well either." Mercury exclaims as he points toward me and Hazel just as I knock him away again.

"I'm NOT leaving Cinder behind so don't even think of that as an option. What do you think Salem would do to us if she found out we left her and Hazel here?"

"What do you think she would do if she found out Cinder died despite us being here? Either way we're screwed." Mercury counters. "We can at least get a head start if we book it now." Mercury offers as he extends his hand to the downed Emerald.

Emerald looks at Mercury with wide eyes as she thinks of a decision to make. She considers leaving with Mercury and hoping for the best but her loyalty to Cinder overrides that thought. She stands up and presses one of her blades to Mercurys neck, much to his and Qrows surprise. "I warned you before Mercury, betray Cinder and I'd deal with you myself. Now I'm going to give _you_ a choice to make, become enemies with me or fight with me until the end, win or lose." Emerald threatens, applying slightly more pressure to his neck. Mercury, seeing no other option concedes, not wanting to have to fight his partner of a few years, and while he'd never admit it he has grown a soft spot for her. He sighs disappointed with her decision and nods to her, letting her know with a silent message that he will stay with her. She releases her hold on Mercury and turns her attention back to Qrow.

"And here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one." Qrow mentions as he takes his sword out of the ground and rests it on his shoulder preparing to wipe the floor with them again.

"Kick their butts Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cheers him on from the sidelines. She has healed herself enough to be able to stand up now. In fact everyone else has regained consciousness at the very least, but only Ruby and Yang are the only ones barely fit to fight.

Back to my battle against Hazel we are back to clashing fists. Hazel doesn't feel it but his hands take damage after every clash, due to Ebony and Ivory and the surprising amount of strength from my punches. One downside of Hazels semblance is that he doesn't know when it's time to stop. He'll go too far before he realizes it's too late, and I aim to make him go that far before I go down into the vault for round two. Mercy is a distant thought now, I catch one of his fists with one hand and he catches my counter punch in his free hand. I pum electricity into his body again but he holds on and even pushes himself further in order to over power me. I sidestep suddenly causing him to overstep himself and fall forward. I grab his arm with both of mine and wrestle him to the ground.

"I've always wanted to do this." I say with a smirk on my face. I wrap my legs around his arm and push my feet into his chest, since the guy is insanely tall. A full head even above me. I successfully put him in an arm bar and pull as hard as I can. He uses his other arm to try and pry my legs off of him but to his surprise for some reason, both my legs are stronger than his one arm. I kick his face a couple times with my foot, giving him a bloody nose and busting his lip, my bootprint can be seen on his cheek. He weakens his grip on my other foot and with one last kick he lets go to guard his face. I then deepen my hold on his arm and lock him in place.

"Ever watch 127 hours? Spoiler alert." I say as I activate the Kaioken times three. With my newly acquired strength I easily break his arm. The loud crack is heard throughout the room that makes everyone cringe. I let go of his arm and walk away with a smile on my face as I look down at my doing. Mercury and Emerald look to Hazel in shock as his arm is bent in an awkward position as he stands up, the bone in his arm is poking out of his skin. He favors his arm and tries to twist it back into shape but fails in doing so, only making it worse. "Eww dude, why would you even try that?" I ask in disgust as I shudder from the sound he makes with his arm. Hazel looks at me angrily and roars as he charges at me with his one good arm recklessly. I smile at his dumbass decision and allow my red aura to flare as I stop his charge with a kick that sends him flying through a wall leading into the darkness of the night.

" _Oooo Mamasita!"_ I call out to him as I step onto the rim of the hole. I struggle to see through the dust of the but I manage to spot Blake and Sun as they look at me with surprise in their eyes.

"Oh there you are!"

* * *

 **Rewind a bit and this is happening at the same time**

Back with Blake and Sun, they continue their struggle against the infamous new White Fang supreme leader Adam Taurus. They are the only things standing in his way from going into Haven himself and dealing with someone himself, which tells them that there are people that need help in there. Blake and Adam clash blades, Adams hair, sword and clothes glow red as he absorbs the kinetic force that Blake exerts into his blade. He pushes her back and slashes through her side. It appears that Blake has just been cleaved but the body fades away in a black color and Blake appears right next to Adam, she clenches her fists together and punches Adam on the top of his head, sending him tumbling away in his soldiers. Sun and his two transparent golden clones return as they begin to beat Adam as he is down. Adam 's soldiers attempt to help him but Sun himself with his staff in one hand as his other hand stays close to his chest forming a symbol as it glows gold. A new trick he learned after the attack on Blake's parents. He swings his staff horizontally, hitting one of the grunts that got too brave and tried to attack him. Adam with his explosive strength pushes himself back up and destroys both of Suns clones with one slash. Sun jumps back since he is low on aura while Blake attacks Adam from behind. But Adam sees through this and feints a counter, Blakes clone passes through Adam and fades away behind him in a black mist. Blake reappears to Adams left but gets shoulder tackled to the ground by Adam, her weapon being released from her grip from the force. Adam stands over and stomps her on the chest to keep her still, and prepares to stab her through the stomach as he did at Beacon. Sun swings his staff and knocks away Adam's blade before it can cause any damage and forms his gunchucks and fights Adam in a very cinematic way. I have no idea how to write out the way Sun fights with his gunchucks but I will try my best. Sun swings his gunchucks over his shoulders as he fires them into Adam with every swing, Adam either blocks or dodges every buckshot that Sun fires at him at such close range. Sun goes for a jumping spinning roundhouse kick that Adam blocks with hs sheathe. Sun kicks himself off of his sheathe and reforms his staff, and uses his tail to help Blake up and onto her feet.

"You would have been be a great asset to the White Fang if you weren't so idiotic." Adam backhandedly compliments.

"Sorry, wearing edgy clothes and being creepy just isn't my thing." Sun fires back with a confident grin.

"Since when did you learn how to fight like that?" Blake asks, referring to the new use of his semblance and how he fought against Adam just now.

"You really think I was just standing around when I wasn't with you? I trained of course!" Sun answers happily.

Blake shakes her head but smiles at his answer. As they prepare for round two the wall behind explodes toward them, Blake, Sun and Adam all jump out of the way of the blast and as the dust clears they see a rather large man with dust directly injected into both of his arms. He sits up shakily and holds his arm which they notice is severely broken.

" _Oooo Mamasita"_ A unfamiliar voice to them calls out. The dust finally fully clears to reveal a very scarred black haired young man with black and white metal gauntlets. Black on his right and white on his left. He stands with his arms crossed and a small flaring red aura coursing around his body. Its me of course, I lock eyes with Blake and Sun before I say,

"Oh there you are!" I greet with a smile on my face. I'm not even nervous anymore around the main cast of RWBY since I spent the last two months around most of them. I wave to them and Sun awkwardly waves back.

"Hector who else is out there?" Ruby asks as she and Yang run up to my side, finally rested and healed enough to begin fighting again. Ruby immediately locks eyes with Blake, and grows a smile on her face. Yang however doesn't even look at her, instead she locks eyes with Adam. The man who cut off one of her arms is standing right in front of her, she hardly noticed Blake was there to. Her robotic arm aches with a phantom pain as her hands begin to shake as the memories of that very dark night replays in her mind. Her screaming in anger at the sight of Blake being stabbed, the pain from her arm that was so great that it made her pass out immediately after the cut was made. Her hands tremble at the memory. I slap her back, and snap her out of her trance.

"You alright?" I ask concerned. "I got one more thing to handle that may or may not involve your mom and Cinder, so before I go, I need to know if you're ready for this."

Yang blinks a couple times and nods, not saying a word. She locks eyes with Blake and they stare into each other for a tense couple of moments before they both nod to each other. Yang jumps down and cocks her Ember Celica, mentally and physically preparing herself to fight one last time for the night. I move to turn around and head to the vault but Ruby taps my shoulder to get my attention. I turn my head to meet her eyes and await her explanation for that. She ponders on what to say for a moment.

"Thanks for that. Helping her I mean, I kinda froze up for a sec there and didn't know what to say." Ruby points out as she hangs her head.

"Meh no problem, I just hope you guys can handle a one armed man and an edgy guy with a katana." I joke as I walk backward and begin to turn around.

"Wait!" Ruby calls out before I can turn around fully.

"Rubes c'mon we're a little low on time here." I point out, tapping my wrist the emphasize the point.

"Just… Don't die please, I won't feel like we won this day if anyone died." Ruby says to me with sad eyes.

I close my eyes and lower my head a bit, thinking on my answer. Honestly if it comes down to it I'll do whatever I have to do to get that relic, but she shouldn't know that just yet. I make my decision, and raise my head to look at her again and give her a smile.

"Dont worry Lil' Red. I wouldn't want to leave my favorite red hooded girl behind in the world of the living." I finish that sentence with a wink and turn my back to her, exposing even more of my scars to her. If Ruby wasn't in battle mode she might have blushed at that, but instead she just smiles and turns around to help her sister and the others against Adam and Hazel. Although she does cringe internally at the nasty scars that I have gained, resulting from my earlier battle with Cinder at full power. Specifically the one scar that traces my spine almost perfectly.

"You better not." Ruby mumbles before she readies her scythe and jumps down to the returning member of team RWBY and her sister.

I walk past Jaune and Weiss as they finally get to their knees. Ren stands up a little shaky but is ready to help and I'm pretty sure Nora fell asleep at this point. Emerald and Mercury notices my new path and moves to cut me off.

"NO!" Emerald shouts as she lunges at me with her blades, intending to cut my throat. Ren jumps in front of me and defends me by blocking her attack with his own blades and kicks her away. Ren looks to me and nods as he goes to join the fight against those two with Qrow. Not that he needs help, but just because he had the convenience to cross blades with Emerald. I step up to the vault entrance and look down into the seemingly bottomless pit. I crack my knuckles and neck one more time just as the room shakes once again.

" _So Oz ready for round 2?"_

' _There's no need to push yourself as far as you did before. I believe we can handle a Maiden who is on death's door."_ Ozpin replies.

" _Cinder isn't the one I'm worried about."_ I point out.

' _Perhaps we can come to an agreement.'_ Ozpin suggests.

" _With me as a negotiator? HA."_

' _Only time will tell the possibilities.'_

"That, and maximum effort." I quote Deadpool as I step over the edge and into the dark abyss. Oh you know I'm doing the superhero landing already.

* * *

Back with Ruby and co. outside of Haven there is a standoff between everyone there. With the good guys forming a fucked up square around Hazel and Adam, surrounding them. With Ruby and Yang facing Hazel, and Blake and Sun facing Adam. Adam was shocked to see a man as powerful as Hazel so hurt as he was. Hazel managed to pop the bone sticking out of his arm back in, but his arm is still useless in a fight.

"How did you get hurt so bad?" Adam asks Hazel as they stand together back to back, referring to the injuries that is very apparent on his arm and face.

"That guy we were warned about." Hazel answers as he raises his one good arm to form at least some kind of defense. "He has Ozpin in him." Hazel says with a growl. Adam recoils in the news.

"Ozpin is here?! Why are we still here then?" Adam asks as he slides his sword out of his sheathe just a bit.

"Mission doesn't change, your men will continue their mission as planned. As will we." Hazel says.

"Bumblebee!" Ruby calls out their old team attack name that Yang and Blake had while they were still students at Beacon. Blake fires one end of her ribbon to Yang. Yang latches on to that end with her bionic arm. Blake then swings Yang to create momentum for Yang's punch whilst firing Ember Celica with her free hand and launches her toward Hazel. Hazel wisely dodges out of the way and Adam takes the full force of Yang's powerful punch into his back, much to Yangs satisfaction. He groans in pain at the surprise attack as he is launched toward Blake and Sun. Ruby uses her semblance to close the distance between herself and Hazel and slashes at his side with the injured arm with Crescent Rose. Then rockets herself away with a shot from her gun. As she flys away Yang turns around and kicks the weakened Hazel in the back of his knee, causing him to buckle over. Ruby launches herself back in and uses her scythe to hook Hazel and throws him into a neary light pole, easily knocking it over. Hazel keels over onto his knees and coughs up blood. All the abuse his body has taken over all these fights has finally taken its toll on him.

Blake and Sun took advantage of the surprise attack Yang delivered on Adam. He thought Hazel was strong enough to block such attacks, but to his surprise he dodge it instead. Blake wraps her Ribbon around Adam, pinning his arm to his side. Sun uses this opening to attack him with his staff, intending to knock him out with one powerful strike to his temple. Adam cuts through Blakes ribbon, rendering it useless and uses his Moonslice semblance, using his stored up power that he got from his earlier battle in an attempt to cut Sun in half. The slice misses and slices through the wall as Sun barely dodges the lightning speed attack, but his staff is cut in two, luckily for Sun he can still use is gunchucks, although he can't actually fire the gun anymore so you can call them regular old nunchucks for now. Sun transforms the two broken pieces of the staff into his usual nunchucks and attacks Adam, he constantly switches grips and rotates his body to be as unpredictable as possible, even throwing some kicks at him and throwing one of his weapons in the air and uses his free hand in that second to go for a quick jab. Adam blocks and dodges most of the attacks but gets hit by his surprise kick and jab. Adam has enough of this and unsheathes his sword as he horizontally slashes at Sun, catching him off guard as his aura takes a tough hit, going down into critical levels since Sun used his semblance and fought at the same time just moments ago. Before Adam can capitalize Blake cuts him off his path as she jumps in his way, secretly she uses an flame dust crystal and when Adam strikes Blake, she jumps back and leaves a flame clone in her wake, Adam's eyes widen underneath his mask as the flame copy of Blake explodes as his sword makes contact with it, taking a good chunk out of Adams aura with it. Adam slides across the ground and goes down to one knee. Blake jumps through the smoke and yells as she descends with an overhead strike. Adam raises his sword to block but Blake just passes through him and fades away into black smoke. Not falling for the same trick twice Adam jumps up into the air to dodge the attack from behind that just misses him. He forces himself back down and kicks the real Blake in the back of the head, making her tumble across the ground until Sun catches her with one of his clones.

Adam reaches for his earpiece and turns it on.

"I don't care if all the bombs aren't set. BLOW THEM NOW." Adam screams into his mic. Everyone stops what they're doing and look to the wall surrounding Haven and Mistral, hoping that he was bluffing. After a couple of moments of silence that cuts through that cuts through the night, Blake smiles to herself since she knows exactly why the bombs didn't go off, Ilia did her part successfully. Adam whips his head around and groans out in frustration. Ruby and Yang sigh in relief and Sun chuckles to himself.

"What do you mean, the controls aren't working? Do something about it!" Adam yells at the frantic White Fang soldier.

"They aren't going to go off Adam." A new voice joins the group as the sound of someone landing goes off next to Blake and Sun. Ilia turns her skin color back to its normal color and presents the dozens of ripped out wires in her left hand to Blake and Adam.

Adam grits his teeth in rage in the revelation that another member of the White Fang has betrayed him. "You will all one day be dead by my blade. I promise you that." Adam says as he sheathes his sword and runs into the nearby woods at a surprising speed fro how low his aura got. Hazel growls at witnessing himself being left behind. Sun attempts to go after him but Blake stops him by grabbing his wrist.

"What are you doing?! We were going to beat him!" Sun exclaims.

"No we weren't, we were both down before he ran. Besides now he will know what it's like to run away from his problems." Blake explains. As she finishes that sentence her father and several members of the original White Fang thought fought for peace enter the battlegrounds.

"Seriously? Now you guys show up?" Sun exclaims as he comically falls onto his back, exhausted.

During the distraction Hazel stands up heads for the woods as well. For future plot purposes, Ruby and Yang just happen to be both looking away from him and not paying ANY attention to him and unintentionally lets him get away, for plot purposes of course. Oh don't look at me like that I wrote myself into a corner there and forgot that they are supposed to get away.

"Sorry we took longer than expected to get here. We had to deal with some of the White Fang on the way here." Ghira explains as he bows his head.

"Its okay, although our enemies got away we were able to successfully defend Haven Mistral from a attack just like the one at Beacon." Blake says, lifting her father's spirit and filling him with pride.

"We're not done yet." Ruby points out. "We still have Emerald and Mercury to deal with."

"What about that big guy who feels no pain?" Yang asks. They all look over to where he once was at the same time. To only see an empty spot and a knocked over light pole.

"Yang…"

"Hmm?"

"Where did he go?"

"He was right there a second ago…"

"You were supposed to _watch_ him!" Ruby exclaims as she flails her arms a bit to emphasize her point.

"No one told me that!" Yang argues.

"I'm glad to see you two are okay." Blake hesitantly says. She takes a step forward with her cat ears folded on her head. Yang squints her eyes at her.

"Hey you guys can have your reunion later, let's finish this fight first." Sun interrupts before anything can get too intense.

"Right." Blake and Yang say in unison. They all jump through the same hole I launched Hazel through. As they all enter the room, the room shakes even more violently than before and a flash of blood red light is visible from the vaults entrance, followed by another shake. When the shaking stops everyone swallows a nervous lump, knowing what that must mean.

"Hector… Not again." Ruby mutters, extremely worried.

* * *

 **Just after Hector jumps into the vault**

Raven and Cinder continue their almost one sided battle below our heroes. Raven has destroyed so many of Cinders glass swords that the shards of glass began to pile up. Cinder is still bloodied and injured from her fight with me earlier so she has not been doing so well during this fight. At the beginning of the fight she was able to keep up with Raven but the loss of stamina and the blood began to take its toll on her not long after the fight began. She rapidly began to get slower and more recklessly as she fights more recklessly and without a clear head. They fly around the room using their powers to its fullest, they destroy parts of the wall and some of the bridge during their battle. Raven kicks Cinder away and dashes toward her to capitalize, Cinder sees this coming and tries to counter. Raven and Cinder go for simultaneous diagonal strikes, with Raven coming from low and Cinder from above. Once again Raven breaks through Cinders sword and a shard of glass gets stabbed into her Grimm arm. She recoils in pain and holds on to her Grimm arm before grabbing the shard and throwing it aside. She bleeds disgusting thick black blood that drips down to the floor.

"Your aura can't protect your arm, its Grimm." Raven begins, not even out of breath. "You turned yourself into a monster just for power."

Cinder tries to make a comeback but as she goes to speak she coughs up blood and falls to one knee. The blood splatters on the floor and she looks into it with anger and shame.

"How pitiful, if you were at a hundred percent this might have been challenging." Raven says as she takes out her sword and prepares to decapitate Cinder. But before she can begin her finishing blow Cinder extends her Grmm arm faster then she thought she could have in her current state and grabs her neck. She lifts her and slams her into the metal wall behind her. Ravens sword slips from her grip from the force of the slam. Cinder laughs maniacally at her as she begins to suck away some of her power. Raven struggles to pry her grip away as she kicks her legs and chokes from the surprising strength of Cinders grip.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of you suffocating HAHAHA." Cinder taunts as she saps more of her power.

But before she can take enough to make a difference a familiar white metal glove grabs her with an iron grip with a deep red around her Grimm forearm. She follows the arms until she meets the eyes of the owner. The same warrior that nearly beat her just minutes ago. Cinders eyes widen and her heart skips a beat and she has an 'Oh shit.' moment. Before she can make a move to attack me I power up and use my other hand to chop her arm in two. Releasing the energy she managed to capture and it returns to its rightful host. Cinder screams in pain as her arm bleeds a mixture of Red and Black, forming a very ugly color of blood. Her severed arm wriggles around wildly on the floor. She grabs her bleeding snub of an arm and falls to her knees screaming and heaving. Raven falls from the wall clutching her neck, gasping for air.

"How!?" Cinder questions. "I saw you up there… you were suffering, and having a seizure… Bleeding everywhere… How are you already back up!" She cries out as tears threaten to escape from her eyes.

I look down at her with a sadistic smile on my face as she suffers. My red aura flares surrounds my body. "Now how did you manage to lose the _same_ arm twice. Now that is just shitty luck." I taunt as I take a step toward her. She pushes herself back with her one good arm and crawls backward in an attempt to get away from me, I laugh at her pathetic state.

"Oh so the all powerful Fall Maiden _can_ feel fear." I laugh as she whimpers. "Now I don't know if Raven would've killed you all the way, so I came down here myself to see that the job is done… Personally." My smile disappears and my tone switches to dead serious. "Oh I have been waiting to do this ever since I got back up." I say ruthlessly.

"You… You weren't this ruthless before… How did this happen?" Cinder asks through her whimpers.

"I'm pretty sure Salem took a part of my soul when she attacked me, but that doesn't concern you." I explain as I grab her by her hair with Ivory. Cinders aura is drained and she doesn't have any remaining strength or stamina to fight back with. She futilely beats my chest as I hold her over the edge with her one good arm. "The only thing you have left to worry about is how long this drop is going to be."

"HGGH!" Cinder gasps in pain as she feels a tremendous amount of pain in left side. She looks down and sees my arm stabbed into her all the way up to halfway up my forearm. She coughs up blood that gets on my chest and her resisting arm falls to her side. I look into her eyes as her life fades away and pull my hand out of her slowly, making the pain last as long as possible. I yank it out and not too long after blood spills out of her gaping wound. I give her one last look before I course as much lethal electricity currents through her as Ivory can provide and her eye shoot back open and her mouth clenched shut so hard that she cracks her own teeth. I stop electrocuting her and she immediately passes out, probably dead. For good measure I spit on her face and toss her into the black abyss below her. I watch as she falls until she can no longer be seen.

' _Hector… That was… unlike you.'_ Ozpin tells me, very concerned about my mental and moral state.

" _I surprised myself a bit there too… We'll talk about it later."_

I turn around and meet the wide eyes of Raven as she points her sword out at me and her eyes flare with flames of red and white. Threatening to attack if I make any sudden moves. I turn to face her fully and raise my hands. The hand I stabbed Cinder with drips with blood down my arm and then down my side. Stopping when it hits my belt. "I came down her with the intent of killing _her_ only. We don't have to do this." I plead as I step back.

"You're right. We don't have to do this." Raven agrees but keeps her sword pointed at me. "You're going to let me take the relic and then you're not going to stop me when I leave."

"Raven… you know I can't let that happen." I say, my voice echoes with Ozpin during that sentence, hearing the sound of Ozpin's voice makes Ravens eye twitch with anger.

"Then you are just getting in the way. I know you won't use that same power if what Cinder said was true. So you won't be able to stop me anyway." Raven says as she begins to walk fast, intending to just walk past me and grab it. When she reaches me I stop her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Just because the power my body can exert can kill me if I use it again… Doesn't mean I _won't_ do it again." I point out as my body flares with a large blood red aura. Raven jumps back and the flames in her eyes return, and she points her sword at me once again. We stare at eachother and time seems to slow as we lunge at each other at the same time.

The real battle is just about to begin.

* * *

 **AN- UH OH cliffhanger! Sorry not sorry. Hector's personality during battle has changed somewhat. I bet you guys were able to tell with the dark turn I took when Hector attacked and killed Cinder, and when he broke Hazels arm. That's right guys and gals Cinder is DEAD, which means if she has another bullshit resurrection when Volume 6 comes out this fanfic is going to become its own AU story. The next chapter will be the finale of this arc and the chapter after that will be the season finale so to speak, until Volume 6 comes out. Not going to lie here, I liked what I had Hector do to Cinder. I fucking hate her for what she did at Beacon. Unless I change my mind and do a canon divergence. Only time will tell.**

 **Next chapter is going to feature mostly Hector fighting Raven but what is going to happen after the battle ends? Is Hector going to die? Is Raven going to die? Will Yang be able to stop the fight? The possibilities are endless, and I love it! Stay tuned for the next chapter of Rwby: Oh Gosh!**

 **Tell me what you think of this chapter. I am very interested in what you guys have to say, whether you like it, or you don't like it I am willing to listen to your opinion.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	15. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 14

**AN- First thank you to all reviews from last chapter**

 **CD123505- I'm sorry I didn't answer your question properly but thank you for the compliments anyway. I'll try To give you a better answer and if it doesn't satisfy you then go with Im the writer of this story so I do what I want. That was a joke by the way. You put up a valid point and it made me think on my decision of having him not able to resist. For sake of simplicity i'm just going to say that Salem ACTUALLY has the power to make you not able to fight back, At least mentally. He was mentally defeated as well as spiritually after losing his first fight with Cinder so you could say he was weakened when Salem struck. He also wasn't in his physical form when he spoke with Salem for the first time. Dude thats all I got for ya I hope it is enough. Thank you for the review and for enjoying the story! Believe it or not you had an influence on last chapter even if it was just a bit.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Welcome back my man. Oh yeah Hazel made a big mistake pissing Hector off. I showed off the skill gap between him and Hazel as you most likely predicted. Ozpin has taught Hector a lot and he uses most of those techniques while fighting, even stacking KaioKen on top of it to make it even more devastating. Personally I feel that Mercury does not want to work with Salem and them and is only doing so he wouldn't be killed. Emerald, like the sad lost puppy she is, can't see that under all that bravado, he actually does care for her, as a friend or maybe romantically, idk what Im going to do with that yet. I wanted to change her in that aspect a bit but kept her the same so we could see some tension between the two, but now that Cinder is dead… Moving on. And Cinder, oh dear oh boy, Cindy. I just had to kill her off, It is what we would do if we were to have the power to kill her, maybe not as brutal as Hector but definitely something like that, I wont change my decision of her being dead even if they bring her back in the show, i'll just have to start writing my own canon divergence story from there. Well now that I think about it this is pretty much already a canon divergence, Huh. Now to Yang seeing Adam, I felt that it was a MAJOR missed opportunity in the show to not have Yang at least see Adam and have some sort of mental breakdown. So I took it upon myself to include that in this fanfic and even give her at least SOME revenge. You'll see what I do with the fight with Raven and Hector, oh boy I bet I am going to surprise you guys. And lastly Trust me I already have some dialogue planned between Hector and Blake. Also Sun is going to be like Hectors best friend. I just love the guy. Enjoy the Chapter!**

 **Kage-kitsune9001- The answer to that will be in the end of this chapter. ;) Thanks for enjoying my story.**

 **We are at 87 Followers as I type this, We are so close to 100! By the end of this story arc I really want to get to 100, let's make it happen! Thank you all for your continued support.**

 **How do you guys like the way I've been writing this arc so far? Any dislikes? Any Likes? Favorite moment? I'm all ears! I've read every review so far and I don't have any intention to stop.**

 **Now onto the last part of the Battle of Haven.**

* * *

Chapter 14. End Of The Beginning. (Battle of Haven finale)

 **Insert your favorite anime battle music.**

Right back where we left off, time felt like it was going at the pace of school day on monday as me and Raven lunged at each other. Raven's eyes flamed red and my entire body flames with a blood red aura as I activate Kaioken times ten, Im holding back on anything higher in an attempt to try to save myself from other near death experience and another potential attack from Salem. Instead of Healing my body I have Ozpin using his aura to protect me one hundred percent since he has much more then me, and as he does that, mine will heal my body to the best of its abilities. One of the perks of having two souls. I'm not hurting myself as much as before so it shouldn't be as bad although the pain is still incredible, but nothing compared to what I did to myself earlier. Raven slowly unsheathes her blade as we near each other, in turn I raise Ivory in defence and prepare Ebony for a counter attack. At lightning speeds Raven horizontally slashes slashes at me with her red sword which I block, before I can attempt to counter attack Raven conjures an Ice sword with her other hand and stabs at me which I barely block by grabbing the blade with Ebony. Luckily since I am wearing the gauntlet I dont cut myself, I crush the ice sword and course electricity through Ravens sword in an attempt to electrocute her for some easy damage. But Raven is too smart for that and she lets go of her sword, at the same time she freezes my hand with it so I only have real use of my right arm. The ice is surprisingly heavy and slows me down as I make to jump back from another ice blade she conjured up almost instantly. She stabs at my chest and I slide back on the ground. As I am sliding I raise my free hand and strike down on the ice and shatter it. The scars on my body slowly reopen by the second, already bleeding slightly and there are small drops of blood coming out of my nose.

"Well you're definitely more entertaining than our mutual enemy." Raven compliments as she grabs her sword off the ground.

"Oh please. This isn't even my final form." I can't help but laugh to myself a bit as I quote a famous dragon ball meme. Raven on the other hand is not amused.

"But you're definitely more annoying." Raven insults. Before I can respond she gets more serious and moves faster then even I can see at my current state. Raven ice's the floor I am standing on before she begins to attack. I struggle to block her attacks and quickly lose my footing, slipping and hitting my head as I fall, at the moment of impact the area I landed on flares green for just a moment before returning to my usual dark red. Signalling that Ozpin is doing his part in protecting my body and preserving my own aura so I could use it for healing my self destructing body as I fight. I use the overwhelming heat from my own body, which is a side effect of my semblance, to melt the ice beneath me since my skin is making contact with the ice. Raven flies into the air and shoots herself down to me with her sword held out with the intent of stabbing me through the heart. I barely roll my upper body out of the way and the sword buries itself into the ground up to the hilt. I elbow Raven in the side of her head twice before going for a submission lock on her arm in an attempt to dislocate her shoulder. Before I can lock my hands together she slips out of my grip and pushes her knee into my chest so hard that the ground cracks underneath me. I look up at her angry face with a hopeful smile.

"Now I know what you're thinking. "Should I punch him in the face?" And the answer _may_ surprise you." I squeak out that last part before Raven pushes her knee harder into my chest, making me lose my breath and cutting me off from saying anything more. Before I can put my guard up she punches me in the face. After the first punch I manage to put up a guard to defend myself by crossing my arms with an X formation.

"I know you're still holding back. Your aura is not as big or as hot as it was before. Im warning you now, if you don't go all out soon you will die." Raven says between punches.

"Gh." is my only response as my arms begin to hurt and scars slowly reopen one by one on my back and shoulders. To increase the power of her punches Raven applies Ice along her knuckles, making it hurt more and cutting away at Ozpin's aura quicker. Time begins to slow as I look past my arms and into Ravens flaming eyes, every punch makes my vision blurry.

' _Hector you cannot go any further. No one will be able to save you if you do.'_ Ozpin points out.

" _Don't you think I know that?"_ I respond back. I think on my options before conjuring up a plan when I see my gauntlets. " _Alright Oz do your thing and I'll get us out of this."_

"And here I thought you were supposed to be a challenge!" Raven shouts as she thinks she broke my guard.

I respond by grabbing one of her fists and using my other hand to grab her wrist. I give her one last look before I course electricity through her at max power. Ozpin protects my body from any accidental damage from my own attack but his aura is running low quickly. Raven tenses up and grits her teeth as she tries her best to resist the pain and muscle spasms her body is committing. I deactivate the current and kick her off of me and to the side. I stand back up shakily and rush Raven before she can recover fully and kick her in the stomach, sending her up into the sky. I get ready to kick her again as she falls but as I should've expected Raven opted to hover above me and begins to shoot ice shards at me. I raise my arms and block with my gauntlets which easily shatter the ice shards upon impact. With a short yell I power up further, going into Kaioken times twelve, my aura flares farther and my body burns hotter from the increase in overall power. I can't fly but I can jump pretty high, so I jump up with Ebony and Ivory still held up defensively all the way to where Raven is hovering. She widens her eyes in surprise at my bold move but doesn't falter as she simply conjures up a long magical ice blade and prepares to defend herself. What she doesn't know is that I increased my power, we clash in a flurry of blood red and ice blue as my fist hits her magic Ice sword. To her surprise my attack feels much stronger and almost shatters her sword entirely, but I did crack it all around the point of impact. We stare into eachothers eyes as we push against each other with great strength. My eyes are bloodshot and full of determination as I fight through the pain, while her eyes remain focused as they observe me and await to spot my next move. Gravity soon takes its hold on me as I begin to fall back down, Raven takes advantage of this little miscalculation I had made and kicks me down further before I can fall too far from her. I land on my legs and crack the floor beneath me. She hovers down in front of me and huffs.

"So… are you ready to surrender yet?" I ask with a smug grin on my face.

"Hmph, please you don't stand a chance against me the way you are now. You lost to Cinder when you were at full power." Raven points out. "What makes you think you can stand up against me for long, much less defeating me?"

I roll my shoulders and hop in place for a couple seconds. I still got enough energy and plenty of aura to continue fighting without many issues in my current state, but I know and Raven knows that this is not nearly enough power to defeat her, hold her off sure but not defeat. "With maximum amounts of maximum effort." I say as my aura flares up even further. The force of the sudden power up pushes Raven back ever so slightly.

' _Hector don't even think about it.'_

" _Clam it Oz I'm not going that far."_ I reassure him. "Kaioken times fifteen." I say quietly through gritted teeth. Raven arches her eyebrow impressed with how far im pushing myself while knowing of the dire consequences I can put myself through. Now my scars have reopened but I can keep up with the healing so I do not end up bleeding profusely as I did before. My nose bleeds faster and I can taste blood in my mouth but nothing too severe. Lightning connects with the ground as I charge up my weapons. It'll drain the rest of my lightning dust that I have loaded into my gauntlets but I need the extra punching power, after it is drained they are as useful as brass knuckles.

"Hmm, now we're getting somewhere." Raen smiles at how badass I look and the surge of power she feels emanating from my body.

I focus most of my semblance into speed since I do not need anymore striking strength in order to damage her aura a decent amount. I'm still slightly slower than Raven but I can at least see her now. Now the fight starts to heat up as we seemingly teleport around the vault and all around the bridge. To the untrained eye you would only be able to see dark red and yellow colliding with Ice blue slashes everytime we clash. I am losing stamina quickly but my will keeps me going. Although my will alone is not enough… Raven stabs my hand through Ebony as I try to block it. I made the mistake of assuming that my gauntlets could block all attacks without breaking and I paid for it. I grunt in pain as Raven breaks the sword and freezing the ice shard in my hand. Although the heat from my body quickly melts it. My hand will take a lot of time to heal. Too much time.

"Oz… full blast on healing… now." I say through huffs as I take a step back.

' _On it. I must warn you that you have very little protection now.'_ Ozpin responds.

"So yeah more pain… got it." I respond.

My hand and wounds steam as they force themselves closed, laced with the combined auras of both mine and Ozpin's aura, forming a shade of brown in between. I grab Ivory and throw it off. The lightning dust in Ebony chose a perfect time to run out as it does just that right now. "Maaaaybe I should've taken those upgrades when I had the chance, oh well bare knuckle it is." I say as I push off Ebony pushing the little lever with my thigh, it falls right off.

"Well, you're bleeding, your weapons have been rendered useless and I have no doubt that you're running out of time on that little semblance of yours." Raven says as she huffs and puffs as if she just got finished from a long workout. "I won't give you another chance to back down. Stay down or you;re dead. The only reason you're still alive is because I don't want another reason for Qrow and his little pack to try and find me."

"Pfft." I just found the perfect opportunity to stall Raven.

"What was that for?"

"Oh no I just found it funny that you think Salem is going to leave you be when you have Maiden powers _and_ a relic. But don't let that stop you." I say as my hand becomes about half healed. Apparently Raven didn't think about that possibility and looks down to think. Her eyes return to normal for a few moments before she looks back at me with a blank face.

"I'll worry about that after I get out of here." Raven says as the flames in her eyes return. "I've let you talk enough." Raven says with a soft but angry voice as she begins to hover, she puts her hands together and prepares some sort of ice blast, similar to what Cinder used to kill Ozpin the first time but instead of fire its ice.

" _Ooooh shit, OZ NEW PLAN PLEASE."_ I call out to Ozpin as I widen my eyes at the familiar move.

' _My shield won't be able to protect you from that for long.'_ Ozpin points out. He sounds like he is calm but in his own mind he is almost panicking trying to think of a way to get me out of this.

Time seems to slow as the ice beam that doesn't have a name is almost charged up completely. My hand just finishes healing up and Ozpin puts his green bubble up around me, in an attempt to protect me. But I know better, this won't be enough.

"Im sorry everyone…" I say to myself as my body begins to glow the same dark red as usual.

"Im sorry Ruby…" My aura flares and changes to a blood red as I push the Kaioken to times 10. I remember all the times we were hanging out in the training room. I never asked for her company but she always was there for me.

"Im sorry Yang…" My aura flares hotter as the inside of the bubble just fills up with a blood red color. I remember our rematch and all the times we hung out together. The way she teased me and how I teased her back.

"Im sorry Weiss, Qrow, Nora, Ren, Jaune, and anyone else I forgot to mention…" My wounds reopen and I begin bleeding from the same scars from before, at this point I passed Kaioken times fifteen. I remember the day I spent with Weiss when I visited the little girl I saved. The time Qrow made me drink from his flask and I felt like I was dying. The nice talk I had with Ren when I was training myself too hard. Me and Jaune didn't really hang out a lot although we were friends, but I specifically remember him taking a picture of me when I was stuck in a tree after I tried to punch through it. But he did save my life so he is forgiven now. And last but not least Nora, I will never forget you clotheslining me onto an Ursa and laughing as I ride it while I hold on to dear life.

I take one last deep breath before I put myself through another grueling experience. Time finally returns to normal just as Raven fires the ice beam attack into the now blood red colored bubble. The bubble cracks from the pressure of the attack. "Any last words?" Raven asks as she prepares to put more of her magical power into the attack.

"Yeah I do but I doubt you're going to like it… KaioKen times TWENTY." I scream at the tops of my lungs. Now my eyes, nose, mouth and ears begin to bleed just like the were bleeding the first time I pushed myself this far. There's no going back at this point, the next time I turn this off and my enemy is not defeated is when the battle is lost.

"No!" Raven puts all her power into the attack intending to kill me before I can get that powerful. She has used much of her power between fighting Cinder and me almost constantly for the past couple of minutes. The beam of ice becomes larger and more powerful and destroys the bubble but doesn't touch my body. My aura is actually too hot for the Ice to penetrate and melts before it can hit my actual body. She gives up on the attack as she sees water falling onto the ground harmlessly. She lands back on the ground and powers herself up as well, her eyes flame higher and her Amber colored Maiden aura flares itself for a moment as she prepares to go full power.

The steam clears and the room soon illuminates a dark red light with me as the source, the light travels so far that it can be seen from the room up the elevator. I step toward Raven and with each step I take burns the ground beneath my feet. My body is emitting much more heat then before for an unknown reason but I don't care since I can use it to my advantage.

"This is where the fun starts." I say with an echo in my voice, but Ozpin's voice is nowhere to be heard. It's just my voice layered over itself as my vocal cords are being ripped apart and healed at the same time, resulting int the echoey voice that rings around the Cave.

Raven slowly unsheathes her sword as she prepares for a much, much harder fight. She doesn't bother to respond verbally because there is nothing left to say. Only actions to make. Instead she responds by dashing in again, just as she did at the beginning of this fight. Funny how things just keep happening in some sort of cycle. I dash toward her myself and when we clash it shakes the area around us violently. Rocks begin to fall and even my aura shakes from the clash.

* * *

Back up the elevator, Ruby, Yang, Blake and Sun just defeated Hazel and Adam. Unfortunately they were not captured. They return to the big room to finish off Emerald and Mercury but lose their footing when the room shakes violently. Everyone in the room looks toward the vault entrance and witness a very familiar red light emanating from the vault itself, which worries everyone who knows of my power, but only confuses and puts Sun and Blake in awe at the power they feel coming from the vault.

"Hector… Not again." Ruby mutters to herself extremely worried. She knows exactly how and where the light is coming from.

"What is that?" Blake asks as she wonders about the red light.

"Its coming from the same guy you saw earlier." Yang explains.

"What? How is that possible? And what's causing all this shaking?" Sun asks perplexed at the whole situation.

"I'll explain later, right now we have to finish these two off." Qrow says, snapping them out of their distracted state.

"I'm going to go down there and help him out." Yang declares as she turns her body in full to face the vault entrance.

"If you're going then I am coming with you." Ruby says as she steps beside her.

"Woah woah woah hey, Hector is stronger then both of you combined times ten and he still lost to Cinder. What makes you think you can help." Qrow says as he jumps in front of the two sisters.

"We can at least make a difference!" Yang argues.

"We only have to support him when he is down, we don't have to actually go one on one with her anyway. It'd be a three on one. I know if we work together we can beat her." Ruby joins in.

"Yeah thats if my sister doesnt isn't helping her, or the other Maiden. Girls please, you would only get in the way." Qrow pleads, his eyes full of sorrow. He can't lose anyone else near his heart.

"If Hector is there with us, then nothing will happen to us. He's like that." Yang points out.

"If you're going then I'll come with you." Qrow declares.

Ruby and Yang smile at his choice and welcome him to join them in helping me out. Ruby looks to Blake and sun.

"You two can handle things up here?" Ruby asks in a more serious tone.

"We got this." Sun confidently responds.

"You three go on ahead, we'll handle things here." Blake reassures in her own way.

"Well Qrow, you ready to go up against two Maidens?" Yang playfully asks as they all step up to the vault entrance. Mercury and Emerald dont even get a chance to even try and stop them as they get stuck in another battle against the two newcomers.

"Try to keep up and remember your landing strategy." Qrow simply responds.

Yang smiles and nods to her sister and they both jump down into the vault. Qrow rubs his face before jumping in after them.

"I'm getting too old for this." Qrow mumbles to himself as he falls.

* * *

Raven and I continue our intense battle. Since Ebony and Ivory are no longer functional I have resorted to my bare hands. I managed to keep most of my aura intact so I am able to heal myself just as fast as the damage is being done to me by my own semblance. The fight at this intensity has only lasted about 2 minutes but for me and Raven it feels much longer. I've started using Ozpin's cane to block, because even with my aura up Raven has been managing to get some cuts on me here and there on my arms from my attempts to block her attacks. A huge rock falls from the ceiling and plummets down, its path leads directly on me and Raven, threatening to crush us. Raven kicks herself away from me and out of the path of the boulder. I notice I don't have enough time to jump away so I go for the next best thing and punch the fuck out of the rock with all of my strength and a good chunk of my aura. Shattering the rock into an uncountable amount of pieces. The destruction of the rock raises dust particles and is acting as a cloud to blind me. With my enhanced eyesight I can partially see through the cloud and I spot Raven coming from my side. Just in time I raise the cane in defense to block and parry the attack, opening Raven up for retaliation. I do the _really_ fast stabbing move that Ozpin did to Cinder in their fight since I just couldn't help myself and end the combo with a left punch, sending Raven back and tumbling along the ground. She stops herself from falling over the ledge my stabbing the ground with her sword. She looks back at me with flaming red and white eyes. I dash out of the dust cloud and attack her as she is on the edge with the intent of Sparta kicking her off and into the same abyss I dropped Cinder into. Raven counters by dodging my fist and thrusting her sword into my chest, it's my turn to be launched back as my back slams against the vault door. The cane falls out of my hand and rolls away and I fall back down and onto my hands and knees, and cough up some blood. Ozpin's aura couldn't stop the pain from getting through my aura and I took the full brunt of the damage. Raven throws her sword at me which I just manage to roll out of the way, her sword his followed by a kick which I dodge as I stand back up, followed again by a jab that I catch. I grab her extending arm and pull it behind her back and shove her face against the vault door. I realize the mistake I've made the second I make it.

"Oh no." I say to myself as the door reacts to the physical contact of the Spring Maiden. Raven pushes off of the door with her legs and reverses our positions, only this time I am face down on the ground. My muscles scream even louder as the pain drastically increases around my shoulder. Luckily for me Raven cant hold onto me for long because of the unusual heat coming from my body and opts for kicking me away from the door and into one of the stone pillars. Raven stumbles on her feet and falls to one knee. Her amber colored Maiden aura flashes a couple times, signaling that she is low. Raven bleeds from above her eye from one of my powerful punches that I managed to land on her and it only got worse when I shoved her face into the vault door. She is also bruised beneath her armour and clothes from the attacks I managed to land, even bleeding from her nose a bit to. I am not in an any better state as I push myself back onto my knees. My aura is running low so I am losing the healing battle against my body now. My scars have all reopened into large gashes and cuts, and every muscle and bone within my body threatens to break under the tremense amount of pressure my body is undergoing. But I can't stop. I've lasted longer so far from my rapid improvement and determination, also from my experience from fighting a different Maiden definitely helped me out. Ozpin's aura is doing better then mine but not by much. I am quickly running out as I constantly heal myself.

' _Lower the power of your semblance now but do not stop it completely just in case it sends you into another seizure.'_ Ozpin begins as he formulates a plan to save me. ' _She is much weaker than before now, you shouldn't need this much power.'_

My eyes widen at the realization. He is right, if I go further I might even win but I'd probably die afterwards. But if I lower it now I might be able to tire her out until Yang comes in and has her important speech with her.

"Oz you're a fucking genius." I whisper to him as I lower Kaioken down to times 15, and gradually getting weaker. I push myself onto my feet first, until Raven does the same thing. She notices all of my wounds and how I am barely able to stand and tells herself that the battle is within her reach. Before either of us can make a move the sound of the Vault door opening attracts both of our attention as we watch as the door opens. The light that protrudes through the cracks of the door forces us to cover our eyes. Once our eyes adjust to the light we see a desert of sort, with a stone path that leads to a golden decorated lantern. It has a special reaction to the presence of the Spring Maiden, a golden trail leads into Raven and restores her aura and heals her body, much to my surprise because from what I can remember the vault didn't do that in the show. To further my surprise a green trail leads into my body and does the same thing. My wounds are all healed. Even my scars don't reform from the potency of the magical power of the vault. I safely power down from Kaioken and stand there in complete awe. So much so that Raven and I almost forgot that we were trying to kill each other just now.

" _Wow, all that drama earlier just so I can get fully healed right away."_ I complain in my own head.

' _Are you sure that should be your only concern?'_

" _Just had to get that out sorry."_ I respond with a shake of my head.

"What was that?" I ask out loud to both Raven and Ozpin as I look over to my newly refreshed and healed body.

"The vault healed us." Raven points out the obvious.

"Yeah no shit sherlo- You probably don't even know who that is. What I mean is why did that happen." I clarify.

' _If I may, I believe my presence has made a large influence.'_ Ozpin points out to me. I physically nod my head in understanding. Raven takes a step toward the door.

"Just don't even try that, I'm standing right here." I warn as I take a step toward her. Now that we're fully healed and our auras are restored and most likely amplified by the Vaults energy if we fight again I'm pretty sure it would lead to even more destruction and the room is already fucked up as it is. We give each other another standoff as we pace around each other slowly in a circle, and Ravens eyes regain their flames.

Yang, Ruby and later Qrow all land inside the vault and we both whips our heads to see who the intruders are. I smile at them while Raven scowls. They notice Vernals body and the blood all round the bridge and get worried as they approach us. They are confused to see all this destruction and neither me or Raven are injured. This whole time Yang and Raven stare into each others eyes, but to the surprise of Raven there is no hate. It's only something she can't describe off the top of her head.

"Raven?" Ravens head whips to the voice of her estranged brother.

Qrow holsters his weapon and looks on in shock at his sister's flaming eyes. He struggles to find the words to say at the realization that his sister is the current Spring Maiden.

" _You_ are the Spring Maiden?" Qrow asks, already knowing the answer to that question. Raven doesn't respond verbally, opting for a small nod of her head, and doesn't bother to try and deny it, they saw her eyes already anyway. As Qrow processes this new information, Ruby steps up to speak next.

"What happened to Cinder?" Ruby asks Raven.

"Dead." Raven answers simply. Ruby's eyes widen at the news and she looks to me for verification. I nod at her questioning eyes and she returns her gaze back to Raven.

"You killed her?"

"Nope. As much as I did wanted to kill her myself it wasn't me." Raven answers, flicking her head toward me. Qrow and Yang easily understand what she meant and both look to me with surprise. Ruby remains clueless and naive to her meaning.

"Wait if you didn't kill her who did?" Ruby asks perplexed. Raven doesn't even bother to answer the question and just looks to me. Expecting me to come clean.

"I did." I speak up for the first time since they got here. "I cut off her arm, then stabbed her in the side, and finally electrocuted her with full charge before I tossed her off the bridge." I explain how I did it as I look to my feet. Qrow and Yang recoil in shock at the brutality. Even though Cinder deserved every bit of it and they know that, they didn't think that I was capable of such brutality. Ruby on the other hand just looks at me with sad eyes, like she feels bad for me. Now that i'm thinking about it this is the first time I've ever killed someone. I mean it was the plan the whole time and Cinder was a living piece of shit and deserved every second of pain I caused her after what she did at Beacon. But as I think more about it, I she might have been supposed to survive for the next volume, and might of had a key role I just majorly fucked up. I scold myself mentally at my blinded judgement. I just have to hope we didn't need her alive in the future for some reason. Ruby notices my discomfort and moves up to my side, despite me being much closer to Raven.

"Your scars are gone." Ruby points out with a smile, completely changing the subject for the good. I widen my eyes at her unexpected choice of words and begin to inspect my own body. I didn't even realize they were gone until just now.

"Honestly I didn't even notice they were gone until you just pointed it out." I respond with a chuckle. My spirits lifted

"It had to be done someday kid, get over here before my sister loses what little patience she had left." Qrow tells me as points out the obvious elephant in the room. I comply with him and move over to their side. By myself I feel like I _might_ have defeated Raven but with a four on one now it's definitely winnable.

"I want you all to leave us alone." Yang finally speaks up for the first time since she locked eyes with her estranged mother. I wasn't very surprised at her wanting to be left alone with her but Qrow and Ruby professed their worries very verbally. So much so that I can't even bother to listen to every word that they say.

"Just listen to her." I cut off Qrow and Ruby as I rub my temples. " _Nothing_ bad will happen."

"How do you know that?" Ruby asks, unconvinced.

"Really… You're asking the guy from another dimension where your entire life was a tv show and you don't think I knew what was going to happen today?" I point out as I pick up my one undamaged gauntlet. Ruby goes to argue more but can't deny my unusual logic. Qrow does the same thing.

"If you need us scream, and we'll come running." Qrow says before giving one last warning look to Raven, he gestures for me and Ruby to go with him and we comply without hesitation. Before I go Yang gives me a nod and a grateful smile at I return them. But again before I go Raven stops me. Geez everyone has some kind of business with me.

"Wait. Hector is your name right?" Raven asks, I nod right away to provide a quick answer. "Good fight, I want to finish it one of these days before the world ends." Raven says as she leans on one side. Her words surprise me a bit but I think nothing of it as I raise one hand and give her a thumbs up.

"Next time we meet you're gonna get me a new gauntlet." I playfully respond as I turn to join the others and leave Yang and Raven to have the same talk they had from the show that Im not going to bother to write since you can just watch it yourself. Seriously the only difference is that Yang has her bionic arm this time around.

 **Very short Time skip. (Just as Raven flies away in her bird form)**

When I see the black raven fly away I take that as my cue to go to Yang with the intent to stop her from breaking down like she did in the show. I step up to her side and pat her back to let her know i'm there. Ruby takes her spot to the other side of Yang and grabs her hand. Qrow stays back and lets us have our friendly comforting moment. Together we step into the open vault and slowly walk toward the relic. When we reach it Yang reaches for it but stops herself and turns to me. I tilt my head in confusion at her action.

"You take it. You were the one who fought two Maidens and that big guy. So you take it." Yang explains as she gestures toward the relic with her hand.

"Oh, well If you insist." I step closer to the relic while Yang and Ruby step behind me. As I near the relic I feel my body warm up with a pleasant feeling. It's probably because of Ozpin and his magic but I can't help but feel it's also reacting to me, as in my own soul. I grab the golden handle and lift it up off the pedestal its on. I feel a soft spark as my skin makes contact with the magical relic, and the center blue part of the relic glows.

' _Incredible.'_ Ozpin says in awe. ' _The relic of knowledge has accepted you as its owner.'_

"Huh, isn't that something... Wait WHAT?!" I exclaim as I nearly drop the relic and startle Yang and Ruby from my sudden outburst.

' _I'll explain more when we are all rested up.'_ Ozpin says as his voice fades away from my self conscious.

"Oh well that's just typical of you." I roll my eyes at Ozpin before I look at the relic that is pulsing with blue light. "The fuck am I supposed to do with this?" I stare into the blue light and it somewhat puts me in a trance. I hold it with both hands and stroke the side of the blue ball that feels cold and warm at the same time.

"We'll figure that one out later, come on now." Qrow calls out to us and cuts my out of my trance.

"Y-yeah lets go." I respond as I am the first to walk out of the vault's door with the Relic of Knowledge in hand. Yang and Ruby follow close by.

* * *

Back with Blake and Sun, they managed to easily defeat the weakened and demoralized Mercury and Emerald. Emerald remains defiant as she keeps saying to herself that Cinder will save them, while Mercury is just about ready to give up.

"You seriously need to calm down on this thing you have for Cinder." Sun says as he points his nunchucks at them.

"You are beaten. Just give up and we won't hurt you anymore." Blake says.

"When she comes back, she will kill you all. I can't wait to watch you all burn." The delusional Emerald says as she pushes herself back up.

Emerald stops her advance when she hears the elevator start to rise back up. Everyone looks toward the the hole. Emerald remains hopeful while Mercury is preparing a way to escape by gassing the whole room to blind everyone temporarily. When the elevator rises it dashes all hope that Emerald has latched on to this whole time. Seven people went down into the vault and the only ones who came back are the only ones that shouldn't have came back. I stand in the front with the relic in hand, with Yang and Ruby on my left side and Qrow on my right. When I arrive I raise my hand with the relic triumphantly as if I am declaring victory. Emerald breaks down crying and Mercury moves to her side.

"Emerald we need to go, NOW!" Mercury shouts as he pulls Emerald to her feet. Emerald looks around with tears falling down her cheeks and begins to hyperventilate, she puts both hands on her head as she focuses her semblance as hard as she can to make everyone in the room see an illusion. Everyone including me sees the illusion of Salem but I know better. I don't freak out as much as everyone else when the illusion seems to charge directly at me before disappearing, leaving everyone but me and Qrow stunned.

"What was that?" Blake asks, still in fear.

My eyes flash green as I let Ozpin take control so he can explain what everyone has just witnessed. "That was an illusion of Salem, and not an inaccurate one." Ozpin says, his voice when he speaks echoes with the voice everyone knows he had when he was still the headmaster at Beacon. Which absolutely stuns Blake and Sun as they just heard the same voice of someone who they think should be dead.

"Professor Ozpin?" Blake asks in shock. Sun can't even find words to say for what he just witnessed.

Before Ozpin can explain anything further I take back control with a flash of red and shake my head a bit. "Yeah not about to sit in there as he explains for the thousandth time about how we are one and all that hippy shit." I say as I walk down the stairs.

' _How mature.'_

" _You know you love me Oz."_

Ruby makes herself known as she plops down in the center of the room, attracting everyone attention Then proceeds to have that cute moment of Team RWBY finally reuniting.

I walk toward the remains of Team RNJR and I sit down with them. The Nora thing that Nora does is instantly lean on my arm as thanks for saving her and everyone else. Everyone laughs at the inaudible sound she makes when her head hits my shoulder.

"Well, looks like Team RWBY is back together. What happens to us now?" I ask I lean against the wall next to Jaune and set the relic down in front of me in between my legs.

"I see no reason that Team RNJR should cease to exist. I think it's time for a new leader." Ren says as he sits down in front of me after he makes his way across the room.

"What do you mean?" I ask perplexed.

"Come on dude, if it wasn't for you we'd all be dead, like three times already just today." Jaune says as he nudges me in my arm.

"Yeah it was SOOO cool when you started screaming and glowing red and doing a bunch of other awesome fighting moves things that I can't remember! Not the part of you almost dying though, that wasn't fun at all, but other then that this was fun!" Nora exclaims.

"What she means is that she is also okay with you being our leader." Ren

"Oh wow… So now I'm the new leader of Team RNJR with little to no qualifications besides being badass. Heh I should've guessed that would've happened." I say to my new team and we all share another grup laugh. "Hear that Ruby!? You've been replaced!" I shout to her as the just release themselves from their group hug.

"Wuh already? I just got my old team back together!" Ruby exclaims as Team RWBY with the addition of Sun walk toward us and sit with us. Qrow looks on at the unlikely scene that he never would have guess would happen after everything that happened today. He walks up to us and we all turn our attention to him.

"Well Hector, what happens next?" Qrow asks. I laugh at his question for a few moments.

"I have no fucking idea."

* * *

Lionheart regained consciousness and through all the chaos, managed t sneak his way back up the stairs and into his office. He scours the room for anything he can use to get himself out of Mistral before the wrath of Salem reaches him. He rummages through his drawers, looking for money, passports, dust and literally anything that may have been of use.

" **Leonardo."**

Lionheart stops in his tracks at the sound of Salem's frightening voice. He slowly turns around to see the same Grimm jellyfish that he has been communicating with Salem through for the past amount of years.

"My queen! Everything went wrong. That huntsman was much too powerful for any of us! Please help me get out of here before he comes for me." The coward begs.

" **My Fall Maiden is dead, Hazel is injured, and the relic is not in my possession. You will die for this tonight Leonardo, and it will not be a quick death."** Salem warns as one of the tentacles belonging to the jellyfish stabs Leonardo through the back and out of his stomach. His aura couldn't even protect him.

"Please…" Lionheart chokes out before another one stabs him through his chest, puncturing a lung and he starts to choke on his own blood. Now no longer able to speak, Salem stabs Lionheart 87 more times before leaving him to die in a puddle of his own blood in his office.

" **Coward."** Salem's takes one last look at the cowards body before sending the Jellyfish to look for her surviving pawns.

* * *

While everyone was distracted Mercury lifted Emerald bridal style, cause that's what people do in anime, and runs away with her into the forest. Emeralds head lays against Mercury's chest and bounces slightly with every step. Mercury doesn't stop running for what seems like miles until he is stopped by Hazel. Mercury gets scared for a moment but regains his composure.

"What happened in there?" Hazel asks as Mercury catches his breath.

"Cinder is dead. Once that guy got back up was the moment we lost that fight. They also have the relic" Mercury states as he sits down on a fallen tree and rubs the bridge of his nose. Hazels eyes widen at the news of Cinders desk and sighs in defeat and disappointment.

"This will complicate things. We have to begin our search for the Fall Maiden all over again now. The relic of knowledge will have to wait, and we are going to have to find the Winter Maiden and _convince_ her to help our cause." Hazel says as he lifts Emerald with his uninjured arm. Leaving Mercury no choice but to join them. Mercury looks to the unconscious Emerald and sighs in defeat. He wants to abandon this path he is on and live his own life but doesn't want to leave his only friend behind. Soon they make their way out of Mistral and into more safe territory, even if the area has more Grimm.

Adam escaped Mistral his own way by commandeering one of the boats with a motor that was part of the initial plan to invade Haven.

* * *

" _Well now what?"_

' _Only time will our next move should be going to Atlas and securing the Relic of Creation, perhaps even enlisting the help of the Winter Maiden.'_

" _What about the Fall Maiden? Since I killed Cinder the last person she thought about should've been me. That means that the power must've transferred into someone completely random."_

' _It would simply take too much time to find the Fall Maiden, even if we did she would be untrained and too inexperienced to be of much help to us.'_

" _Well compare me from when I first got here to now, it doesn't matter how inexperienced you are, as long as you have the heart to do what is right. I'll find her, and I'll train her myself if I have to."_

' _Very well. I will respect your decision. You have one month to find her before we all leave for Atlas. We need you in the case the Winter Maiden is hostile so you must be with us then, I can not give you anymore time.'_

" _Understood Oz. I'll find her in half of that time."_

' _There is no more knowing what the future holds anymore. Remember that, how the story continues is all up to you.'_

" _Im well aware of that Oz. I guess you could call this the beginning of Volume 6 huh?"_

' _I suppose.'_

" _Let's get to work."_

* * *

 **AN- Well would you look at that. I was finally able to make a decision. The story will continue and from here on out, this particular story will no longer be following the canon. I've reached a bit over 100,000 words at this point and that will only climb higher and higher. So yeah official announcement has been made. I just can't leave you guys hanging until Volume 6 comes out to leave this story. Although I will begin a second story shortly. Rwby: Team HAMR is up next.**

 **Oh gosh what the hell am I doing now. I will be alternating a chapter for each story from now on and I will try my best to get out two chapters a week, One for OG and one for Team HAMR. If I can't then forgive me please. When I write these out most of the time I don't stop until it is finished and it can be very draining. Yes I know I shouldn't do that but i like getting in the zone like that.**

 **Edit: Another Idea that I just came up is to write a seperate story that is linked to this one after this point that will follow the cannon instead of turning ito its own story.**

 **Thank you all for your continued support. I don't know what I'd do without you guys. I never thought I'd get nearly as many followers for this story as I did. Life has been shit recently and seeing your guys positive reviews and everytime that notification pops up really brings a smile to my face everytime. So I know I say it every chapter but thank you all for your support and kind words.**

 **Please leave a review and let me know how I did overall up to this point. Im open to any criticism and anything you want to say! Thank you to everyone who has read this far.**

 **See you next time.**

 **Disclaimer- I don't own RWBY in any way shape or form. Only my OC and future ones to come.**


	16. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 15

**AN- First thanks to my awesome reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Sopher007- Once the next volume comes out I am going to make an Au of this fanfiction where it follows the cannon. So don't worry you'll get what you want. I just got nothing to go off of to be able to just continue this story into volume 6. The time will come though don't worry. Thank you for enjoying my story!**

 **Zeladwolffang- The next** _ **serious**_ **arc is probably going to start in one to two chapters, and I'm sure you can figure it out what it's going to be from the little teaser I put at the end of last chapter. Thanks for enjoying my story!**

 **8-Bit J- Thanks for reading my story and enjoying it!**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Oh yeah the words have gone far in terms of numbers. Don't forget that he also went all out against Raven with the KaioKen times twenty while knowing he had no way to heal himself from the damage it would cause afterwards. Which is why my way of saving him was to have the vault heal the people who have a magical presence in them, such as Ozpin in Hector and Raven being the Spring Maiden. Since Jaune was down and out and Ruby, Yang, and Qrow didn't have anything to saved him with so it would've been a sad ending to the story if I didn't do that. And yes earlier his muscles was literally torn to shreds, that's why he had so many scars. They always say from dragon ball z that the kaioken tears the users muscles to shreds but it was never shown so I took that idea and made it a reality. So basically I made a more dangerous version of the KaioKen. Yeah the relics choosing their wielders is going to be a huge part in the future just you wait. Now that this story is going off cannon I have quite a lot of thinking to do for the future of this story. Yup Hector became the new leader of RNJR so that R in the front is Hector instead of Ruby because I am original. The new Fall Maiden will be an OC. The last person Cinder thought about before she died was Hector throwing her off into the abyss after he stabbed her and electrocuted her with like 10,000 volts. So it's safe to say that was her last thought. You'll see what I do with Miss Winter Maiden, I want to keep that a secret until it happens. I kinda forgot about Leo until the end of the chapter and right before I uploaded it I was like OH SHIT and threw that last part in there. I have no use for his character anyway. Thanks for staying with this story since that one chapter you first reviewed on a while back. It feels good that I have fans like you who enjoy my work so much :).**

 **95 followers already guys, I honestly didn't think we would come this far! Thank you everyone who hit that follow button. It must be because I come out with chapters so fast lol.**

 **I started a new story called Team HAMR featuring Hector and three brand new OC's! I'd like to know what you guys think of it so far! That story will be sharing my attention from now on. What I wanna ask is should I have Hector keep the Kaioken as a semblance? Or make up a new one for him? I'll leave that up to you guys.**

 **Lots of fluff this chapter, just warning you.**

 **Now without further Adieu… Lets us begin!**

* * *

Chapter 15 Afterwards

A week after that momentous battle for the safety of Haven, and its relic. The students that attended Haven are now back in class, with Qrow as the brand new temporary stand in headmaster, much to his dismay but wouldn't dare turn down a chance to rub this in Winters face the next time he sees her. The teachers are back as well so Haven can now defend itself when we eventually leave to go find the new Fall Maiden before we set ourselves on a path to Atlas. I decided to spend that week getting to know my new teammates as well as Blake and Sun. Since I was somewhat thrown into the rank of leader without much consent but I've been winging it so far. Really all it takes is some common sense and a loooooot of patience with Nora. But meh, I've been handling it pretty well so far. At least that's what Ren says to me. Right now me and Jaune are having a one on one training session, with the intent to hone his skills with his semblance he managed to unlock just in time to save me during the battle. With practice I believe that he can amplify anyones aura from a distance to either speed up their healing, or give them a boost to their power. Now imagine him doing that to me. Yeah good idea I know. And I got just the plan to help him hone his skills. I stand in the middle of the training room, wearing Ebony only since Ivory was wrecked beyond repair in my fight with Raven. In front of Nora who stands in front of me with her hammer out to her side, awaiting instructions.

"Now listen Nora, I need you to- I need you to listen carefully now- Almost… kill me." I order as I clutch Nora's shoulders to emphasize my point.

' _Hector I don't believe this is entirely necessary.'_

" _I know it's part of my plan. Now shush."_

"Almost... kill you?" Nora asks very confused and obviously not wanting to hurt me. We have grown close after the battle of Haven so this is understandable.

I lean in to her ear of of sight from Jaune.

"Don't actually hurt me. I just wanna see if Jaune can use his semblance on a healthy target." I whisper to her as I reach into my inner jacket pocket and take out a vial of fake blood and wink at her. I got a new leather jacket that is pretty much identical to my old one since I kinda burned that one off when I used my semblance to its maximum. Nora understands my plan and smiles back with excitement.

"Yes sir Boss man!" She exclaims as she readies her hammer to hit me just hard enough to knock me down and break the vial in my jacket.

"Wait you were serious about that!?" Jaune exclaims as he tries to reach me before Nora can quote unquote almost kill me.

Before he can even take another step Nora swings with what looks like full force but is merely just a love tap as she hits me hard enough to knock me down and break shatter the vial in my jacket pocket. To Jaune it looks like I am dying again but to me I am dying just trying to keep my laughter in. Nora does the same as she forces herself to look away so Jaune won't she her red face as she holds in her laugh from making any noticeable sounds. Ren just stays in his corner where I forgot him and continues to read his book in silence without batting an eye at the little prank Nora and I just pulled on Jaune.

In panic Jaune rushes over to me and hovers his arms above what he thinks is a caved in chest. My hypothesis was correct and I feel my aura get stronger and more powerful as Jaune pumps his own into my soul. I know that sounded weird but It had to be done. Jaune quickly realizes that he has been duped once he sees my chest rise up and my face wearing a gleeful smile as I hold in laughter. Jaune sighs in relief and disappointment as he takes his hands away. After realizing myself that i've been caught I burst out laughing along with Nora as I stumble as I try to get up. Nora tries to help me but we just end up using each other for support as we laugh at Jaunes expense

"Please don't make this a thing you guys do to me regularly." Jaune pleads.

"Hey… it worked so it's all good… oh gosh." I say between laughs.

"What was the point of that again?"

"Hold on… Let me recover first."

After about a minute straight of deep breaths and a small case of the giggles me and Nora manage to finally calm ourselves. Yeah it might not have seemed _that_ funny but with all of us almost dying last week it I feel like we deserve a couple giggle fits here and there over something that isn't as funny as it should be.

"Okay… okay I'm good now. The purpose of that was to see if you could use your new semblance on someone who isn't injured." I explain as I wrap an arm around Jaune.

"You could've just asked me to try…" Jaune mutters.

"Yeah I know but it wouldn't have been as fun as just now. It was a joke bud sorry for scaring you like that. Although I did find it hilarious. Forgive me?" I ask with the best puppy eyes I can possibly put up, at least it makes him chuckle a bit so it was good enough.

"Alright alright I forgive you. Just stop it with that face." Jaune says as he playfully pushes me away.

"Aww~ Look at you two! Being friends and all." Nora coos as she jumps up on both of us, to our surprise.

"Yeah that's how guy friends work, now off, shew." I say as I nudge her off of me with my elbow.

"Hector, did you get around to getting a new load of dust for you gauntlet?" Ren speaks up for the first time from his corner.

"Call him by his name and I'll answer that question." I say as I cross my arms and look away, feigning hurt. Ren sighs and shakes his head but does comply in order to humor me.

"Very well, did you get new dust for Ebony? You did completely run out during the battle and this past week you were sleeping most of the time, except for the times you were training with us of course. I only hope to keep every member of our team prepared at all times." Ren explains going into more detail and calling my weapon by his name. Yeah it's not a her that's right, my right gauntlet is a guy and whenever I get a new one for my left hand I'll call it his girlfriend. So yeah so far it's just Ebony being lonely.

I look at Ebony and curl my fingers a couple times making some metallic sounds as the black metal grinds against each other, then look to where Ivory used to be. I still feel the phantom pain when Ravens blade stabbed right through the metal and out the back of my hand with her magical Ice sword. If it wasn't for the side effect that my semblance makes my body temperature extremely hot I probably would've lost against Raven. I almost don't want to get it replaced but I know I eventually have to get it done. I still have the scar on my hand. The wound was too fresh for the vaults magic to heal so it serves as a constant reminder that I am not invincible.

"Hector are you alright?" Ren asks concerned as he watches me as I look at my scarred hand with a completely different demeanor then before. When I hear his voice I snap out of it and shake my head a couple times before I put another smile on my face.

"Yeah I'm fine, just looking at my new sexy scar. I'll call Ruby and talk to her about it." I say as I take out my scroll. Honestly I still have no idea how to use this thing as I press random things on the screen until it pulls up names that I recognize. Eventually I figure it out and find Ruby's name, then I call her.

" _Hey Hector what's up?" Ruby greets_

"I gotta ask you something, come to the training room please." I ask politely.

" _Sure! On my way."_ Ruby replies happily before she hangs up. No doubt she'll be here in about 30 seconds.

"Alright she'll be here in a couple of moments… I think, I don't know it varies." I say as I rub the back of my head.

"Why didn't you just ask her about it over the phone?" Jaune asks, trying to wrap his head around it.

"Because I didn't want to. Now shush and go lift those weights I accidentally left there last time." I say as I point toward the weights next to the weapon racks.

"But I already worked out today…"

"Yeah so? Go get some more muscles on ya thats an order."

Jaune groans softly at my order. He got used to me being the new leader pretty fast but isn't used to the workouts I make him do. I'm not good with swords so most of the time I have Ozpin train him since he has his indestructible cane that he uses as a sword. He knows that its for his own good so he doesn't complain but honestly thinks that it's harder training than anything he did at Beacon.

"Alright." Jaune complies reluctantly as he heads over to the weights.

"What about us?" Nora asks referring to herself and Ren.

"You two are going to help me find some new clothes. It's time for a new look and the way the leather feels on my bare skin just feels weird. This whole red and green look just isn't cutting it for me anymore." I explain as I open my jacket to reveal that I have no shirt underneath. Yeah I got a new jacket but forgot to buy a new shirt, bite me.

Nora and Ren look to each other as the try to come up with a way to get out of this. Well Ren does at least. Nora just smiles mischievously like she has some sort of plan. Ren notices this from his longtime friend and intends to get me out of this hole I dug myself in like a good friend would.

"I don't believe we are the correct choices for a matter such as this. Perhaps ask Weiss or Yang or even Blake about clothes? They seem to be the ones out of our group who would be the best to ask about this." Ren explains expertly, I can't exactly deny his logic, I only really wanted them to be the ones to come because they're my new teammates and I wanna hang with them but when I noticed Nora's mischievous smile I accept his proposition.

"Very well, I shall allow this-"

"HEY HECS!" Ruby excitedly greets as she jumps on my back, nearly knocking me over from the sudden force and surprise of her sneak attack.

"AH!" My heart leaps into my throat as I yelp comically as I barely keep my balance. I catch myself and look to my left to see Ruby hanging off of my shoulder.

"Hi." She greets.

"Never do that again please, I still feel my heart in my throat." I ask politely, and set her down on her feet. She moves in front of me and her beaming demeanor and smile makes me forget my earlier down mood as we begin to talk about getting new dust for Ebony. Nora and Ren watch in silence as they observe our interactions with each other. Nora places a hand on her chin and squints her eyes before she gasps dramatically but silently and pulls Ren over so she could whisper into his ear.

"You think they-"

"Yes."

"Right now?"

"No."

"But when?"

"I don't know, only time will tell."

"But what about Professor Ozpin?"

"I'm sure they'll figure that out."

As Nora and Ren have their mostly one sided conversation. Ruby and I finish up our talk about the new lightning dust that I was reassured multiple times should last much longer and shouldn't run out on me in the middle of a fight.

"So this new dust is apparently smaller than the dust I used before, but is also much more powerful and lasts longer. How does that make sense again?" I ask still trying wrap my head around the concept of dust. The dust guide for dummies and inadequate individuals would sure come in handy right about now.

"Honestly I don't even know that but apparently instead of yellow lighting the new color is going to be red and black lighting, despite the crystal still be yellow. So you know it'll look cooler AND be more powerful!" Ruby explains as we stand next to each other with me looking over her shoulder to watch as she pulls up a picture of the dust crystal.

"Huh, so now when I fight with it I'll just think of you since you always wear Red and Black." I mention. Unbeknownst to me Nora just cooed adorably at my accidental slip up. "Oh shit I said that out loud didn't I." I soon realize as Ruby looks away so I don't see the redness of her face.

"It- its fine, if you do that is." She shyly says. A short moment of awkward silence passes as my own face starts to heat up but I have dark skin so it's harder to see. Unless you're Yang because she always likes to go overboard with the teasing and flirting.

"ALRIGHT awkward moments aside I gotta go find the rest of your team so you could all help me find a new look." I say as I pull her along with me back to the room we're staying in for the time being. When we leave the room Jaune walks up to Nora and Ren.

"Wow. I've never two people who have such obvious crushes on eachother and the only ones who don't see it are themselves." Jaune points out as he crosses his arms.

"Pfft." Nora couldn't keep it in as she remembers the way Jaune and Pyrrha danced around their crushes on eachother. Only the good parts though, none of the getting shot in the heart moments.

"What?"

* * *

Me and Ruby make it back to the room, when we enter I notice the rest of her team doing their own thing, all hanging out on the couch seated in a way that they don't see us come in. I look to Ruby and wink at her before I tip toe my way around the room and get in position to scare them. Ruby winks back and makes herself known to her team.

"Hey guys what are you guys doing?" Ruby asks as she takes a seat where she can see me prepare my diabolical plan. They all acknowledge her presence and she join in their conversation of girl talk. I don't know where Sun is, probably out getting something for Blake because he can't hide his crush no matter how hard he tries.

" _Ozpin let's do the thing."_

' _This is hardly the time for something such as that. You may do more then scare them.'_

" _BUT IT'D BE SO FUNNY!"_

' _ ***Sighs mentally***_ _Very well. I'll allow it.'_

" _Hehehehehe."_

' _Don't do that.'_

I prepare my vocal cords as I align Ozpin's voice with mine. I intend to scream as loud as possible while using Ozpin's voice at the same time as mine to make it seem like there is a monster in the room. It's a fool proof plan just watch.

"RAAAAAHH." I scream with an echo in my voice. Blake jumps out of her seat and onto a nearby desk, Weiss curls up and hugs a pillow close to her chest and screams, even Ruby got startled at the unexpected scream with two voices in one, and Yang since she is closest to me actually falls off the couch and onto the floor as and then jumps up and fires her Ember Celica at me which I barely block with Ebony and catch the explosion so it doesn't destroy the room. After the explosion is caught and condensed I look around to the others to see them all staring at me angrily save Ruby, especially Weiss cuz y'know, the whole ice queen thing. Even with all the death stares I can't help but begin to laugh uncontrollably at their expense.

"Why would you do that?" Blake asks as she is still curled up like a cat on the desk I didn't even know was there until just now.

"Get down from there already, and I just couldn't help myself you girls were all not paying attention and I taught myself a new trick with the help of Ozpin." With the last part of that sentence I change my voice to have both mine and Ozpin's voice to make my point.

"And Professor Ozpin allowed that to be used as a prank?" Weiss asks, obviously still sour about being jumpscared.

"Actually yes, he gave me permission right before I did that to you guys." I point out as I take a seat right between where Yang and Weiss were sitting. Blake finally comes down from her perch and takes her original seat just to the left of Yang. Yang shrugs and takes back her seat and goes back to whatever she was doing but Weiss remains unconvinced.

"Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of the most prestigious Huntsman academy in the world, gave you permission to commit such an immature act." Weiss clarifies.

' _Just tell her that we are all still kids and everything will be fine.'_

"Nah not going to say that for the one reason that you told me to." I say as I look down for a second before looking back up to Weiss's eyes.

"That… wasn't for me was it?"

"Oh no, Ozpin told me to say something and I denied his request. Now sit I got a favor to ask you all." I say before gesturing to my side to where she was sitting before. With a huff Weiss finally relents and retakes her seat.

"Ooo a favor from you? What could it be I wonder." Yang ponders as she blows a strand of her hair out of her face.

"Well as you can see." I gesture to my lack of shirt and cut up pants. "I am in need of a new look, and this whole Red and Green color pallet isn't going to cut it anymore. But I want to keep the boots! I like the boots, and maybe to socks to."

"And you decided to come for us to help with your new look I assume." Blake assumes.

"Well how did you figure that one out? I could've sworn I was being very cryptic about it." I mention sarcastically and playfully with a grin on my face as I look at Blake. She simply rolls her eyes at my sarcastic voice.

"Well It's not like I'm complaining or anything because just look at you walking around with that body." Yang says before wolf whistling. I remain unfazed as I simply roll my eyes and smile at her teasing. It took a while but I finally got used to it.

"Yang stop being gross and hear him out." Ruby complains.

"Don't worry no one's going to steal him from-"

"All of you shut up and follow me into town." I say cutting Yang off and getting up to go toward the door. Saving myself and Ruby from another weird moment. I leave to room despite everyone that I asked for help isn't with me.

"Did he just leave expecting us to follow him?" Blake asks her team.

"Well Ruby is already gone so we might as well follow." Yang points out as the next thing she sees is a small pile of rose petals where Ruby was sitting just now. "I got nothing else to do today anyway. We always tend to sit around until something occurs anyway."

"I guess I'll tag along to." Blake adds.

"Well I don't want to be left here alone so I'll come to." Weiss joins as well.

"That's the spirit!" Yang exclaims as stands up and jogs toward the door. "Hey Hector wait up!"

* * *

We all stop at the gates of Haven when I realize that I am being watched. I look around to see most of the students in the courtyard watching me with grateful smiles on their faces. News about what I did here spread around like wildfire and I've made quite the name for myself as the man who saved Haven from destruction. Of course they don't know about the Maidens and only think that I stopped a mass of powerful white fang soldiers from blowing up Haven with the help of my friends and nearly died for it but in the process drove them all away. Despite the fact that an army of faunus hailing from Menagerie stood up against the White Fang and drove the bulk of the force away I was credited with defending Haven myself against seemingly impossible odds and defeated Cinder, who is wanted around the world for the fall of Beacon. So basically Im a hero to them all, and it feels very odd to be the hero. I wave back awkwardly to the crowd of students that has formed.

"Looks like you've become quite the celebrity." Yang points out the obvious. Giving me a hard pat on the back that stings for a couple seconds.

"It wasn't just me though. You guys were a great help and even defeated like over half of the enemies we had. I just beat Hazel, killed Cinder and then almost beat Raven." I say trying to divide up the attention.

"You also avenged the fall of Beacon, saved all of our lives from Hazel, and almost defeated one of the most powerful beings on this planet by yourself." Weiss surprisingly defends my new found fame. Stepping up to my side with a warm smile on her face. I am somewhat caught off guard at her unexpected warm side but welcome it with a smile of my own.

"Guess you're right when you put it that way."

"We haven't talked much, and learning that you're from a different reality was quite hard to understand but you saved my friends, my family away from home. I see you as one of my closest friends for what you did back then." Blake says just adding even more support to me.

"Wow everytime you talk it's either one word or a whole paragraph, but thank you all for your support. Before anyone else adds to this I'm just going to say thank you in advance and go on. I want to get my new clothes already." I say as I give one last wave to the crowd and head down the stairs with Team RWBY close behind.

Skipping ahead so I don't have to write and extra 300 words we make it to the same clothing store I visited the first time when I got my first change of apparel. The store owner who happened to be at the front at the time noticed me immediately and his face lit up.

"Welcome! Anything you want is on the house this time. It's the least I can do since you and your friends saved Haven." He says as he tosses me a coupon for any free outfit. I was going to reject the kind offer but hey, free clothes is free clothes.

"Wow thanks! Do you have anything that is heat resistant though? And I mean _very_ heat resistant. Like so heat resistant that every time I use my semblance my clothes won't burn off." I ask as I gesture to my scorched and cut up pants that used to be all green.

"Of course! This place isn't called 'Mistral Huntsman Clothing' for no reason!" He exclaims as he exits the desk and gestures for me to follow him. "Please, follow me." He heads to a part of the store where we can change and try on all the clothes we choose but on the condition that there is no changing room, the only privacy is just one thin looking wall that can be easily knocked over.

"Okay maybe not all of us so they don't see me in my underwear but I'll come for sure." I say as I hold out my arms to stop anyone from taking any steps anymore steps forward. Ruby, Blake, and Weiss all nod in understanding. BUT YANG just had to use this opportunity to tease me again.

"Well I sure as hell wouldn't mind. Im sure Ru-" Before she can get to the next syllable Ruby jumps on her back and clamps Yang's mouth closed with her hands.

"Just go! We'll wait here!" She exclaims as she is beet red and holds a forced smile on her face. I arch an eyebrow at their antics but shrug it off. Being clueless for the sake of the plot.

"Every outfit I try on I'll come out and show you guys so tell me what you think." I say as I turn and enter the special area. I hear some incomprehensive argumentative mumbling after I turn the corner and into the special area. As soon as I enter something special immediately catches my eye.

"I want to try that one on." I say as I point to my love at first sight. It's a deep black sexy looking leather jacket with blood red accents on it that make it look awesome and matches the color of my aura. No chest pockets but its not like I need them anyway, but it does come with inner pockets like my old one did, regular pockets that all jackets usually have and underneath it says 'Extremely heat resistant.' So basically perfect for me. Next to it is the pants that is equally as sexy, it matches the leather jacket perfectly in terms of color and look, not leather because that would be weird but is made out of some special material that pretty much makes it invisible to elemental attacks. Black with red accents and a white dragon design going up my right leg. It also comes with a plain red t-shirt that is made out of the same material as the pants but I don't really care for that since most of the time I have my jacket zipped up nowadays. I strip myself of my clothes until I am left in just my underwear and socks as I take my new outfit off of their hangers and put them on, starting with the pants that feels so comfortable and airs out my balls perfectly so they can breath, then the red shirt which feels the same way, and finally the best part is the leather jacket that I slip on. It feels good having this on as I stretch every which way to get adjusted to the way it holds on to my body. I zip up the jacket and look in the mirror. I like what I see. I put my boots back on because I intend to walk out while wearing this.

' _Good choice.'_

"Yup this is a keeper. Lemme go see what my friends think." I say as I turn the corner. I whistle to get their attention as they are all still bickering amongst themselves about girl stuff I don't bother to pay attention to. They all look at me and eye me down and up inspecting my new outfit. Weiss nods and smiles with approval as does Blake. Yang is just wide eyed as she checks me out in my new outfit and Ruby…

"I LOVE IT!"

Its safe to say that Ruby likes it just as much as I do.

"I know right!" I exclaim as I look over to the store owner. "Can I just walk out with this?"

"Of course! Just hand me back that coupon and let me take that tag off of you." He replies. He takes the coupon and the tag off of me and waves to us as we exit the store.

"Well that was a fast trip." I point out as we make our way back to the Academy.

"How did you manage to choose the first outfit you see and somehow it happens to be the best outfit I've ever seen on a guy?" Yang asks as she is still checking out my new look.

"Because I'm awesome of course!" I reply back while pointing at myself with my thumb.

"I love the colors." Ruby coos as she is also doing the same as Yang.

"You're lucky we both have the same favorite color."

Moving on from that lovely trip we all eventually make our way back to Haven and the room. I turn heads on my way there as I make sure to show off my new clothes. I'm going to wear this everyday and not care that is the same clothes. That's what everyone does in this world anyway. I enter the room and the rest of Team RNJR and Sun all in the living room chatting and watching tv after a long day of training and watching Ren cook. I call for everyone to meet up so I can discuss the plan for our next move.

"Now for the serious stuff. My team and I are going to head out and begin the search for the New Fall Maiden and see if I can get her to join us." I lay out the first part of the plan to get to the point of it right away.

"How are you going to find her? It could literally be any young woman in the world." Yang points out.

"Well I'm glad you asked. I'm going to find Raven and have her help me." That part of the plan is what gets everyone in protest, save for my team since they already knew that part of the plan.

"What!? No you can't, you've seen what she's capable of and that's not even including the fact that it's going to be near impossible to find her." Yang argues. A everyone dies down I speak up again on how I plan to find her.

"I _might_ have an idea on where she could be." I mention, Yang looks down at her feet at the thought of seeing her mom again after what happened. "Because… I think she's with Tai." I reveal, a little bit after the battle I remembered that Raven visited Tai during the end credits. I have no idea if she is there to stay or not but it wouldn't hurt to try. Even if she isn't I can get Tai to tell me where she went. Even with the very small chance that I could convince Raven to join us as well should be worth the shot.

"She's back with dad?" Yang asks, shocked to hear the news.

"I don't know if they are back together but it's worth a shot at least. It's literally the last scene from the show I saw before I woke up here." I point out.

"I'll come with you." Ruby declares, catching the attention of everyone there.

"Well that's cool and all that you would do that for me but I need you guys to do something else while we're gone." I say regaining the attention of the group

"And that would be?" Blake inquires.

"I need you guys to start on a path to Atlas, talk to Ironwood, get his help, and begin the search for the Winter Maiden." I instruct, revealing the second part of my plan. "We're low on time and we need to do this for the best possible outcome, by myself I won't be able to defeat Salem. We need as many powerful allies as we can get."

"But we'd all be separated. If we get caught against a powerful enemy we may not be able to stop them by ourselves." Weiss adds.

"Im sure if you all work together you can beat any enemy, maybe even a Maiden. But before you leave get used to fighting with each other again. I have faith in you guys. Find your own way to get to Atlas and in the meantime my team will prepare to leave tomorrow as soon as we wake up and get on the first train to Patch." I reveal the rest of my plan. Everyone thinks on their own parts of my surprisingly well thought up plan that I came up with in such a short amount of time, with the help of Ozpin of course. This was the only way for him to let me go after Fall so I had to take it. Even if it means having to be separated from the ones I've grown close with from the past two months or so.

"Okay… sounds like a plan." Ruby agrees, although a bit emotional at the thought of not seeing anyone from Team RNJR for who knows how long.

"Next time we see each other we're going out partying, paid for by Weiss of course." Yang promises.

"Hey I- whatever, I'll… miss you all dearly." Weiss declares

"We will see eachother again so there is no point in saying goodbye." Sun speaks up for the first time. He was surprisingly quiet throughout the plan being told but agrees with my plan as well.

"Ditto." Blake says as well.

We all sit in silence for a couple moments, just savoring every second we have with each other left. I am the first to stand and I walk over to the door once again for something I forgot to do. "I should probably tell Qrow about this. Before he gets all crazy and freaks out that we're gone tomorrow." And without another word I leave the room. I don't like goodbyes, makes me emotional, so I opted for leaving it at that as I close the door behind me. Intedning to not see anyone except my own team for the next couple of hours.

* * *

 **Nighttime about 2 am**

After a long talk with Qrow about our plans and going into much greater detail I finally convinced him to let us go. He offered to ditch his position as Headmaster but Ozpin told him not to, since there is no other candidate for the position that is trusted enough to hold it. Reluctantly Qrow agreed. I get back into my room and close the door. I already packed all of my essentials in a red backpack that Ruby got me a couple days ago. I take off my jacket and throw it on top of the jacket along with my scroll. I sit on my bed with the rest of my clothes on and think on my decision.

"Is this really the only way we could have done things? What if something goes wrong?" I begin to question myself.

' _You musn't begin to doubt yourself. The decision has already been made. The only way to figure out if this will work is by going through with it. I respect you deeply for making a decision as hard as this and I am sorry that you had to be the one to make it._ '

"Yeah… I guess you're right." I kick off my boots but before I can lay in the bed I hear three soft knocks on the door. Hesitantly I stand back up and slowly make my way to the door. I open it only to see Ruby, still in her Huntress uniform look up from me with sad eyes. She has her hands behind her back and tilts side to side a bit. Any words she came to say have been forgotten. I expected her to come visit me because I didn't exactly say goodbye to anyone but I myself cant find any words to say. So we just stand there awkwardly for a couple of seconds before Ruby jumps up and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me into a tight hug which I happily return.

"Don't worry Lil Red, we'll see eachother again one day." I say softly as I stroke her hair softly. She hums at my soft words before releasing me.

"Im probably going to miss your birthday so as you were gone I did this." Ruby pulls out a box with a haphazardly tied red bow on it. "I had no time to wrap it so I just put a bow on it hehe... I was hoping to give it to you on your actual birthday." Ruby mentions nervously.

"Oh you didn't have to do that for me but i'll take it." I say as I accept her gift. I open the box and what do I see? Ivory. My left gauntlet that I thought was damaged beyond repair, that means Ruby has spent all week trying to fix this behind my back to surprise me on my birthday. I widen my eyes in shock as I hold Ivory in my hand, upon further inspection I see that Ruby engraved our names on the very well repaired gauntlet. The damage can't even be seen anymore and it is already loaded with the new dust we talked about earlier.

"Oh my gosh... Ruby... how long did you work on this?"

"Eeehh about all week, every night and while you were gone I worked on it with some help from the rest of my team of course." Ruby mentions as she gets slightly red around her cheeks when she sees much I am fawning over the gauntlet.

"Well I love it! Thank you all for this." I say as I place Ivory right next to Ebony. We get stuck in another awkward moment as we still can't find any more words to say so I go for the next best thing.

"Okay okay just hug me again." I say as I open my arms out invitingly. Ruby giggles at my antics but doesn't reject it one bit. I swing her around a bit playfully before setting her down. "There I think that covers my monthly hug bills for a while." I say as I pat her head.

"Haha, okay I'll allow that. Don't get into too much trouble without us." Ruby says as she tilts back and forth on her heels. Now in a much better mood then before.

"Well I'm definitely going to get into a lot but I promise to bring back cookies." I say as I hold out my pinky. I hope that she understands what this means. Luckily she does and wraps her own pinky around mine.

"I'll hold you to that." Ruby warns with a playful wink as she finally runs herself around and with one last look and a wave, enters her own room and closes the door.

When she leaves I close my door and plop back on my bed. I shut my eyes and think about the morning and what everything needs to be done before we head out, anything I could have forgotten and-

' _You two are just adorable you know that?'_

"Goddamnit Oz."

* * *

 **AN- I hope you guys enjoyed all the fluffy cute stuff I put in this chapter. The main focus of this chapter was, Getting a new look, getting Hector and Ruby closer, and revealing the plan for about the next 15 chapters or so. Yeah this isn't about to be a short arc.**

 **I'll be alternating chapters from Hectors group and Ruby's group as they go on their own separate journeys and I promise you that you guys are going to hate me with the amount of cliffhangers I have planned.**

 **What do you guys thing of the Fluff between Hector and Ruby this chapter? It was my first time actually writing about their blooming relationship and how they dance around their own feelings for a bit. They are going to be seperated for a long time but when they get back together is probably going to be the time when they finally get** _**together-together.**_

 **You guys like the plan I came up with? Expecting the whole splitting up thing I had done? Poor Qrow by the way.**

 **Please review and let me know how I am doing so far! Next chapter will be from Hectors group as they make their way to patch.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Rwby in any way shape or form.**


	17. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 16

**AN- First thanks to the reviewers of last chapter.**

 **Zeldawolffang- I had to have a chapter like this where it was just a lot of fluff between them since they're going to be separated for an unknown amount of time. I'm glad you enjoyed it! It was my first time actually trying to have them have some cute moments.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Wow that made me want to write this one earlier than expected. Oh yeah the new Team RNJR is going to have plenty more bonding moments with each other on their way to patch, Nora and Hector are going to have a ball of a time. I kinda got sick of explaining his origins to every new character so in that week after the battle of haven I just had Hector tell them right away. It was time for a new look! Hectors old clothing were scorched and ripped up after using the kaioken times twenty twice, so I came up with the idea of him wearing heat resistant clothing so he wouldn't have to get new clothes every time he goes full power. I actually got the lighting color idea from InFamous, the playstation exclusive game where the main character has lightning powers could either be a hero or well InFamous, if he was infamous he'd have the black and red lightning, not that Hector is going evil or anything its just the color of the lightning that I loved so much when I played that game so long ago. Honestly I don't know what to do with Sun at the moment so most likely he will get back with his own team, but he WILL return I promise you guys that. I'm glad my first go at some cute moments between Hector and Ruby was a success! Since they were going to get separated I had to give them a few moments with each other before I go into two seperate arcs with both sides. They'll be some more flashback moments coming from both sides that I have some ideas for so keep an eye out for them.**

 **Last night as I was writing Team HAMR and right before I released it I just got the best idea ever for both Team RNJR and Team RWBY's separate adventures. You'll see what I mean.**

 **Wow… I actually made it over 100 followers… I'm about halfway through the chapter when I type this and I got the notification that I got another follower. Just wow guys. Thank you so much. Every single one of you. I remember when I got my first follower which I think is Wisdomdragon27? I hope I got that right, well thanks to you for starting this off. The hundredth I think was HarmonyDST05, Thank you man! If Im wrong Im sorry and please point yourself out.**

 **This story is now well above 8,000 views and I know already that it will pass 9,000 after this chapter is posted. I better see some over 9,000 reviews or imma be pissed. Love you guys!**

 **Now onto the show!**

* * *

Chapter 16. Team RNJR's adventure part 1

I was the first to wake up due to the lack of being able to actually fall asleep. Ozpin has reassured me multiple times that this is the right choice to make but I just can't help but have some doubt in me. Originally Ozpin was supposed to be the one that told everyone the plan but he let me do it because I insisted that I be the one. Since I kinda assumed the role of group leader after saving Haven from two Maidens. Currently I am just sitting against the wall in the bed with apparently what is now _my_ relic now. I rub the blue part of the relic as it warmly hums at my touch. I wonder what I am going to do with this thing, I can't leave it here because the bad guys already know where the vault is and the door won't close either. I guess only the Spring Maiden can only close or open the door and I doubt she is going to show herself again anytime soon.

"Oz you're the one that knows the most about these things. The hell do I do with it?" I ask Ozpin as the relic softly glows a radiant calm blue color that lights up the room.

' _You don't do anything with it. The relic has already bestowed upon you some of its power.'_

"Wait really? I don't feel any different. How do I get more of it?"

' _You don't feel any different because it's not meant to make you feel different. Its spiritual, and when you need it most it will give you the knowledge of anything you need to know when you NEED to know it. You can't force it to do anything, it can make its own choices.'_ Ozpin explains, making it rather easy to understand this time.

"So its sentient? Wow… I wanna name it."

' _What?'_

"I wanna name it! If this thing really is sentient then I don't want to call it a thing anymore." I explain as I lift the relic to in front of my face. "Therefore you shall now be known as… Knolly!" I exclaim as I come up with an extremely original name that I definitely did not come up with in seconds.

' _You're naming a relic as old as this world something so childish?'_

"I think Knolly likes his new name. Right Knolly?" I ask the relic in my hands. The relic responds by doing to quick pulses of light which excites me.

"Told you!" I exclaim.

' _Only you can make a relic happy just by naming it…'_

"Im special like that. Now for more serious things, where am I going to put him?" I ask as I set Knolly down back in my lap.

' _Back in the vault of course.'_

"Funny, I was just thinking about how that is a bad idea, since y'know the bad guys already know that it's down there AND the vault door isn't closing." I point out as I roll my eyes.

' _I gave the Maidens their power. You really don't think that I can close the doors that I made?'_

"Oh… I didn't think about that. Wait why didn't you tell me that befor-"

' _Besides, even if they managed to retrieve the relic it would only work for you anyway since it has chosen you as its owner. The relic will not work for anyone else unless you specifically give consent to that person or you die.'_

"Well that's both depressing and unfortunate. My semblance basically almost kills me everytime I use it. Let's just get this over with and get Knolly back down there where he is safe." I say as I get back up and head to the door, with the relic in my hand. It's still very early in the morning so I am the only one awake so no student should see me go down the elevator and into the vault. "Would I still be able to borrow power when I need it? Even when it's down here?" I ask as I travel down the elevator.

' _I believe so. You are linked with the relic now on a spiritual level. The relic can see what you see and hear what you say. When you need it most it well help you. As for what it does not even I know the answer to that question. No one has ever owned one before.'_

"Oh well that's nice. Now I got two ancient beings knowing everything I do at all times." I sarcastically point out as I cross the stone bridge once again. The area down here is still destroyed from the fight I had with Raven but luckily the bridge itself is for the most part still intact. I came down here on my own during the week and carried Vernals body out of the vault and buried her. Although she was on the other side of the battle I don't believe she was evil. I step over rubble and debris and kick a couple of pebbles away as I make my way to the still open Vault. I feel the magical power of the vault flow through me again as a green streak of aura flows into me once more. The relic vibrates gently in my hand as it feels the power of its home. I think it likes to be in there. I take a relaxing deep breath as I enter the vault itself a second time. The vault looks exactly as it did the first time I was in here as I walk on the stone path a second time. The feeling of being in here this time is more soothing and relaxing since there wasn't any intense fighting beforehand this time. I make it to the same pedestal where the relic was once sitting in for who knows how long and place the Relic of Knowledge where it once was.

"Welcome back home Knolly." I say as I rub its blue orb one last time before turning around. It pulses brightly one last time as if it is saying goodbye, even though its still with me spiritually. I walk backward and give him one last wave before I turn around and head back out the vault. When I exit Ozpin instructs me to place my hand on the door itself. When I do my hand glows with a green aura and the vault door begins to close once again. Not to be opened again for who knows how long. The green string of aura that was connected to me disappears as well when the vault closes. With another deep breath I turn back around and head back up the vault elevator. That whole chore took about half an hour as I had to tiptoe my way around the academy in hopes that I don't awake any of the students with my loud footsteps. Eventually I make it back to the room that I'll be staying in for just a couple more hours. Oh wait, nevermind it's actually time for me to wake the team up.

"Geez how long was I down there?" I ask as I see the sun rise over the horizon from out one of the windows. It's about 6 am now.

' _As the owner of the relic of knowledge, when you are in one of the vaults by yourself, time on the outside will speed up dramatically. In simpler terms, about every 7 minutes in the vault is about two or three hours on the outside. For you exclusively.'_ Ozpin explains.

"Well that would've been good to know earlier Oz." I point out as I rub my tired eyes.

' _You never asked.'_

"Alright shut up now I got to go wake up my team."

' _There's something else you should know.'_

"And that would be?" I stop myself as I reach the door and listen to Ozpin.

' _The worst case scenario in the battle against Salem, even with the Maidens for help, should Ruby fall or is rendered unable to fight with her silver eyed power. If you can collect all four relics and they claim you as their owner, you would be on the same plane as a god. You would be our last hope against her.'_

"That's something to think about way down the line. Next time we see Ruby we'll get her to master that power of hers and she will be the one to destroy Salem once and for all. Now be quiet please."

Ozpin complies and remains silent as I enter my teams room. I spot the other three members of the new Team RNJR sleeping peacefully. I almost don't want to wake them up but I have to in order to start on a path to Patch in order to begin the search for Raven. I first go to Ren since he is closest to me and nudge him on the shoulder gently. Ren stirs from his sleep and sits up slowly, once he sees me he nods and gets out of bed to begin a quick morning refreshment. Next I move to Jaune and shake him a bit and he easily wakes up. He looks into my eyes and nods.

"Good morning." Jaune greets.

"Hmm." I mumble in acknowledgement.

I move over to Nora and I know I have to be a bit rougher with this one. I shake her roughly but Nora pushes my hand away and whines. I slap her face gently and her eyes shoot open finally. She might have been annoyed at the way I woke her up but she remembers what we are going to have to do today when she sees the look in my tired eyes. She gets up without protests and moves to freshen up like her other teammates.

"We live in half an hour. So whatever you have to do, do it now." I instruct.

Ren notices my tired state and makes a mental note to himself to question me about it later. Jaune does the same and Nora doesn't really notice it.

I walk out of the room and to the couches but to my surprise I see the barely awake WBY of RWBY. Yang yawns when she sees me but smiles nonetheless, as does Weiss and Blake.

"You didn't really think we'd let you get away without at least a see you later right?" Yang asks as she gets up and hugs me tightly. My back cracks at the pressure.

"Wow… you girls woke up early for me? Especially you Blake I must've left a really good first impression."

"Well Ruby insisted that we wake up early so we wouldn't miss you leave, before she fell asleep herself, she mentioned that she saw you already and insisted that the next time she sees you she expects cookies." Blake points out as she stands up and joins in the hugging game.

"Wow I've never been hugged by three beautiful girls in one day. Hey Weiss wanna make it four?" I ask playfully and I hug the two girls back. Yang and Blake both giggle and they both look to Weiss. Yang realizes something I said in that sentence and looks back to me with an 'I caught ya' look.

"Who was the first one?" Yang asks teasingly as she catched my slip up. I get slightly red and nervously sputter out some excuse that made no sense.

Weiss rolls her eyes but smiles at her friends antics. "You are just unbelievable." Weiss says as she saunters her way to me and joins in the hugging game. Making it official that I have hugged all four girls of RWBY in a single morning.

"Aww I think she finally warmed up to me!" I point out as I hug her back.

"Don't let it get to your head. That was my thank you for saving our lives the other day." Weiss says as she playfully pushes me away.

"Well you're only a week late but Im afraid im going to have to charge you interest that involves a crisp high five." I say as I raise my scarred hand, once I realize that I raised that hand I quickly switch and raise my fully healed hand instead hoping they didn't notice. They're not dumb so they did notice it easily, and since it was Raven who did, Yang comes up to me to comfort me by placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry about what my mom did. If she fights back give her a scar of her own to remember you by." Yang says in an attempt to cheer me up. "Also… tell her to come see me again."

I let out a hmph but accept her request without hesitation with a nod. "I think I already did? She was also bleeding a lot through her armour so I must've left something on her." I point out as I try to remember what happened that day. Yang laughs at my poorly timed joke but plays it off as she punches me in the shoulder playfully.

"That's the spirit!"

"Hey… Where did Sun go? I usually have to clean up his banana peels in the morning." I askas I notice his absence

"He… had to go back to his own team… He said it has been too long since he's seen them and that he accomplished his own mission to get me back to my friends. He did promise to come see me again though." Blake explains rather sadly.

"Aw I was liking his company. Oh well, I'm sure one of these days I'll run into him again."

Jaune, Ren and Nora all form around me all geared up, with their packs on and ready to go. I look back to them and nod, getting back to serious business. I give one last look to Yang, Weiss, and Blake and they all give one last goodbye smile at me. I give a two finger salute at them and give them my trademark smirk I've grown accustomed to getting on my face anytime I get in a good enough mood.

"I'm going to sleep on the train by the way." I mention as I turn around and leave the room.

Ren, Jaune, and Nora all say their goodbyes and soon follow me out of the room. Quickly catching up to me due to my intentionally slow pace. I struggle to keep my eyes open as I walk and tell myself that I just need to reach the train. My team notices my restlessness and aim to ask me about it as we walk.

"Hector, I have noticed that you are not at your best this morning. Is there a reason?" Ren asks, letting me know of his concern.

I turn my head to look back at him as I speak my answer.

"I wasn't able to sleep last night so I stayed up talking to my relic." I answer with a yawn at the end of the sentence.

"You… talked to the relic?" Jaune asks. Needing confirmation that what I said is actually what I just said.

"Yeah, turns out they're sentient. Go figure." I explain rather simply. This new information surprises my team but after everything they've seen from my massively powerful semblance, witnessing the power of both the Fall and Spring Maidens, and Ozpin's soul sharing my body. They don't voice their surprise.

"Did you name yours?" Nora asks in a very Nora like tone.

"I'm glad you asked Nora because I actually did! My relics name is Knolly and its completely original and fits him well." I answer with a tired voice.

"Ooo, I can't wait to meet this Knolly"

"It's gonna be pretty difficult doing that since I put it back in the vault but the next time Raven is over I'll ask her to open the door." I respond sarcastically. A little rude but I'm really tired and Nora understands that, so she just stays uncharacteristically quiet for now.

About half an hour later we make it to a train station and buy tickets for trip to Patch. The train is rather empty so I have plenty of room to lie down on one of the seats and I immediately fall asleep on the surprisingly comfortable seat and the rest of my team sits across from me. They chat quietly so they won't wake me from my well needed rest. Talking about Beacon days and moments we shared during the week we had together to rest and get to know each other better as teammates. Nora and I even came up with a new team attack that involves me shocking her with my new lightning dust that we'll no doubt have to use in the future. Although I should be handle to most threats I won't be able go all out everytime something powerful comes along. So it's good that I have a team to support me. Even better to have Jaune with us with his semblance to amplify and heal his teammates.

* * *

 **Two hours later**

I wake up suddenly from my short nap as the train beeps its horn loudly at some dumb kids who decided it was a good idea to play on the tracks. Luckily they got off in time but I am not happy that my sleep has been rudely interrupted.

"Oh god damnit." I complain as I slump my head back on the cushion.

"Oh you're awake. As you were asleep I made something that can help you wake up and refresh your body." Ren offers as he hands a large purple bottle of something to me. I vividly remember that Ren's homemade healthy drinks are not very tasty but I'd honestly take anything at this point to not be in this sorry state anymore. I grab the bottle and sniff the contents of it a couple times. Surprisingly it smells rather nice.

"Cheers." I say right before I take a small sip of the purple liquid. My eyes widen at the taste. It's actually not bad! It tastes like grape, I quickly point the bottom up as I wolf down the rest of the drink within seconds. When I finish I wipe my mouth of any excess liquid and let out a satisfied burp.

"Wow I've never seen anyone drink one of Rens drinks so fast before." Jaune says as he is in slight disbelief at what he has just witnessed.

"Dude that was actually fantastic, and it's already kicking in. Wow Ren I officially grant you permission to make us pre and post workout drinks." I compliment with a bright smile. I actually do feel very refreshed and awake now as even the dark spots I had under my eyes are now gone. Ren smiles the brightest smile I've ever seen from him at my compliment.

"Thank you! This is the first time someone has enjoyed my nutritious drink this much!" Ren exclaims as he takes the empty bottle away from me.

"No problem. How did you manage to make this here anyway? Actually don't answer that because I doubt I'd be able to understand anything you say so we'll just leave it at you're good at this."

"Very well. If you need anything of the sort in the future please let me know." Ren says happily with a nod.

"Oh gosh I must have been a dick earlier. Sorry for anything rude I might have said." I say as I stand up and join my team, sitting right in between Jaune and Nora.

"Yay! The Hecky I know is back!" Nora exclaims as she hugs my arm and puts her head on my shoulder and hugs my arm tight. I laugh and pat her head a bit.

"Thanks for the welcome party Nora." I say as I pat her head some more. She's one of my best friends now and I am proud of that. I look at the time and i notice we'll be in at least Vale in ten hours by the insane speed of this train "I'm pretty sure we-"

Suddenly I get a feeling of unease. Something doesn't feel right, there's no way it can be this easy. Take a train, go to patch and find Raven? No there has to be something going on if I feel this. Apparently Jaune felt it to because he gets as tense as I am. I focus my hearing with my semblance as much as I can and listen for any abnormalities. Sound begins to quiet down in my close vicinity as I focus my hearing to outside the train to the middle of the bridge that we are about to cross that goes over a large ravine.

 **Nothing… Nothing… faint beeping noise… same thing… BEEP BEEP BEEP.**

"TO ME!" I grab everyone using my long arms and pull them into me, Ozpin puts up a green bubble shield around us. An explosion occurs on the tracks of the train and we begin to fall down a cavern. My team screams as they fall and I shut my eyes closed because fuck heights. The train we are in bounces around the sides of the cavern before getting wedged so hard that it can not continue falling. The rest of the train either falls to the bottom but matters only get worse when I finally open my eyes only to see another train car plummeting right toward us. All I can do is hope for the best as I tighten my grip on my team as it slams into the train car we are in. Easily breaking it into two big parts. Unable to hold on to anything we all begin to go into freefall as we plummet into the dark ravine and the bubble soon slams into the ground. Once I feel that we have stopped moving I open my eyes to meet nothing but darkness, and my head hurts from the constant shaking.

Back in the vault the Relic senses my discomfort and gives me a little help by donating some of its energy that travels at light speed and enters my body within a second. A calm blue aura forms around my scarred hand that glows brightly and illuminates the cavern around me. I don't know why the sunlight isn't reaching us but I mentally thank Knolly for his great timing at lending me his power. My team is all right for the most part since any damage that might have gotten through the shield was blocked by their aura. If they did get hurt it would only be a few minor bruises at best. Ozpin shuts off his bubble and the group falls off my chest where I was bear hugging them to keep them in place. I point my glowing hand around and see nothing but the grey color of rock all around us.

"Ugh, what just happened?" Nora asks as she sits up while holding her head.

"The bridge had explosives on it. I heard it beep right as it exploded. It was too late for any of us to notice." I explain as I help Jaune and Ren up.

"Where are we?" Jaune asks as he shakes his head a bit to regain his bearings.

"Well… It appears that we are in a cave." I point out the obvious as I wave my hand around the cavern we found ourselves in with its blue glow.

"How are you doing that?" Ren asks as he spots my glowing blue hand.

"Oh this isn't me, this is Knollys doing." I point out as I curl the fingers of my glowing hand.

"Huh, that's handy." Jaune says, making an accidental pun that I do my best to ignore

"There's no doubt that Grimm are in these caves. We need to be as cautious as possible. Older Grimm stay in caves until they sense an opportunity to strike." Ren mentions, putting everyone back into serious mode.

"Stick close to me, if you somehow get cut off from the group and you can't find my light I must warn you that I am not good at tracking people down." I point out as I group everyone up.

"I propose that we link hands in order not lose track of ourselves. Hector, since you have the light you should lead." Ren proposes as he links hands with Nora and Jaune. Nora extends her hand to me.

"Good idea." I say with a nod as I grab Nora's hand. I'm in front with Nora behind me, followed by Ren, who is followed by Jaune since he has his shield and can guard the back just in case of any surprise attacks. I realize something and stop myself before I start moving.

"What's the matter?" Nora asks when I stop myself.

"Maybe it's a good idea for me to put on Ebony and Ivory." I say as I reach into my magical back pocket and slip on Ivory. I have to leave Ebony off so I can use the light coming from my hand to lead us so I put him back in my pocket.

"Alright ready to go. Couldn't Knolly give me the light on my dominant hand instead?" I complain sarcastically as I grab Nora's hand again with Ivory. The metal is cold against her skin but wonders to how it got fixed.

"Didn't this one get destroyed during the fight you had?" Nora asks out of curiosity.

"Yeah but Ruby fixed it up for me as a birthday gift, she gave it to me last night after we said our goodbyes for now." I explain easily as if it happened today. Oh wait…

"Oh that's just adorable!" Nora exclaims happily.

"Shh!" The rest of team RNJR shush Nora in unison.

"Sorry but if there are Grimm here we should be careful not to disturb them." I explain.

Nora simply nods at my explanation and goes back to looking around for any openings or gusts of wind. Well feel the gust of winds I should say.

* * *

After about a couple of hours of searching the caves I start to get worried. I feel like we have passed through the same cave 30 times already and I still don't feel any gusts of wind and It's starting to get colder quickly as the day progresses into the night. My team is starting to show the beginning stages of what I think is hypothermia as am I. I don't want my team to be weakened or suffer and if an ancient Grimm attack us now I'd be the only one to fight back. So I do what is best for my team.

"Stop." I order as I stop moving, the blue light is still shining brightly unlike everyone's general mood. They don't even question me as they shiver and look at me expecting an explanation.

I take a deep breath and activate my semblance. "Kaioken times five!" I growl out as my body tenses and instantly heats up, I focus everything into strength since that is the trait that makes me heat up the most, it's not as hot as a radiator but its all I can muster up for the amount of time I'm going to have to keep this up this is as hot as I can make it to. I sit down and gesture for everyone to lay around me. They just look at me in disbelief as they feel the warm heat radiate from my body. "Rest."

"What? How long will you even be able to keep this up?" Jaune asks concerned for my well being.

"As long as I have to." I say as I shut my eyes. Nora is the first to sit next to me as she leans her back against my own and leans her head on the back of my neck. She relaxes at the comfortable heat and sighs with approval.

"You can't keep this up all night, you're barely able to do it for minutes at a time!" Ren joins in the arguing. But can't deny that the fact that the heat is comfortable and raises his hands in my general direction. He kneels down in front of me despite his protests.

"I understand your concerns but three people being healthy is better than just one. Even if I manage to stay healthy you guys are at risk. I'll try to keep this up until morning, until then shut up, sit next to me and rest." I order as I flick my neck to my open side. The red light that comes from my body mixes with the blue from the magic of the relic, creating a satisfying purple glow.

Jaune reluctantly complies and moves himself to my side. Sitting against the natural stone wall behind him. The warm heat reaches his bones and he begins to relax and joins Nora in a well needed restful sleep. Ren and I lock eyes, his pink eyes filled with worry. Now that the others are asleep we can talk seriously.

"How long can you _really_ keep this up?" Ren asks with a serious look on his face.

"At this low a level? Maybe an hour or two. But for you guys I'll try my best to make it as long as possible." I answer honestly. Ren nods understanding as he reaches for his pack and puts it in front of him then opens it up.

"I made something for you." Ren mentions as he reaches into his pack and pulls out a medium sized bottle with grey contents. "I understand that your semblance causes you much pain every time you use it. So I made something that at the very least temporarily should dull your sense of pain. It may not taste good but for something such as this I find it important for your own well being and sanity to drink it. I have more ingredients to make more so don't worry about running out." Ren explains as he hands the grey liquid to me. I grab it and shake the bottle around a bit.

"I'll take it when it starts to become too much." I say as I put the bottle in between my legs.

"That's all I can ask for." Ren says with a smile.

"Well as you probably guessed Im taking first watch. So go ahead to sleep."

Ren nods and lays on his side with his head next to me leg and his back to me. Now that everyone is asleep I being to converse with Ozpin and try to figure out what actually happened.

" _Someone must have known that we were going to be on that train."_

' _I agree. It's certainly not just by mere coincidence that it happened to be that very train at that very time.'_

" _You think it was the White Fang?"_

' _I doubt it. The White Fang abandoned all operations in Mistral when we drove them away. They are likely too busy with regaining their ground, especially since their own kind has turned against them.'_

" _Damn, that only leaves one other suspect…"_

' _Salem knows we're on the move. She must have sent someone after us, but what makes me wonder is why didn't that person wait for us to be on top of the explosives? It probably wouldn't have killed us but it certainly would have lead to more damage.'_

" _No idea Oz. My team… they're not safe with me, If this someone turns out to be a problem for me it would be very problematic for them."_

' _That's a decision you must make for yourself. They won't leave you alone out here willingly if that is what you are thinking.'_

" _No i'm not doing that i'm not an idiot, they'd rather try to put the moon back together. What I mean is that Salem knows where I am, what she did to me back then… Is that going to affect this mission I put myself and my team on?"_

' _I will look into it. Be careful Hector, these caves do not give me a good feeling.'_

And with that Ozpin fades away to a more spiritual level as he begins his check. I open my eyes back up and begin to make a more focused watch. I hold my glowing hand out and use it as a flashlight down the cavern. After about an hour I spot something dash away quickly as the light barely catches its glowing yellow scorpion stinger.

"What the? That can't have been a Deathstalker it's way too small." I say as I focus my sight more. All of a sudden a rock gets chucked at the speed of a bullet and nearly hits my head, embedding itself into the stone wall to my side. The sound of the impact wakes everyone up immediately and they all ready their weapons.

"What was that?" Nora asks, slightly spooked by the sudden noise.

"Something is here with us." I answer as I continue to point the light in all directions, looking for our attacker. Jaune readies his shield and covers the back, Ren covers another entrance into the cave we're in and Nora stands with me with her hand. Ren kneels down and places his hand on the ground.

"I'm going to mask our negative emotions. Just stay still and the Grimm will move on." Ren says as he focuses his semblance into everyone around him, including himself. We all turn black and white as our emotions are being masked. Although the light coming from my hand remains its blue color.

A maniacal psychotic laugh rings throughout all the openings of the cave we're in that sends chills down everyone spines.

"I can still see you~" A male voice sings out to us.

"It's not a Grimm!" I shout out pulling Ren back up to his feet and behind Jaune.

Out of the corner of my eye I see my blue light reflecting off of what looks like a metal blade. Next I see a pair of purple glowing eyes that is easy to spot in this dark. The same Grimm scorpion tail shows itself from behind its owner. I shine the light in that opening and it shows a man who looks part Grimm, he has black long hair that is the same color as a Grimms fur and wears only brown combat pants, revealing his white as snow skin with black bleeding scars across his chest that from an X just above a second scar that is on an angle down his abdomen, his weapons consist of one human looking arm having wrist blades on it while the other has transformed into a atrocious looking claw arm, with multiple sharp bones protruding out of it. He flails his tail at us threateningly.

"I failed my queen last time... _**HEuhuheeuehUEH**_ but I will never fail her again!" The man screams out. I recognize him by the scars on his chest and widen my eyes in disbelief at what a monster he has become.

"Oh shit… Tyrian."

* * *

 **AN- ;)**

 **You guys probably hate me for that cliffhanger but I couldn't help it. It was a perfect place to end this chapter off at. Just after a couple hours of travel, The new team RNJR has already run into some serious trouble, The return of Tyrian! How will they get out of this? I wanted to bring this character back after he was absent for all of Volume 5 if I remember correctly and his new mission is to kill Hector and his team, he has undergone some... Upgrades so to speak. Next time we see Team RNJR I will write a little backstory on what happened to Tyrian.**

 **Next chapter of this story will be the beginning of Team RWBY's adventure. They will begin on their own path to Atlas and run into a familiar face. Who could that be?**

 **Please review and or contact me in any way you want and let me know what you think! I made a twitter account for you guys so if you want to say anything to me or just say hi or I don't know whatever you want I will respond and answer anything you wanna say. Im not good with twitter but I'll check it regularly for you guys.**

 **Here's the link:** **/genatools?lang=en**

 **Yeah my name is Genatools I thought it was funny and it stuck.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	18. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 17

**AN- Here we go with another chapter! As always thank you to the reviewers from last chapter.**

 **Zeldawolffang- great timing! I just figured that's what most of you would say once you realize who it was so I decided to throw that in there.**

 **Guest- No please, I am humble. Forgive me for I have sinned and thank you for reading.**

 **Tigervolcano5000-This review was actually longer than your last one lol. I have something planned with all the relics when eventually our heroes have to go around the world to protect them all, you'll see. I know it made me sad when I was writing it :`(. No hector does not control when he can put up Ozpin's bubble, Ozpin just does that on his own when it's needed. That's How good their mental connection has progressed since they first joined bodies. Yeah I couldn't make it any easier to notice that the train wasn't going to make the full trip, little cliche but I felt like doing it. Hehe sorry not sorry about the cliffhanger. After RWBY's adventure begins I'll put a little snidbit on what's going on with RNJR, and by the way the cave is pretty cramped, not that large, and very maze like to since its gonna be awhile before they can find a way out. Im well aware about how strong Hector is and that makes all of the villains like Hazel, and Tyrian look like bitches, but you'll see what I have planned to make it more… fair to say the least. Also your prediction is very** _ **very**_ **wrong, you're going to be surprised when you do see who it is though, those characters are coming soon but just not now. Thanks for the review!**

 **JustFun101- Oh yeah, Team RNJR are going to have quite the battle on their hands when we next see them.**

 **Disabled-doctor- Well here is some more for you to read! Thanks for reading and enjoying my story!**

 **For the beginning part of this chapter I will tell what happened on the bad guy's side after the battle of Haven. How Tyrian ended up the way he did, and what happened to Hazel, Mercury and Emerald.**

 **I'm going to put a little preview on what's happening with team RNJR once Team RWBY begins their part of the adventure plan. It will explain what the fight is going to be like and how I'm going to fix the super op oc problem.**

 **Just a warning to anyone who doesn't like blood… It made me a little emotional writing a certain brutal part that you'll soon see.**

 **Now to get on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 17 Team RWBY's adventure part 1

Ruby for the first time in a long time was actually the last to wake up, after her emotional moment with me she found herself to be very exhausted. She wakes up at the smell of breakfast being made but wonder who could be making it since Ren is with his team as they started their own part of the plan. She leaves the room still in her pajamas and enters the kitchen to be met with the sight of Blake and Weiss cooking and Yang eating at the table. She has to blink twice to affirm that it is indeed Blake and Weiss cooking since she has never seen them cook before.

"Hey sis! Good to see you up." Yang says with her signature smile as she meets her sisters silver eyes.

"Blake, Weiss since when can you two cook? And make it smell so good!" Ruby asks as she dashes to the table in a flurry of rose petals. Awaiting for her serving of whatever Blake and Weiss are making.

"It's mostly all Blake honestly, I was just a better choice at helping her then Yang." Weiss answers as she hands blake a piece of meat.

"My mom always made me help her cook when I was younger so it just kinda stuck with me." Blake answers as she makes an omelet.

"You came just in time because Blake just finished your meal." Weiss adds as she brings a plate over with a steaming pile of scrambled eggs that is salted and has other stuff I don't know the name of that makes it very appealing to Ruby's eyes as she drools hungrily and with excitement. As soon as Weiss places the plate in front of her, Ruby digs into it right away, using the fork and uses her semblance to eat half of her meal within seconds before she pauses to take a deep breath and pats her belly.

"Wow~ Your breakfast meals easily rivals Rens!" Ruby compliments happily. Singing that first word out.

Blake looks down and smiles at the compliment. "It can be _that_ good." Blake says humbly.

"Its amazing!" Yang joins in.

They all share a moment of laughter as Blake goes slightly red at all the compliments. The laughter dies down after a few moments and Ruby lets everyone know her thoughts right way.

"I want to start going to Atlas today." Ruby reveals, catching the attention of everyone around her.

"Yeah we expected as such, which is why we already packed everything we need." Weiss says as she lifts two backpacks with her hands.

"Wait really? I thought it would take a lot more convincing than that." Ruby responds as she widens her eyes in surprise.

"Ruby you really think we don't know you? Of course we expected this, after we said goodbye to Hector we started packing up early in the morning." Yang reveals as she stands up to reveal herself in her gear.

"So technically we were all waiting on you." Blake adds with her own smile.

"But Weiss, you know we might have to face your father when we make it right?" Ruby asks. Weiss cringes at the mention of her father but keeps her smile present

"I can't run away from him forever. Blake already told me that running away from my problems is not a good thing to do and I can't deny her advice when its coming from her." Weiss says with a small roll of her eyes.

"Aww I love you guys!" Ruby exclaims as she pumps both of her fists into the air.

"You should get dressed if you want to leave soon. I already told Qrow about it and he said "You kids are going to be the death of me." Yang says in her best impression of Qrows deep gruff voice. Ruby giggles at her failed attempt and with another flurry of rose petals dashes into her own room and begins to get dressed. As she gets dressed something falls out of her cloak when she picks it up. She looks down at the ground and sees a rose on the ground with a piece of paper hanging off of one of the leaves. She picks it up and reads the note which says.

" _Oz told me to get you a flower before we left so I got you a rose. I mean c'mon its a rose for Miss Rose I couldn't help it. I don't know if this made it into your room since I threw it in before I left but if it did... Well, I already miss you. - Hecs_

Ruby holds the rose up to her chest and blushes madly at the after reading the note.

"Miss you to." She mumbles to herself as she sticks the rose in her magical back pocket for good luck. It doesn't get messed up because plot and also because I said so.

Her blush fades and she ties her red hood on and with a bright smile leaves her room. Immediately her beaming happy mood is noticed by her teammates.

"What's got you all excited?" Yang asks in a teasing tone.

"N-nothing! Let's get started!" Ruby exclaims as she slips on her own backpack. What she doesn't know is that the top of the rose peeks out from back pocket which is spotted by everyone. Making a silent pact to question her about it later, the rest of Team RWBY follows their leader and they walk to now filled halls of Haven academy.

"It's funny thinking about how Uncle Qrow is a headmaster. He must hate it." Ruby says with a little giggle as they walk the halls.

"He is probably spending most of that time drinking out of that flask of his. I swear it seems like it never runs out of whatever he drinks." Yang says as she wonders on what it could be, she smelled it before and even for a party girl like her it was too much.

"Hector drank it before and mentioned that it's probably just pure peroxide." Ruby mentions, her and Yang laugh at the assumption.

"Oh yeah? That's probably not far from the truth. Even I can't stand the smell of it."

"As much as I like talking about your uncles drinking problem we should find the way we're going to take to get to Atlas in the first place, the borders are closed and are heavily guarded." Blake brings up, putting Yang and Ruby into serious mode.

"We could try talking to General Ironwood. He was always kind to me when we spoke." Weiss mentions.

"I doubt that he would even be able to communicate us without your father finding out and causing trouble. I'm sure we can find another way." Blake adds as the girls make it to the outside.

"We could walk all the way there. That's what me, Jaune, Ren, and Nora all did when we left Vale to come here." Ruby suggests.

"The path to Atlas on foot is a completely different ball game then getting to Mistral Ruby. It's a lot more mountainous and cold so if we choose to walk we will need the proper attire. Even when we get there we should change clothing anyways." Blake suggests.

"Yeah that makes sense… None of us are wearing warm clothes." Ruby says solemnly, she was just getting attached to her new clothes even though she wore them once back at Beacon for their secret White Fang investigation.

"I would be fine in my current attire, I lived there most of my life so my body has been acclimated to the cold weather for most of my life." Weiss points out.

"Well lucky you, if it does snow though I don't think heels are the right choice of footwear." Yang brings up, nudging Weiss with her elbow.

"I believe since I am the one who lived in Atlas that Heels are perfectly okay." Weiss defends.

"Okay okay it doesn't matter, lets go get these clothes and when it starts to get too cold for our regular clothes we can change on the way. Sound good?" Ruby makes a plan on the spot in order to prevent any argument from starting. Never talk about Weiss's heels. She is sensitive about it.

"Lets go to that same clothing store where we were with Hector yesterday, if he had clothes that is heat resistant enough to not be set on fire then Im sure they could have something for the cold." Blake points out.

"Good plan! Let's go team!" Ruby exclaims as she marches into town. Her gift from me still obvious to anyone who can pay attention.

"Yeah! On the way you can tell us who gave you that rose." Yang teases as she catches up to her sister and pulls her into a one armed tight hug.

"W-what rose?" Ruby says bashfully as she pulls her cloak over her head to hide her red face.

"We're not stupid Ruby, you really think we wouldn't notice the obvious rose peeking out of your back pocket?" Yang asks with a smirk.

Before the teasing could continue the area around them shakes just enough to make it noticeable to them and snap them out of their current conversation. Soon they look through one of the windows of a nearby shop and see a news report about a train being blown up just as it crosses the bridge. A train that coincidentally was on its way to Patch. The report makes Ruby worried as she remembers that team RNJR was taking a train to patch on that same day. And now a few hours later a train heading to Patch is blown up on its way. The report mentions that the train was mostly empty which brings some relief to the team but not by a lot.

"That… couldn't be the same train that Hector and the others took could it?" Ruby asks, obvious worry laced in her voice.

"Ruby, even if it is I doubt they would end up being killed. This is Hector we're talking about, he stood up against two Maidens and that Hazel guy and defied Salem herself. If that does happen to be the same train they took, then I know they are fine." Yang says which brings a lot of comfort to the team.

"Yeah youre probably right… I wonder how they are doing now."

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

"Healers down!" I shout as Jaune is thrown into one of the cave walls, being knocked out in the process.

"Need a res!" Nora shouts as her semblance runs out of electricity to takes strength from.

"Out of mana!" Ren shouts as he runs out of ammo.

"WAAAAAAGH." We all scream in unison as Tyrian just smiles and laughs maniacally.

 **This doesn't actually happen by the way I just thought it'd be funny.**

* * *

"I bet they're doing fine." Yang answers, reassuring her sister.

"Yeah, I think you're right. Alright Team let's go buy some clothes!" Ruby exclaims, now in a better mood.

"You know as a team of four girls I don't think we ever went shopping for clothes together." Blake points out as they enter the same store they were just in yesterday afternoon.

"Ah! If it isn't the four lovely girls that accompanied Havens hero yesterday. Welcome! What can I do for you?" The same store owner from yesterday asks as he leans over the desk.

"Do you have any clothes for cold weather? And I mean REALLY cold weather." Ruby asks as she steps up.

"Of course! This wouldn't be a proper huntsman clothing store without having everything a hunter needs. Come I will show you." The manager beckons as he goes into a different part of the store where female warm clothing can be found.

After about two hours of girl talk and a lot of choices being looked at the girls finally managed to come to a decision on the clothes that they should wear for this upcoming mission. These are their new looks.

Ruby now wears a stylish hoodie with long red and black sleeves with red and black fingerless gloves at the end of them that have the option to turn into full fingered gloves. The middle portion of her hoodie is mainly red with a silver rose design on her right side, she also still wears her silver rose pendant on her left hip. Her pants are still leggings so she could move around quickly without any restraint but are much thicker in order to keep her warm. She still wears her usual combat boots. Of course she still keeps her trademark red hood on. All in all she still looks like the adorable red hooded reaper we all know and love. The rest you can make up in your imagination if you wish because I am not good with imaginating new clothing.

Weiss now wears a new outfit that has a resemblance to her old outfit she wore when she attended Beacon, but the top is thicker and buttoned up with black buttons, the inside of her collar is a darker red and a black undershirt to help keep herself warm. She still wears a skirt that has a black belt around to keep it up and her legs are now covered with a light grey pair of leggings that are made of the same thick fiber as Ruby's. Also She wears boots with heels on them because why not.

Yang now wears a yellow warm leather jacket that is similar to my old one with yellow and black gloves. For now she leaves the leather jacket unzipped which leave her belly open to the world to see, but wears a brownish yellow undershirt that covers the rest of her skin. Her pants are now thick and brown with a yellow dragon design that goes down her leg. Also now ears yellow and black winter combat boots. Stylish and gets the job done. Just how she likes it.

Blake took the longest to find new clothes but now wears all an all black leather jacket that is similar to Yangs along with black gloves to go with them, on her left chest there is a white symbol of fire that matches her old symbol when she a was a student at Beacon. Her pants are also similar to Yangs but with no dragon design on it but as two white patches on either side of her pants that go down from the knee. Now wears Black winter combat boots that are light and help with traction on any surface.

The girls all look in the mirror next to each other and conveniently in order as they inspect their own clothing. Turning to see it in all different angles. They all decide that it's been long enough and accept what they wear. They pay with Qrows stolen money that Yang swiped when he wasn't looking but promises to pay back the money one day. They all step outside and immediately regret it as the heat makes them begin to sweat immediately.

"Maybe we put these on when it actually gets cold?" Ruby suggests.

"Agreed." The rest of team RWBY says in unison.

After getting back into their usual clothes they wave goodbye to the store owner and exit the store. Now with winter clothing they are fully equipped for the journey ahead of them and can finally start. They walk through town as they chat to pass the time and makes things seem like they're going by faster. They reach that gates that lead into dozens of paths that go in every direction. After telling the border patrol that they are huntresses going on a mission they let them go without further trouble and they go on their merry way. They stop at an intersection with a sign that points in almost every direction that lists any nearby villages and three much longer arrows that point in the direction of a kingdom. They follow the arrow that points toward Atlas and officially begin their journey.

About fucking time.

After a few hours of walking they begin to hear rustles in the bushes, they all ready their weapons and and do a 180 to see a man with his hands up wearing a hood that covers his face so they can't see who it is from a distance. His pants are ripped and they can see that he has bionic legs from at least the knee down for one leg. A ripped up rag of a shirt that covers most of his upper body except for his arms from the elbow up.

"I'm not here for trouble." The man calls out with a familiar voice that rubs Team RWBY in the wrong way.

"Who are you?" Weiss asks as she points her rapier at him.

The man slowly reaches for his hood and pulls it down, revealing his gray ashen hair and black eyes. Team RWBY instantly recognizes him as Mercury and prepare to _almost_ kill him. They all cock their weapons back and prepare to attack, but stop their assault as soon as it starts when the see him go down on his knees.

"I'm not here for a fight…" Mercury says once again. Desperately hoping for them to give him a chance to hear him out.

"And how do you expect us to believe you after everything you've done!?" Yang screams at him as her eyes go red from anger at the memory of him branding her a ruthless huntress of training with no mercy toward her opponents.

"Because Salem killed Emerald!" Mercury chokes out sadly as he looks down to the ground.

Team RWBY all widen their eyes at the news of her death. Blake is indifferent as she continues to keep her gun traced on Mercury's head, although calmed down just a bit. Ruby feels sadness as she feels the emotion of loss and sadness coming from Mercury. Yang is conflicted as she wants to punch him in the face as hard as she can but at the same time willing to give him a chance. Weiss is only surprised by the news and just spins her dial on her weapon around until its stops on a blank.

"What happened?" Ruby asks the question that everyone is thinking about.

Mercury stands up and limps to a tree for support. When he makes it there he begins his story about what happened after the battle of Haven.

"Everything bad that could have happened…" Mercury begins.

* * *

 _In Salem's castle. The Grimm Queen was not happy with the failure of her pawns. With Cinder dead and the relic of knowledge in her enemies hands her plans have been set back possibly years. Mercury, Hazel, and an unconscious Emerald make it back to the castle in the Grimlands injured, hungry, and exhausted. The police were on their tails for days until they finally shook them off when they first made it to the Grimmlands. They half expected Salem to allow her Grimm to rip them apart in their exhausted state the moment she laid eyes on them but to their surprise she didn't. Hazel is the first to enter, his broken arm still noticeable to the outside. Mercury with the unconscious Emerald. He carried her all the way here without any help from Hazel, not like he offered anyway. As soon as Mercury enters he falls to his knees and allows his body to rest for the first time in days. But it does not last long._

" _ **What happened."**_ _Salem asks, making it sound more like a demand then a question._

 _Hazel takes a seat in one of the chairs before he looks to the queen to answer her._

" _We lost. Ozpin was there, and he was in that Hector guy, he was much much more powerful than any of us could have imagined." Hazel explains the major problem of what caused their defeat._

" _We were about to win but when he got back up after his fight with Cinder… it was over." Mercury adds as he takes one of the seats after he places Emerald in the seat next to him, she leans over onto the table. After what she did that managed to get them all to escape, using her semblance on so many people like that was too much for her, she's been in a coma ever since._

" _ **And Cinder? How was she killed?"**_

" _The Spring Maiden betrayed us, turns out it was Raven Branwen who was the real Spring Maiden, Cinder was severely weakened and when Hector got passed us there was no way for her to win that fight and get out alive. My guess is that one of them killed her and then somehow they convinced Spring to not fight them any further." Hazel explains again._

 _Mercury nods to confirm his explanation. He is trying his best not to show how scared he is as he wonders what's going to happen to him and Emerald now that they have failed her and let Cinder die._

 _Salem groans in frustration and her grip on her throne is so hard that it cracks the chair. Then she slams her hands onto the table, breaking it, which startles everyone around her. She calms down as she rises and reassumes her posture._

" _ **This Hector must be dealt with. With the power of the relic of knowledge at his disposal he is already too much of a threat. Much more so than that novice silver eyed girl. Tyrian! Come out here."**_ _Salem calls Tyrian. Hazel, and Mercury haven't seen Tyrian for a long time and assumed that he was dead after his failure to capture Ruby. The next thing they see makes even Hazel nauseous at the sight. Tyrian comes into the room from around the corner and he already looks much different, much more Grimm like. The scorpion tail that was cut off by Ruby as now been replaced with a young deathstalkers scorpion tail. His brown hair has turned as Black as a Grimms fur and is not longer in that long pony tail that he had before. One of his arms was even replaced with a grim arm similar to Cinders but has much more bone protruding from its skin, the bones protrude outward from his wrist so much so that it can be considered another wrist blade. His skin is pale white as snow just like Salem's and his veins all over his exposed upper body flows with purple and black blood. The iris of his eyes are now permanently a glowing purple and the whites of his eyes are almost black in color. He steps around the corner slowly with his head down but with a goofy psychotic grin on his face as he twitches violently._

" _Yes, my queen?" Tyrian says as he goes down to one knee in front of Salem._

" _ **You have a new mission. Find this Hector Rivers and kill him. If you can bring him to me that will be a bonus for you but do not hesitate to kill him and anyone in the way if you get the chance."**_ _Salem instructs as she strokes his hair. Tyrian giggles crazily at the contact. But cringes in pain as Salem grabs his hair and lifts him up to her face._ " _ **But fail me again, you better hope he kills you before I do."**_ _Salem threatens as she drops him back on the floor._

" _I-I understand my queen. Right away. Where shall I begin my search?" Tyrian asks, frantic to please the love of his life._

" _Mistral, That is where he should be as of right now. On our way here we overheard people talking about how he 'Single handedly' saved Haven from destruction." Hazel mentions as he begins to patch up his own arm. Tyrian nods and without another word dashes out of the castle at inhuman speeds._

" _What did you do to him?" Mercury asks after a couple moments of silence._

" _ **You will say no more boy. You failed your mission and I am finding trouble to find a reason to keep you alive."**_ _Salem threatens as she stabs one of Mercury's robotic legs._

" _We- we tried our best! There wasn't anything else we could do!" Mercury defends as he tries desperately to pull out the black spike that just stabbed through one of his bionic legs._

" _ **Well obviously your best isn't enough. Your partner or whatever she is to you put herself in a coma for who knows how long and you are not skilled enough to be of any threat to our enemies. You will be punished for this… in the worst way I know how."**_ _Salem says as she telepathically hoists Emerald up into the air and to her side._

" _NO! Please we'll do better just leave her alone! She was a reason that we were able to get away in the first place!" Mercury shouts in protest as he barely manages to get up on his feet, using the table for support. He knew this was going to happen, he knew he should've ditched Hazel and took Emerald and hid somewhere. Now the worst thing he could imagine is about to happen right in front of him and there isn't anything he can do about it_

 _Salem brings Emerald into her grip around her neck and squeezes slowly, applying more pressure by the second. Already while unconsciously, instinctively Emeralds body begins to thrash at and claw at Salem's grip. Mercury tries his best to get over to her and save Emerald by any means necessary that he can possibly come up with. Maybe he could grab her and run? No, his legs busted and Hazel is there so there's no way he could get away with that method. Maybe he can fight? No, his legs busted, his aura is down, and he is exhausted, he'd be put down in a second._

 _With no other options Mercury falls just before Salem and Emerald and looks up into her evil eyes. She looks back at him with disgust._

" _Please… Im begging you… don't do this, she's all I have left." Mercury begs as he begins to cry into the floor._

 _Salem considers letting at least Emerald go because of her semblance but doesn't have the patience to wait for her to wake up from her coma._

" _ **Hmph. Pathetic."**_ _As she looks into Mercury's crying, bloodshot eyes she stabs Emerald thorough the back with her free hand, her hand on the front of Emerald holds her still beating heart. Mercury watches in horror as Salem crushes the heart and rips her hand out of Emerald. Emerald widens her eyes and coughs up blood at the tremendous amount of pain she is going through, her eyes and body go limp as her life leaves her body. Salem throws her corpse out of her window, shattering it. When her body hits the ground immediately the surrounding Grimm all pounce on the body and begin to devour it. Poor Emerald feels every bite as her brain is still functioning, she is put out of her misery when an alpha beowolf bites off her head and swallows it whole. Emerald is no more._

 _Mercury breaks down crying and hits the floor as says things to himself like useless, and stupid. He lost his will to do anything and still can't do anything about it as he lays there and cries at the loss of his only friend. He still remembers when they first met at how their relationship developed from mutual hate, to reliable on each other, as much as neither of them would never admit that._

" _ **Hazel, throw this trash out and let the Grimm take him."**_ _Salem demands as she walks out of the room, making sure to make Mercury look her in the eyes once more._

 _Hazel, still stunned at what he had just witnessed hesitates to come up with words to say. He settles for a simple nod that is acknowledged by Salem just before she leaves the room. Once she leaves he heads toward Mercury and lifts him up without a word. He takes him to the castle doors and before he drops him he rips out the black spike from his leg and begins to repair it._

" _What… are you." Mercury begins but can't find the emotional strength to say any more._

" _You don't deserve to die… Im giving you a chance to live. Your only chance to live is too find those girls or Hector and convince them to trust you." Hazel says without even looking at him._

" _They won't take me." Mercury mumbles as he slumps his head against the stone wall behind him._

" _Then hide. Hide and never show yourself again. Either help them or hide for the rest of your life." Hazel says as he finishes the repairs._

 _Mercury looks to him with shock as tears threaten to escape his eyes again. "But why? Why are you putting yourself at risk just to save me? I thought I mean nothing to you." Mercury says as the tears flows from his eyes again._

" _You… didn't deserve to die. Salem is out of line. Now get out of here before she changes her mind and kills you herself." Hazel says as he turns around and closes the door behind him, leaving an emotional and shocked Mercury out on his own._

 _Mercury couldn't believe what just happened, his stroke of luck that returned to save him one last time. With a new goal he stands back up and begins to run as fast as he can. He is going to get revenge for what Salem did to her. With the help of Teams RWBY and RNJR or without them. He wipes his tears away from his face and activates whatever amount of aura he has into his legs, increasing his speed fourfold. This speed might me enough to get him out of the Grimmlands if he can keep it up._

" _I'm sorry I couldn't save you Em. But I swear I will avenge you one way or another." Mercury vows as he sprints._

 _End of story_

* * *

Mercury finishes his story and slumps back down until he hits the ground. He has been running for so long trying to find them and the emotional wound he underwent is still fresh in his mind. After all the running and hopping on trains he did to catch up to them he damaged his leg again. The damage is obvious by the small sparks that come from his ankle every once in a while. They just now notice the very damaged and exhausted state he is in, he is bruised all over his face, his clothes are ripped up and has only one well operating bionic leg. They think to themselves about Mercury's troubled past and actually feel kind of bad for him. Despite everything he has done in the past. He has nowhere else to go and came to them of all people for help.

"Tyrian is going after Hector?" Ruby asks.

Mercury just nods without looking at them. He doesn't expect them to trust him but had to try anyway. If they don't take him in he is most likely going to be found by Salem and killed anyway so the Team that he has tried to kill multiple times are ironically the only hope for survival he has left.

"Yeah… The last time I saw him he was leaving the room to go find him. Something has changed with him, I don't know how to explain it but he is part grimm now and is so much stronger than the last time you saw him." Mercury explains as he wipes fresh tears from his eyes.

"I'm… sorry about what happened to Emerald. We wouldn't have done that if you didn't get away." Blake says as she lowers her weapon.

"Yeah, you may have caused a lot of pain for us, but that doesn't mean we'd do anything like that." Weiss adds

Surprising everyone Yang is the one to walk up to Mercury and offer a helping hand that happens to be her bionic one. Mercury hesitantly grabs the hand and gets roughly pulled up by Yang.

"Try anything, think of anything that wont help us, or even look at us the wrong way. I'll kill you… Understand?" Yang threatens, getting up in Mercury's face.

"Crystal." Mercury says with a nod and a sigh of relief that he'll be getting the opportunity to live a little while longer. "I can lead you guys to Atlas, that is where you're going right? To find the winter Maiden?" Mercury asks too many questions.

Yang answers his questions by turning him around and binds his hands together with rope that they brought from the room. She grabs him by the rope and pushes him along to the rest of the group.

"Lead us then." Yang demands. Leaving no room for protest from her teammates. On this inside Ruby is proud of Yang for keeping her cool and allowing him to stick around for at least a little while longer.

Now with Mercury as a guide they follow with their weapons still at the ready, prepared to cut him down if this happens to be a trap. How he found them so fast and how he traveled across the worlds within days remains a mystery to them as they allow him to lead them to Atlas.

"Im worried about Hector and the others…" Ruby says as she crosses her arms and is thinking about how they shrugged off the train bombing earlier.

"Have faith in him, there's nothing we can do for him right now. We just have to hope that he can keep everyone alive and deal with this threat himself.

Their adventure has just begun, and many more unexpected events will occur as they continue their journey.

* * *

 **Team RNJR's battle with Tyrian preview.**

The team has been split up. Forced to go in separate directions when Tyrian threw a bomb in the middle of them all, leaving me alone against Tyrian. Before I can power up my semblance, I get cut by his stinger and a drop of venom gets into my system. I groan out of pain and kick him away into the same hole he lunged out of. I cover the wound with my hand and when I take it off instead of red blood I see purple and black liquid. I bit my lip knowing I am now on a time limit to get myself and my team out of here alive.

"Kaioken times twen- Agh!" I fall to my knees as I feel a pain stir in my heart. My red aura that comes with the kaioken flickers before being snuffed out all the way. Leaving just the blue light coming from my hand as my only light source left. "What the…"

" _Oz what is this?"_ I ask Ozpin out of confusion

' _His venom has evolved… I can't undo the effects but it is only temporary! Avoid his tail at all costs. Don't even touch it, it can now pierce through aura like its not even there.'_ Ozpin instructs as he works his magic to try to find a way to help me.

" _Oh… fuck."_

"Oho! Looks my new venom is working fast hehehe. I call it 'A drop of death' you won't be able to use your semblance as long as I am still alive _mister Cinder killer_. Now since you snuffed out that annoying little brat I'm going to play with you for a little while as a show of gratitude! Doesn't that sound fun!? HUH?!" Tyrian asks as he explodes into a fit of psychotic laughter.

With my semblance rendered useless and the venom weakening me quickly. For the first time in a long time I am scared for my life. The ultimate test of will is about to begin.

* * *

 **AN- Oooo things are about to go down. Poor Emerald man, I felt bad as I wrote that but it was necessary in order to give Mercury the motivation to betray Salem. Now he is with Team RWBY and it's going to take a lot to be able to earn their trust.**

 **Also another cliffhanger. Sorry not sorry.**

 **You might have noticed that the chapters are slightly shorter than they usually are. That is because of how long this arc is going to be. With Team RWBY and RNJR out on their own adventures, I can't fit everything that happens on both sides into a single chapter because I just feel like it would be too long. I've been waiting to write the battle with Tyrian for a while now and I'll begin its production as soon as I recover from writing this whole thing so fast.**

 **As you can see I had to nerf Hector a bit in order for this fight to really be fair. How will RNJR win their battle? Will they be able to win now that they are separated and their strongest warrior is massively weakened and unable to use his semblance? Find out in the next chapter! Which will indeed be a chapter for Oh gosh, I gotta keep it going while these ideas are fresh in my head.**

 **Thank you for reading! Please Review and tell me what you think! Seriously it's a great help and I take any and all opinions under consideration.**

 **Wanna keep up with me? I made a twitter just for you guys that I update with the progress of my stories. Ask me anything you want there if you feel like it.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	19. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 18

**AN- First thank you to my reviewers from last chapter**

 **Zeldawolffang- Thanks for pointing that out, I admit I was a little lazy in the editing phase of last chapter and that's my fault but I fixed it right away, please if you find more errors let me know right away. As for the battle between team RNJR and Tyrian. You'll have to see and find out. Thank you for your continued support and reviews.**

 **Crazyknight64- Plenty more are on the way! Yeah I just can't help it, tfs left a mark on me so I cant help but put in plenty of referances. Thanks for enjoying my story.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- I'm sorry for upsetting you with the loss of Emerald. It upset me even as I wrote it out but it needed to happen if I wanted this story to go in the way I want it to go. Just think about it, Mercury wouldn't have betrayed Salem as long as Emerald was still working for her. Now that Salem murdered Emerald brutally out of just pure rage, Mercury now has the motivation and a new goal to strive for. And don't worry, I have plans for Salem near the end of this story for a climatic finish and a well deserved fate. A lot will happen this chapter as I plan to put the entire fight of team RNJR and Tyrian in this chapter to make up for the sadness of last chapters events with some action. You'll see what I have planned. I've been waiting to write this out ever since the last chapter of the battle of Haven. It will make up for the loss of a beloved character, I promise. Thank you for your continued support and reviews. I hope this is still one of your favorite stories :(.**

 **As you guys probably noticed I am not afraid to kill off characters, whether they are deserving of it or not. Nobody is safe. Just throwing that out there. But it doesn't mean I am going to be killing off everyone who isn't needed so don't worry.**

 **So yeah Mercury is kinda like an Anti hero now. I always thought after volume 3 or during volume 4 he was beginning to have some doubts on what side he should stay on, so I decided to incorporate that idea into this fanfic. People were predicting that it would be a member from Team CFVY or CRDL or Glynda or Neo would have come along and I think I might of surprised you guys. What do you guys think?**

 *******Special announcement for you guys! I'll be taking requests for what the name, look, and personality of the new Fall Maiden, Winter Maiden, and later Summer, should be! So use that imagination of yours and share with me ANY ideas you might have. It'll last until each Maiden is found, so when we get to the Fall Maiden, that request will be closed as for Winter and so on and so forth. Spring is Raven and she will later be important for this story so she will remain untouched.*******

 **Now to continue with what I am sure is awaited chapter by you guys. I plan to write the entire battle between RNJR and Tyrian, mostly its Hector fighting him but meh I think you guys will like it anyway. Get ready for a long one. Okay I just finished writing it and it is 10,000 words exactly, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 18 Team RNJR's adventure part 2.

Right where we left off last time, Tyrian has just revealed himself for the first time in a long time. Much to the shock and horror of Ren, Jaune, and Nora as they remember the last time they fought this psychotic man and lost horribly but was saved by Qrow, and even then he almost died protecting them. At first I am just surprised to see him and almost feel bad with what has become of him, but I soon replace that with a determination to protect my any further words Tyrain dashes into the middle of all of us, kicking Jaune away in his back and swiping Nora's hammer away with his scorpion tail, disarming her. Still in my Kaioken times five state I go for a knee to his midsection that is blocked my his Grimm arm, but only just barely. The force of the impact from our collision sends a shockwave around the cave we're in, even sending Ren back several feet. As we struggle against each others strength I quickly gain the upperhand as I focus more power into my strength and start to overwhelm him, even as he is being overpowered Tyrian just giggles madly. Jaune gets back up and knocks Tyrian away using his shield, Tyrian uses this momentum and jumps back into a different opening that is pitch black. I point the blue light toward the entrance and only catch the glow of his new tail before it speeds away, footsteps that sounds like an overgrown rat fills our ears as it echoes around the cavern. I help up Nora and hand her the hammer.

"We need to get out of here." I point out the obvious.

"But how? We've been looking for a way out for hours now." Ren adds.

"I got an idea. Nora, how strong do you think you can get with your semblance?" I ask as I grab her wrist with Ivory.

"As long as the electricity keeps coming, I'll get stronger and stronger boss!" Nora answers with a smile on her face.

"Good answer, when I do this you have to literally destroy everything in your path until you see light, we'll distract him in the meantime got it?" I explain the plan as I aim Ivory at her.

"Yes sir!"

Before we can go on with the plan what appears to be a stick of futuristic looking dynamite is tossed in the middle of me and Nora. Time slows as I reach into my back pocket and push Ebony into her chest and send her through a different cave opening. I pull Jaune out of its radius throw him into Ren,sending them into a different cave opening. Before I can join them the dynamite explodes, separating me from Jaune and Ren, blocking the entrance to the cave they're in and blocking the hole I pushed Nora through. The force of the explosion sends me flying into the stone wall to my side with enough speed to put a large crack in it. I get the wind knocked out of me as I fall onto my hands and knees. I look up and direct my light around the now destroyed, much more cramped cave. I shakily stand up and just as I do I feel a slash cut across my back. Cleanly cutting through my jacket and clothes and putting a large gash in my skin. I turn back around to counter but Tyrian dashes back and just looks at me with a goofy grin on his face, with his eyes wide open and his pupils dilated.

Realizing that his tail cut right through my aura with little to no effort I decide that it is time to go all out to end this fight right away before it can get too intense, since I know that he has venom in that tail I know that I am on a time limit.

"Kaioken times twen- Agh!" I groan out in pain as my heart begins to burn with an overwhelming pain that makes me fall to my knees. I reach to my back and touch my wound, when I bring it back and shine light on it I see that the venom is purple and black and even has a few grimm worms in it. Knowing that this stuff is inside of me I begin to feel nauseous and almost throw up right there. "What is this stuff?" I ask, directing the question to Ozpin.

' _He must have augmented his venom to more potent and lethal. The worms in your body are preventing you from using your semblance as well.'_ Ozpin explains what is happening to me.

" _Can you get it out?"_ I ask frantically.

' _I can't undo its effects but I can tell that it is only temporary. Avoid his tail at all costs. It can pierce through aura like it is not even there.'_ Ozpin warns as he prepares to share his aura with me. As his sentence ends his voice begins to fade away

As Tyrian observes my weakened state he laughs maniacally and taunts me. "Oho! Looks my new venom is working fast hehehe. I call it 'A drop of death' you won't be able to use your semblance as long as I am still alive _mister Cinder killer_. Now since you snuffed out that annoying little brat, I'm going to play with you for a little while longer as a show of gratitude! Doesn't that sound fun!? HUH?!" Tyrian shouts as he explodes into a more violent fit of laughter.

"Oh… fuck." I mumble to myself. For the first time in a while I am afraid for my life. I stand back up shakily and prepare for a fight of survival. I dont have Ebony with me so Im forced to fight like I am a lefty which puts me at even more of a disadvantage since I never even practiced with my non dominant side.

Tyrian stops laughing and stares at me hungrily. With inhuman speeds he dashes at me, bouncing from stone wall to stone wall until he throws his human arm with the wrist blade at me when he gets close enough. I am barely able to see him between the darkness and his speed and I get caught as he slashes at my chest. Luckily his wrist blades don't seem to be able to cut through aura like his tail is so my aura blocks the attack. Before I can recover too much Tyrian keeps up his assault and goes for a powerful stab attack with his grimm arm that I barely block with Ivory. We get into another battle of strength as we push against each other. So much so that the ground beneath us begins to crack underneath the pressure. But without the use of my semblance Tyiran starts to push me back and my stance falters.

"Oh? What's this? Not able to keep up with me without your little semblance?" How adorable!" Tyrian taunts as he pushed harder, forcing me down onto one knee. Similar to what I did against Hazel back then, before I redirect his attack, grab his arm, and throw him over me into the wall behind me. But my little victory doesn't last as Tyrian bounces off of the wall and back into me, tackling me and charging me through another stone wall. The rocks falls around us before he slams me on my back and mounts me, preparing to tear me apart with his weapons. I block all the attacks, but as I am blocking I notice his glowing yellow scorpion stinger rise above his shoulder. He stabs down at my head which I barely dodge with a flick of my neck and the stinger goes right through the ground beneath us. Using this opening I lift my foot up to his chest and kick him off of me and back through the new opening in the wall. I tumble backward and onto my feet and charge at him before he can get up. I charge him into the stone wall that just leads into just miles and miles of more stone, and he gets embedded in it, unable to move his arms. I take this opportunity to punch him multiple times in the gut and face with both hands to get as much damage in as I can in before he gets himself out. To my luck his aura isn't even protecting him, it must've gotten too tainted with grimm DNA to be able to protect him anymore, he is about 70% grimm at this point so my quick hypothesis may be correct. With a roar I go to punch him as hard as I can with my dominant illuminated fist. He catches my fist with his grimm arm and begins to chuckled. I look at his bruised body and bloodied lip before he pushes me back hard with that arm. Sending me tumbling back through the hole he put me through earlier.

"Fun! Fun! FUN! Oh I can do this all NIGHT! NO I can't… Remember the mission, reMemBEr the mISsioN." Tyrian says to himself as he pounds the top of his own head.

I prop myself up on my elbows and spit up some blood, only the blood is no longer its usual red color, the blood I spit out is black of color with a purple tint to it. The sight of this makes me worry about what's going on within my own body.

"Oh god damnit." I mutter as I get up and get ready to continue the fight.

* * *

Meanwhile Nora quickly recovered from my violent push and is trying to find a way to use the gauntlet I shoved her chest so she can electrocute herself as much as she can and smash a way out of here. It's up to her to get her team out of here and I trusted her with that as I handed her one of my weapons. She knows that I got stuck with Tyrian on my own and doesn't know the status of her longtime friends and teammates, Jaune and Ren, she scrambles to find out out to use it as she puts in on her hand and does all sorts of hand gestures.

"C'mon Hecky how do you always use this thing?" Nora mutters to herself as she kneels in the dark. Her eyes managed to adjust to the darkness so she can _kind of_ see in the dark right now. Finally after doing something right she she's a black and red spark of lightning come from the glove.

"Yes!"

Nora finally figures out how to use her gauntlet and lifts her shirt so she can grab her own belly. She takes a couple deep breaths to prepare herself for the pain and starts a powerful current that courses through her whole body instantaneously as her body tenses up and she grits her teeth as the lethal amounts of electricity courses through her body. Even with her semblance that blocks out most of the pain from any lightning attacks she still feels a tremendous amount. It almost makes her pass out but soon the electricity flowing into her belly begins to change color to a bright white and pink, her body sparks with this new color and even her eyes glow as sparks of pink spark outward. Nora has never felt more powerful, even when I did this last time with my weaker yellow version of lightning dust when she was up against Hazel. She yanks the gauntlet off of her and grabs her hammer. With a scream of rage and determination she slams her hammer upward into the low ceiling, easily shattering it and revealing an upper level. She jumps back up and now she can feel a very small breeze. Before she continues her assault on the rocks she looks back down the hole she just made and makes a promise.

"I swear when I break through to the surface I'll come back and get you guys." Nora vows as she swings her hammer once more, smashing her way to their freedom.

* * *

Jaune and Ren help each other up after they were thrown into a different part of the cave and tumbled downwards a couple of more feet before they came to a stop all tangled up in eachothers limbs. After untangling themselves from each other they struggle to see the environment around them without the light I provided for them.

"What happened? Where is everyone else?" Jaune asks as he feels around for his teammate as well as the cave around them.

"Hector pushed all of us out of the radius of the blast. He must still be up there with him on his own. I saw him push Nora into a separate part of the cave before he pushed us away." Ren answers as he rubs his head, thinking on what their next move should be.

"We have to find a way back up to him!" Jaune exclaims as he quickly tries to move the rocks out of the way to get back to me.

"Jaune! Calm down. Im sure Hector can handle himself against him, he did go up against two Maidens back to back before. Have faith in him." Ren points out, calming Jaune down.

"I know. I just don't like the risk of losing anyone, no matter how small the chances are." Jaune mutters as he runs a hand through his hair and sighs sadly.

Before Ren can respond they hear a violent crash and stone falling from the ceiling, Jaune raises his shield to block it. After that they hear constant clashing as if two very powerful people are fighting. Soon Tyrians tale stabs through the stone with his Deathstalker stinger before he pulls it back out and they can hear my battle cry as I charge him back into the wall behind him.

"They're right above us! We have to find a way to get up there." Jaune sayas as he begins to look around for any more opening or a way to climb up.

"Why isn't Hector using his semblance?" Ren asks, stopping Jaune in his tracks. He didn't even think about that. It wouldn't be a hard fight for me if I went all out so why am I still fighting with my base power?

"Something must be wrong… we have to get up to him fast." Jaune says, which Ren agrees to right away.

* * *

Back to the fight I am having with Tyrian I am losing ground. The pain I make Tyrian go through just makes him laugh and it feels like he just gets stronger and faster from it. As if he just wants more of it. I pant as we stare each other down once more. Tyrian is also breathing heavily but I think it's more out of pure ecstasy then out of running low on stamina. I felt and heard Nora as she smashed through a distant wall, I know that I just have to last just a couple minutes longer. Suddenly I feel a pain in the back of my left eye that is so powerful that it makes me drop back down to my knees, holding that part of my face. Tyrian moans in confusion before realizing what this is.

"OHO! My queen has left her mark on you hasn't she? My venom must be mixing with that mark very well. HEUEHEH. Soon you'll be jUst like me! We caN bE brOthERs! That sounds loVEly don't you _feel_ the same way?" Tyrian rants as he places his hands on his heart. I ignore his psychotic banter and try to contact Ozpin.

" _Oz what's going on?"_

' _...'_

" _OZ there's no time for games what's happening?"_

' _...'_

" _Goddamnit."_

" _ **He can't hear you… But I can."**_

My eyes widen and my body and a chill goes down my spine at the sound of the all too familiar voice of the Grimm Queen fills my ears.

"No… get out of my head." I mumble as I claw at my head. "GET OUT!" I scream out. Tyrian laughs in the background.

" _ **You caused a lot of problems for me Hector."**_

"STOP TALKING." I scream once again, although this time my voice is laced with the sound of a mindless growl.

" _ **I know just the way to punish you for foiling my plans. I did think of ways to kill you but I thought of something, much, MUCH better. I thought up of a great way to make your suffering last, and that is to have you kill everyone you have grown to care about."**_

"AGH! NO! I won't fall under your control you crazy bitch!" I shout as I stand back up and stare at Tyrian with almost a monstrous amount of hate. There is one distinct difference in the way my eyes look. My right eye is perfectly fine, its normal color of a very dark brown, and the whites of that eye remain white. My other eye though… Glows with a red iris and the whites have turned to pure black.

" _ **Your resistance is futile. I will take you over. And you will be my slave for the rest of days, you will be mine."**_

"Nooo, **I WONT,** all you managed to do so far is **piss me off**!" I scream a bloodcurdling scream as I fight through the pain and forcibly activate my semblance, even wtih the venom still in my body.

"KAAAAIIIIOOOO **KEEEENN**." I scream out through the pain my throat is undergoing as I force the Kaioken to be active even with the semblance suppression venom in my body. The color of my flaming aura is much different due to the grimm infection as it is now a bright purple color instead of its usual blood red, also my body steams a black mist as the infection is being burnt from my body at a rate that stops its advance entirely. The pain that I am going through is even greater then when I went Kaioken times twenty against Raven and Cinder. Tyrians grin fades and is replaced with shock and terror as the force of the Kaioken sends him sliding across the ground. He raises his arms to protect his face as the glowing neon light shines through the cave. My human eye glows the color of my aura while my Grimm eye is shining a neon purple. Although my body is burning off the venom, my left Grimm eye remains the same.

"AHHHHHHHH." I continue to scream as I keep my semblance active.

" _ **Hmph, looks like you still have some power left."**_ Salem says, rather annoyed that her attempt at converting me was foiled once again.

"Shut up." I growl out through my gritted teeth.

" _ **Oh no, with that new eye of yours I can speak to you whenever I like now. Although you prove quite resilient to my techniques I almost had you this time. Next time will be the last time you ever try to resist me."**_ Salem threatens with a small chuckle.

' _Hector? What's going on? I can't see anything! Hector!?'_ Ozpin's worried voice is barely noticeable as it is muffled out by Salem's presence and the overwhelming amount of pain that my body is going through. When I hear it hope begins to fill my body once again.

" _ **Do not worry Ozpin, he is in good hands."**_ Salem's voice fades away at the end of that sentence and I am back to focusing all my attention on the man turned Grimm in front of me.

"How?! How did you do that? My venom was supposed to render you powerless!" Tyrian screams angrily as he charges at me with blind rage, his Grimm arm flailing behind him with every step he takes.

If normal Kaioken takes a lot out of me then this disgusting looking infected version of Kaioken is damaging me even worse than it was before, as it forces more blood out to rid my body of Tyrians lethal venom. With a roar of pain and rage I charge back toward Tyrian, not caring about fighting as a lefty anymore, I can see him easily now and the purple light coming from my body illuminates the cavern fully so I don't have to aim at him with my hand anymore. We clash in the middle, sending a shockwave throughout the cave system that is felt by my the rest of my team, and instead of me faltering we struggle against each other as equals. I can only go up to times three because of the restraint the venom still places on me as it flows through my body. I push Tyrian back violently and grab his face and slam him head first into the ground, with my hand still around his face I lift him up and throw him upwards, sending him through several meters of rock and into a higher level. Throughout all of this I am screaming with pain so much that my lungs burn from the lack of oxygen. I am barely able to breath enough to give me much energy. Our fight has lasted about an hour so far and it doesn't look like ti is ending any time soon.

* * *

After about a straight hour of swinging her hammer and smashing stone Nora has finally broken through the last layer of dirt and stone that leads to the surface, revealing the moonlight for the first time it what feels like days. When she makes it out she collapses in a puddle of her own sweat as she pants, exhausted after her hard work. The power she got from my gauntlet has just faded away from her body in one last spark of energy for snuffing out. Her aura is critical and every muscle in her body is sore. Yet she pushes herself up to her feet and looks back down the cavern she has created.

"Right, still have to get the boys." Nora mutters to herself as she jumps back down into the hole, hoping to find at least one of her teammates back up to the surface. As soon as she touches the stone with her feet again she hears an echo that reaches her ears from a distance.

" _KAAAAIIIIOOOO_ _ **KEEEENN.**_ " She hears me scream out as the area around her shakes softly, causing a few pebbles to fall from the top of the cavern.

"Well sounds like he is handling things… just going to steer clear of that one for now. I have to find Jaune and Ren." Nora says as she gives herself a new goal, not knowing about the struggle I am actually currently going through at the moment.

Back with Jaune and Ren, they managed to get themselves back to where my fight first started, they follow the debris and splatters of blood until they come across some black goop on the ground and a hole in the ceiling, along with cracks along the stone ground and all over the walls. Sending obvious signals that me and Tyrian passed through here as we fought.

"There's… so much blood." Jaune mentions as he begins to be filled with worry. Ren can't help but feel the same way since there's no way one person can bleed this much and still be able to walk. So he presumes that Tyrian and I are both badly injured.

"I can see that." Ren finally responds. "They can be far, we heard Hector screaming just moments ago."

"We have to find them and quickly, Oh gosh I can't imagine what Hector could be going through right now." Jaune says as he runs his hands through his hair.

"My guess is that they made that hole in the ceiling and both traveled through there. I suggest we take the same route." Ren points out the still dripping hole above them.

Jaune nods and gets in position under it, to give Ren a boost so he can reach the hole. After climbing up Ren reaches for Jaune and pulls him up, Jaunes armour gets a little messy from the blood on the rim of the hole which only freaks him out a bit, and makes him a little nauseous from the smell.

" _RAAAAAHH."_

" _HAAAAHHH."_

The duo look in the direction of the grunts and yells of combat and they see a trail of destruction and more blood. On the reflection on some of the wet walls they see a faint Purple/Red shine that is a dead give away that I am near. If I am close enough for them to be able to see the light that comes from my semblance then they know that they are not far from the fight.

Without another word Jaune and Ren simply nod to each other and start to head in that direction, ready to help me in any way they can. That is until the hear footsteps coming up from behind them. They spin around and ready their weapons, ready to strike down their enemy but stop when they see an exhausted Nora fall to her knees before them, her hammer falling to her side. Once they realize that it is their missing teammate the rush to her side and help her up. Nora leans on Ren for support, and Jaune collapses Nora's hammer into its grenade launcher form and places it on his back where he would normally have his shield.

"Hah… Hah… Finally found you guys." Nora mumbles between breaths. "I made a path up to the surface. Let's get our leader and head up there and fight him all together."

"Wait wait wait. Did you say you _made_ a path to the surface?" Jaune asks, needing clarification that he heard her correctly.

"Yeah… Turns out Hectors new lighting dust works like a charm! Heh heh." Nora chuckles despite being so weakened and exhausted. They look to her right hand and notice that Ebony is there, confirming that Nora went through with the plan that they honestly didn't think was going to work. Ren carefully takes the gauntlet off of her hand, knowing how since I showed him how just in case I forgot how to take it off again.

"We can't go after Hector with Nora like this Jaune." Ren points out. Nora cant even find the energy to protest that claim and just slumps her head against his shoulder, barely conscious.

Jaune thinks on what he should in this situation. Working his old leadership skills to try to make up some plan to get all of us back to the surface and they are all low on time. He has no idea how much longer I can hold off Tyrian and if I am even winning in the first place. Although he did hear me scream Kaioken earlier so that makes him regain some faith in me to hold him off for just a while longer. Finally, after about of minute of quick thinking he comes up with a plan.

"Nora, where is the path you made?" Jaune asks as he turns to face her.

"It's that way. But what about Hector?" Nora asks after she points in the direction she came from.

Jaune sighs as he prepares himself for what he is about to do. "You two get to path and wait for us. I'll go get Hector." Jaune says as he gives Ren Nora's weapon and unsheathes his sword and shield.

"But how are you going to find your way back?" Ren asks, stepping forward.

"Well, I'm sure me and Hector can figure that out. Just scream or something I don't know, I'll just go in the general direction of that path until I see light." Jaune says with a forced smile. He plans to use his semblance on me as soon as he spots me in hopes to give me the edge of Tyrian, and when he's down he is going to lead me out of the cave. His smile fades and his look turns into a look of determination. "There is no room for argument just go now!" Jaune exclaims as he runs in my direction, not giving his teammates any more time to protest against his plan.

"That guy and his determination to save people, lets go Nora." Ren says as he slowly heads toward Noras path while helping her walk. It actually wasn't too far from where they were standing and he wonders how they weren't able to hear her smashing her way up.

"Wait… Hector owes me food." Nora mumbles, half conscious.

"He'll repay you I'm sure."

* * *

As the rest of my team are reuniting and forming a plan of how to come get me and lead me to the surface, me and Trian continue our vicious battle for survival. Tyrian stopped messing around like he was before and is going all out against me. I realized that he has a healing factor that comes with his new grimm body so all of the major wounds I gave him are slowly healing. I'm not even bothering to use my aura as protection since I don't have Ozpin's aura at the moment to help me out like usual so I am using it all for healing and I am running out fast. We both are heavily injured as I am bleeding from my nose and mouth and my body is still fighting the grimm infection that courses through my body. I am only still up and fighting through sheer will and determination, if I wasn't then Salem would have taken control of me by now. Tyrian on the other hand has begun to enjoy the fight again and is laughing off every bit of pain his body is feeling, even forgetting to use his tail to end the fight since he is too busy having a ball. Everytime I land something on him he grunts in pain before shrugging it off and continues to fight. I am so tired at this point that I can barely block and dodge his attacks anymore, and my heart is threatening to palpitate and render me useless.

"Agh!" I groan out again as my heart is beating painfully every beat. Only just now it just beat too hard and skipped a beat painfully. My Kaioken flickers as it almost shuts off entirely from me almost losing consciousness right there. I can't afford to give in to the pain or else I might either be killed or taken away. I force myself back up to my feet and tackle Tyrian too the ground before he can begin to taunt me like he usually does. Only I am too exhausted to actually hit him as he is down below me. Tyrian reverses positions with me so he is now on top. I grab his human arm before he can do anything with it and with my feet I pin his stinger to his back so he cant use it against me. I lock his arm in a submission which threatens to break it and with all the remaining strength I have left I twist his arm and elbow until I hear a crack and a pop.

"AAAGHH!" Tyrian screams out in pain before I kick him off of me and away. I get myself up to my hands and knees and that's where I finally run out of juice. My purple Kaioken turns off but the black steam coming from my body continues. Luckily I still have the light coming from Knollys magic in my hand to illuminate my surroundings. I fall back down on my face and I just cant move my body anymore.

Tyrian rolls around in pain on the ground screaming and wailing like a child, clutching his now broken arm. "AGH, YOU CUNT!" He screams at me as his pupils shrink out of anger. He stops wailing when he notices me face down on the ground barely able to move.

"Ooooh, looks like someone _finally_ ran out of juice." Tyrian points out, just as he moves toward me though he gets bashed in the back of the head by Jaunes shield. Since he was caught off guard he is going to be unconscious for a while.

Jaune followed the sound of us fighting and Tyrians wailing until he found the blue light coming from my hand. He rushes to my side ignoring the black mist slowly coming from my body and starts to use his semblance to amplify my aura. But something feels different about my aura this time. After using his own semblance on me a couple times during training and when he used it on me during the battle of Haven, he got used to the feeling of my aura but now something within me feels different. It feels… Evil, but also like the good is fighting its way out. He can faintly feel Ozpin in there somewhere but for some reason his aura remains dormant. Like its there but locked.

"Oh god Hector, what happened to you?" Jaune asks as he uses his semblance. After a few minutes I am to be able to move my body again. Wasting no time Jaune helps me up right away and takes me down the same path he took to find me in hopes to get to Nora and Ren in time. Tyrian may be down right now but who knows when he will wake up and attack us again. My eyes are closed so he doesn't see my Grimm infection. I open my good eye to look at him as he moves me.

"Jaune… What are you doing here?" I ask tiredly.

"Nora found a way out, we're almost there just stay with me." Jaune replies.

" _AAAAAHHHHHHHH WHERE DID YOU GO?!"_ Tyrians scream of frustration and anger echoes through the cave system when he wakes up from the surprise attack.

"Oh shit!" Jaune exclaims, for the first time ever I hear him curse. I might have been proud if we were not running for our lives right now. We make it to the hole that he climbed through to find me in the first place and now he has a choice of going left or right. "Uhh, This way!" Jaune decides as he heads into the left cave. "REN? NORA? Where are you!" Jaune shouts, I use my glowing hand to illuminate our path so we can see where we are going. The cold we felt earlier is just non existent now as we scramble our way through the cave system.

"Jaune? Jaune! Over here!" Ren shouts, he ran back into the cave after getting Nora up to the surface and hiding her somewhere. He found us quickly due to the light coming from my hand and Jaunes shouting.

"Ren! Oh thank god, that guy is coming after us we have to get to the surface now and block out the hole." Jaune explains his on the spot plan.

"Right- Dear god what happened to him?" Ren asks when he notices my battered up state.

"I don't know, I found him this way while that guy was rolling around on the floor in pain." Jaune explains. "I'll fix him up once we get out of here."

"Can you guys just stop talking and let's get out of here." I interrupt as I lift my head. I don't know why these guys always like to stop and talk when danger is literally around the corner.

"Follow me then." Ren says as he turns around and heads back the same way he came.

Eventually we make it all out of the cave system. As soon as we make Jaune lets me go and I fall to my hands and knees right away. Black steam still coming from my body but in smaller amounts now.

"Hector what is happening to you?" Ren asks as he kneels down and tries to place his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" I shout as I look at him with wide eyes. Ren sees my Grimm eye and gasps in shock. "Its Salem… shes fucking with my head again." I explain as I begin to claw at my head again, even ripping out some strands of hair as my ears ring painfully.

"What can we do?" Jaune asks as he prepares to use his semblance on me again.

"Don't do that because trouble is coming." I say before roughly pushing Jaune away severals meters, making him tumble across the ground until he hits a tree. I am not able to control my strength right now and with my mind being attacked I don't want to take any risks. Right after I push him away Tyrian jumps out of the hole, even if we started right away to block the hole we wouldn't have had enough time to completely cover it. Right away with his arm bent in an awkward position as it flaps behind him like a flag Tyrian charges right at me, ignoring the bullets being shot from Ren as he blocks it with his tail. Now that the moon is providing some light Ren can see the full damage that me and Tyrian have done to each other throughout the hours of our battle. Like his injury isn't even there Tyrian attacks me. I block his first attack with my ungloved hand and grab his stinger just in time before it stabbed me in my one good eye. Tyrian then pulls back his fist and with his leg kicks me away, my grip failing to hold on to his stinger. Before Tyrian can take advantage of this Ren comes in and kicks him the face, making him stumble back a couple of feet away from me and himself.

"Hector!" Nora calls out to me, she heard the commotion and came to check it out despite her exhaustion. "Take your glove back!" Nora shouts as she throws Ebony to me. I catch it and immediately slip it on. Blocking out the blue light coming from my hand. With both weapons now equipped I head back into battle. Ren moves to join me but I put a hand up in his chest to stop him.

"This is my fight. I have to kill him myself." I say angrily without even looking at him.

From the side of my face Ren sees my Grimm eye and around that area, black veins around my face. Not wanting to anger me he reluctantly complies without a word.

Tyrian recovers from his stumble and looks back at us, he grins sadistically when he spots me back in my fighting position. Jaune's small amount of aura got me back on my feet and ready to fight. Tyrians arm is also broken so that evens out the playing field but Tyrians inhuman endurance and stamina outclasses mine as I am still exhausted and can't take any more damage. But I have a plan. A plan that I know my team is not going to like already before I even put it into action. I am the one who charges in first, a trail of black and red lightning trailing behind my fists as I run. At speeds that the rest of RNJR can barely keep up with, me and Tyrian clash into each other head on. Tyrians Grimm arm clashes with Ebony as we collide fists that sends a small shockwave all around, shaking some trees and causing some leaves to fall to the dirt below. Using this contact to my advantage I course a lethal amount of lighting into him which would kill any normal person. But Tyrian isn't just a normal person. His Grimm arm absorbs the shock and with his stinger tries to stab that arm. I manage to pull my arm back just in time as the stinger bounces off Ebonys metal, only denting it slightly at the point of impact, making a loud metallic clanging noise that rings throughout the forest. I knee him in the gut and then punch him in the face with Ivory, making sure to pump more lightning into him. He recoils back at the punch and his body sparks a couple times from the lighting but quickly recovers. Launching himself right back into battle and countering with a punch to my chest with his Grimm arm. I slide back across the ground, clutching my chest as my heart begins to beat painfully once again.

"If it keeps going on like this Hector isn't going to win." Ren points out as he helps Nora back up.

"I'll use my semblance on him." Jaune says as he extends his hands out toward me. He focuses on me and soon my red aura flares with a tint of black in it. Signaling that his semblance is working but seems to be strengthening both sides of his internal struggle.

"Don't do that yet!" I shout as I see my aura flare with the black tint and while holding back Tyrian. "Once this Grimm shit gets out of me then go wild but as you're helping me out at the same time you're making it easier for Salem to fuck with my head." I explain before pushing Tyrian back and rushing out of range of Jaunes reach.

Jaune falls to his knees as his trance is interrupted. Ren comes and pulls him out of harm's way just in case me and Tyrian come this way again.

"As soon as Hector goes down, if he goes down, we'll jump Tyiran together. He'll be weakened and tired and the three of us will be able to finish him off." Ren plans as they await their opening.

The battle between me and Tyrian is slowing down dramatically. At first we were fighting at speeds that was too fast for anyone to see and now its like we are learning how to fight. My heart threatens to explode in protest as I continue to fight. Tyrian is panting heavily as he grips his injured arm in pain. But still holds that psychotic grin on his face. His healing factor has been healing his body but not his stamina. Although it leaves some minor cuts and bruises on his body.

"To think that you would put up such a fascinating fight! Oh when my love converts you brother we'll have fun like this ALL the time!" Tyiran explains as he explodes back up to his feet.

"Stop it with that brother crap, I'm never going to allow myself to be in control of that bitch." I shoot back as I force myself back up to my feet for the last time. The left side of my face now has more black veins that come from my eye.

"We don't need your permission!" Tyrian screams angrily, his mood instantly changing to anger and charging at me with speed I didn't know he was still capable of, intending to stab through me with his tail. Time slows as I try to bring my hands up to block the incoming attack but remember the plan I came up with. This grimm shit has to get out of me some way or another. I open my guard and extend my arms out, much to the horror of the rest of my team. They all are in the middle of screaming no, Jaune rushes to his feet and sprints toward me with his shield out, hoping to try to stop the incoming stinger.

But he is not fast enough. I let Tyrian stab through my gut with his tail and it comes out the other side, dripping in my blood. I grab his tail with Ivory, and Ebony on his shoulder as I use him to keep myself from collapsing. Tyran almost has tears flowing from his eyes, his psychotic mind thinking that he just killed his own brother out of orders from his queen. The pain I feel is numbing as I lose blood and my vision gets darker. But nonetheless I stare into his eyes with the same determined look on my face.

"I'm sorry brother, but I can't afford to fail my love." Tyrian says sadly as he hold me still.

This is part of my plan, no matter how scary it looks. Tyrian tail went right through me and I just hope that none of the venom got inside me again. I look into his eyes and to his surprise I give him a confident smirk, like he fell right into my trap.

"Yeah… Me neither." I tighten my grip on him and pump the full power of the new lightning dust into him and it courses throughout both of our bodies. We both scream in pain as the sparks fly off both of our bodies. Since we are in direct contact with each other and I have both Ebony and Ivory the lightning keeps flowing between us nonstop, even doubling the damage output. This hurts Tyrian in a way even he can not enjoy as he screams in pain and terror as his Grimm body parts begin to dissipate. I crush his scorpion tail so hard that it snaps off of him and I push him down the the ground with me on top. As we both are still being electrocuted I move my hands to around his neck and squeeze as hard as I can, strangling him. With his human arm broken and his Grimm arm rendered useless he is helpless as his eyes go bloodshot and stares at me as he chokes.

"Ack...cckk...aaahh." Is all the sounds Tyrian can get out as he is being strangled.

Jaune and the others are in shock at what they are witnessing. The brutality they didn't think I was capable of and also wonder at how I am managing to withstand the lethal amounts very powerful lightning dust flowing through me. The thing is that I am barely even conscious. I am moving forward off of pure instinct and reflex as my human eye is almost shut completely but my Grimm eye is wide open. After minutes of strangling they hear a snap that makes them all cringe and recoil at the disturbing sound of Tyrians neck being broken. I shut off the flow of lightning and I sit up, slowly regaining consciousness but my body twitches violently a couple of times. Now that Tyrion is dead the venom within me is being burnt out quite easily by my aura, it steams out of my body in more black mist, but my left eye remains Grimm.

' _Hector! The eye, it must be removed! If you can hear me you have to cut it out! It's the only way!'_ I faintly hear Ozpin shout from within my mind. Now that the venom is being taken care of Ozpin's voice is beginning to reach me again.

Without really thinking about it I look at both my hands that wear Ebony and Ivory and clench them a couple of times. My aura works doubly hard as it heals the hole in my gut and getting rid of the grimm venom at the same time. Jaune even runs up to me and uses his semblance to help, despite the evil presence he still feels within me.

I think back on what Salem said to me earlier.

" _ **...With that new eye of yours I can speak to you whenever I want now…**_ "

Trusting in what Ozpin says is true I reach up to my grimm eye with Ebony and just rub that part of my face before I do something to myself that is going to shock my team.

"Hector what are you doing?" Jaune asks when he notices the way I am feeling out that part of my head. I look to him with my cloudy vision and without another word grab my own eyeball with my fingers and begin to pull it out from the stem, I scream at the new pain I now feel and Nora places her hand on her stomach and throws up at the sight. Ren cant watch and looks away. Jaune is shuts his eyes closed as I pull it out slowly, and Instead of red blood pouring out of my face like it is to be expected, what looks like black goo flows out of my head and splatters onto the ground, dissipating. Not wanting to make this last too long I rip it out of my head with whatever remaining strength I have left and fall onto my back with the dissipating grimm eye in my right hand, unconscious.

Jaune finally opens his eye to see me lying unconscious in front of him, a bleeding hole in my head that is being stitched together by my aura and his own. The only good thing that came out of this is that evil presence he felt is no longer there. He sighs in relief as he amplifies my aura with is own in greater quantities. I should wake up soon since he worked on his semblance a lot during our one week of training. The wounds on my body are being stitched up and this time not leaving any scars behind. Except for the two major wounds on my face and my belly, they will serve as a reminder to me that I am not invincible.

"Did he stop yet?" Nora asks as she recovers from her sickness.

"Yes, he's resting now. Whatever that was in him has been flushed out of his body. I never would have thought someone who isn't a Maiden could do this to him." Ren says. Kneeling beside Jaune

"I don't think we should let him fight all the tough bad guys by himself anymore." Nora points out as she joins the group that sits around me.

"I agree, that's something we will have to discuss when he wakes up." Jaune points out. After a couple minutes of silence with the only thing making sound is the sound of the aura flowing around me and healing my body. Ren makes a fire with the surrounding wood to keep us warm. Our packs were destroyed on the train so we're on our own, left with just our survival skills. Soon after Jaune finishes he slumps on his side with his back to me and falls asleep. I am also in a deep sleep resulting from the trauma my body just went through. Nora has already been asleep for a while now. Seeing that he has been voted to watch for the night he sits against a tree and sharpens his blade. He'll let us sleep for a couple of hours before waking up Jaune for the next watch. Ren looks up to the moon and wonders what we're going to do next after this.

* * *

As I am unconscious I communicate with Ozpin in our usual white room where he has his old desk and chair. We discuss what had just transpired and what this means for the plan.

' _That was very dangerous'_

" _Oh really? I didn't notice."_

' _What happened while I couldn't see or hear anything?'_

" _Well, to sum it all up That venom suppressed you and my semblance, apparently Salem marked me, and almost turned me into one of her slaves, I almost killed myself again, and now I am lying here with two new scars with my team probably waiting for me to wake up to interrogate me about what happened. But hey, at least I got two new scars to add to the collection."_

' _I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help you, I was trying to find a way to contact you but I was being blocked off by Salem. Are you sure you are alright?'_

" _Yeah, Im pretty sure Knolly actually helped me out during all that. I don't know what he could have done but there is actually no way I survived that just by pure luck, I was even beginning to think that I'd lose the internal struggle against Salem pretty fast, but something pushed me to break out of it."_

' _Consider yourself lucky then. If you were to fall under Salem's command I would also be taken with you, unable to do anything about it.'_

" _Well I certainly do consider myself lucky, I mean look at this."_ I point to the healed scar on my face where my eye used to be. " _This does look pretty badass don't you think."_

' _Hmm, definitely makes you look scarier.'_ Ozpin says, playing along with my too soon amount of humor.

" _Well. Back to the serious stuff, our plan has been set back weeks or possibly months and we have no idea where we are."_

' _That certainly does remind me of the first time we met.'_

" _Okay smartass we'll try to scrolls as soon as we get things cleared up. Another thing is that there's no way that Tyrian can be the only human grimm hybrid. If it's possible then there has to be more of them, which means that we are going to have quite the journey ahead of us."_

' _I suggest that if you do run into more trouble like that, you should work together with your team.'_

" _Yeah I wasn't exactly in the right state of mind when there were Grimm parasites all up in my body so forgive me that I pushed them aside. But yeah I agree with you."_

' _Great, so… what do YOU think we should do next?"_

" _Right now we just need to recover from what happened, then we start traveling to patch again. Looks like I'm pulling a reverse volume 4."_

' _I don't know what that last part means but that is a start.'_

" _I'm glad you get me."_

* * *

 **AN- My fingers hurt, please help. Finally this chapter was able to be written out for you guys. I hope this makes up for the loss of Emerald R.I.P. So yeah Tyrians dead, I'm sure you guys expected that to happen. Knolly saved Hectors life somehow. More on that in the future on what Knolly actually did. And Hector now has two new scars to add to his collection.**

 **What do you guys think about this chapter overall? Expecting for Hector to do all that stuff? Expected him to use Kaioken while a poison is in him that is meant to suppress his semblance? I spent a lot of hours on this one and I hope you guys liked it.**

 **As a reminder I am taking requests for the look, personality, and name for what the future Fall, Summer, and Winter should take on. I think this is a good way for me to work with you guys on making this story as enjoyable as possible. I'll take entries through anyway you can get to me via, reviews, pms, or through twitter.**

 **Wanna keep up with me? I have a twitter account just for you guys so you can come ask me anything or talk to me whenever you want. I'm usually either home or at work all the time so I'll try to respond to every single one of you guys.**

 **Link= /genatools**

 **Please review and share your thoughts! I read every single review and take everyone's advice and really anything under consideration. I really want to know what you guys think about this story overall and the choices I have made. Please be honest.**

 **Finally holy shit this story has over 10K views. Like wtf. But the good kind of wtf. Thank you all for reading my story!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	20. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 19

**AN- First thank you to my reviewers from last chapter. We got a lot to get through this time.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Of course I have to accept at least one of your entries, you've been with me from almost the very beginning. Hector is not one that gives up so easily. If you want to win against him you have to make the fight last so long that he is face down like that unable to move. If Jaune didn't come in to save him who knows what Tyrian would have done. I thought it would be pretty epic to have Hector force the kaioken even through a semblance suppressing poison in his body would be pretty epic to read. When I had him scream Kaioken that last time It even gave me some goosebumps on my arm. Do you REALLY think that Tyiran was the ONLY Grimm hybrid? That's all i'll say on that to prevent spoilers ;). Yeah Hector did indeed do that. He wasn't exactly in the right state of mind since y'know, being part grimm at the time, to even think of a way to get that grimm part out of him without tearing his eye out so I went for the next best thing called on the field improvised surgery. You'll see what I do about the scar in the future. I am considering all of your entries but know that at least one of them is guaranteed to make it in the story. It's the least I can do for one of my most dedicated reviewers and followers. Thank you for your continued support.**

 **GoTeam- I will consider your request. The way you want Hector to be the big brother or father and Ruby the mama made me chuckle a bit. Thanks for your input.**

 **Sopher007- Thank you for being understanding that I just can't give Hector super saiyan. Because one, he is human, two he doesn't use ki, and three this isn't a crossover. Although I have a crossover planned for dragon ball z and Rwby. Thank you for your continued support and nice reviews.**

 **Guest 1- Well then I'll definitely remember that one. Thank you for the review.**

 **Guest 2- Lol I think that's a compliment so thank you!**

 **Zeldawolffang- two others proposed the fall maiden to be very familiar to your own input. So if something else doesn't catch my attention for the next fall maiden in the next couple of chapters then the fall maiden will be at least similar to your input. Thank you for your continued support and kind reviews.**

 **Pyrothekid- Oh boy what am I going to do with you. Listen dude, if you think that the way I write is so shitty that it makes you angry then why are you reading the story? Of course there's going to be points in the story where the quality of my writing is going to "Jump off cliffs" because I started writing for the first time ever literally two months ago from the point in time that I am writing this response to you. What I don't get is that you made one of the longest reviews i've ever gotten about how much you think I'm shit but later after that you follow and favorite the story, im getting mixed signals here. About Tyrians broken arm I definitely made a couple references to when Hector did indeed break it about I wanna say 7000 words into the chapter. When Ren gasped at Hector strangling Tyrian OF COURSE he is going to gasp. Wouldn't you if you saw someone being strangled to death? I don't know how that is OOC. And dude It is entirely possible to rip out your own eye when you have a powerful as fuck metal gauntlet on your hand that can easily tear out your eye if you actually put your mind to it. But when I ignore all of the mean comments I thank you for pointing out some of the mistakes I made and I'll make sure to improve upon myself in the future. Make another review like that though and I'm not going to bother responding to you next time so please don't waste your time or my own. Thank you for your review and thank you for reading my story. If you do stick around I hope you can enjoy the rest of my story.**

 **Now that that is out of the way welcome to the next chapter! I've been getting a lot of similar requests for the Fall Maiden that consist of me making her young, shy, and now experienced in combat and having Hector be like a big brother to her. I like that idea so for now I am going to stick with that unless something else catches me attention.**

 **About the winter and summer Maidens I only got one input for each of them so if no one else makes an input on them I guess Tigervolano5000 is going to be a very happy guy.**

 **I will be taking any and all inputs on what I should do with the upcoming Maidens until we meet the Fall Maiden which isn't really that far away with the pace that I am writing. So if you have an idea go ahead and send it my way! I take any and all inputs and consider each one. Thank you to all who are participating.**

 **Now I actually need some help from you guys. I have the arc already planned and decided for Team RNJR but for Team RWBY and Mercury I am having trouble deciding what I am going to do with them until they reach Atlas. So if any of you have any ideas that could help me out please share them.**

 **Holy shit this beginning is already way too long I have to start the chapter now.**

* * *

Chapter 19 Team RWBY's adventure part 2.

It's been a couple of days since Team RWBY encountered the injured and exhausted Mercury. They all still don't trust him all always have their weapons out and pointed at him. Mercury knows he could easily escape them but if he did where would he go? He knows a way to infiltrate Atlas but through… less than legal ways. Yang is finding it increasingly difficult to not make him pay for everything he has done in the past but Ruby has been keeping her in check for now.

"You know I'm not going to try anything against you guys." Mercury points out without looking at them. He gets no response.

"I could barely hold my own against two of you what makes you think I am going to try anything when I got the whole team against me?" Mercury asks, getting kind of sick of this constant feeling of feeling like a prisoner.

"Shut up and keep walking." Yang bitterly responds.

"This journey would be a lot easier if we cleared some things up y'know."

"I said SHUT UP!" Yang fires a warning shot next to one of his legs that makes him instinctively jump away from the blast. Mercury has had enough now.

"I get it, I helped screw up your lives back then but I'M TRYING TO CHANGE. Why do you all keep treating me like i'm some monster?" Mercury asked angrily.

Instantly all weapons are pointed at him and he realizes his mistake and raises his hands. Against all the combined firepower his aura would melt away and he'd be killed on the spot.

With a huff Mercury turns back around but keeps his hands up, letting RWBY know that he isn't going to try anything. RWBY lowers their weapons down but keep them at the ready just in case. Ruby nudges Weiss to get her attention.

"I don't know how long I can keep Yang from getting her hands on Mercury, maybe we should hear him out? He did come all this way to find us."

"I… I don't know Ruby, after everything he did even I can't just sit around a fire and have a conversation with him." Weiss responds honestly. Ruby thinks on a decision that is going to be unpopular with her team but what Mercury said earlier is very correct. All this tension is going to cause problems if they don't get fixed soon

"Mercury." Ruby calls out. Stopping the group.

Mercury turns around slowly and stares in Ruby's silver eyes, awaiting her to say what she wants to say to him.

"Tonight we'll listen to whatever you have to say." Ruby declares. Yang snaps her head to look down at her little sister and her eyes go red out of anger. When Ruby stares back at her with equal amounts of determination Yang gets control of herself and looks away. Her eyes changing back to their normal lilac.

Mercury was kind of shocked momentarily after hearing those words but soon gains a small smile on his face after hearing the good news for him. He turns back around but this time puts his hands back in his pockets and begins to plan what he has to say to them in order to at least get them to not be hostile toward every move he makes. After he gets ahead a couple of more feet out of earshot from the team, Yang voices her protests.

"Ruby what are you doing? We shouldn't listen to anything he says."

"He is trying to change, I can tell. Salem is all of our enemies, we might as well make some allies along the way. Even if they used to be our enemies." Ruby explains.

"He had plenty of chances to back out before though." Blake points out. "If he had second thoughts about his alignment with Salem why did he stay with her this past year?"

"Because of Emerald I'm willing to bet." Ruby mentions, catching everyone off guard with her assumption. "When I was incapacitated I saw Mercury trying to get Emerald to come with him and get away from all this. He cared about her and if what he said earlier was true then Salem killed her brutally. That's why he is here with us. For revenge."

Weiss, Blake, and Yang are all stunned by their young leaders unexpected constructive thinking. They all put themselves in his shoes and empathize with him. They all would have done the same thing if someone important to them was taken away by someone they were working for.

"That… is actually understandable." Weiss says.

"Yeah." Blake agrees."

Yang just looks down and doesn't say anything. She knows that Ruby is right and she also feels the same way as the others. She doesn't voice her opinion though and opts to stay quiet. She has some choice words to say to Mercury tonight.

What they fail to recognize is that tension and the feeling of hostility are negative emotions, and with negative emotions come the creatures of grimm. Unbeknownst to Team RWBY they are being trailed by a pack of alpha Beowolves. That's right every Beowolf in this particular pack is an alpha class Beowolf. With the leader of the pack being the oldest and biggest one. Mercury with his assassin skills can tell by how the bushes rustle when there is no wind blowing that they are being followed. He spots a patch of Black fur in the distance ahead of them. At first he thinks it's no problem but then he sees more patches, and more patches in the distance. Surrounding the path ahead of them. At this point whether they like him or not they're going to have a fight on their hands. Qrow isn't there to kill all the Grimm around them this time while they travel so there is nothing to stop the Grimm from getting to them.

"Uh girls?" Mercury calls out, stopping and holding a hand out toward them.

"What is it?" Ruby asks.

"We got company!" Mercury shouts. Just as he finishes shouting one of the alphas jump out of hiding toward Mercury. Just in time Mercury was able to dodge and counter the attack. Kicking the alpha away into the adjacent part of the woods. Team RWBY get their weapons out and close the distance between themselves and Mercury and stand back to back with him. Soon they are surrounded by alphas all covered in extra bone armour and overall much more menacing than the usual Beowolf.

"How many do you see?" Ruby asks everyone.

"I have three on my side." Mercury mentions.

"One over here." Yang adds.

"I got one here to." Blake adds.

"Two here." Weiss adds. Her and Ruby face the same way so in total there are eight alpha Beowolves surrounding our heroes.

"That makes seven then. Wait… why are they all alphas?" Weiss asks after noticing the bone armour and much larger than normal Beowolves. In the heat of the moment she didn't notice it sooner.

"Salem was planning this." Mercury reveals. "Generally making all the Grimm stronger overall. I wouldn't be surprised if we only saw these stronger versions from now on."

"That would have been good to know earlier." Yang mutters.

Without any further dialogue between the group the alphas all attack at once. RWBY are all forced to separate in groups of two while Mercury is left by himself. Ruby is with Weiss, and Yang with Blake. Since Mercury is on his own three alphas converge on him, with the other 5 converging on the others.

"Oh of course." Mercury mutters. Against Grimm he is alright but against three powerful Grimm alphas he is going to have his hands full.

Ruby and Weiss attack their two Beowolves together. With Weiss summoning a pack of five smaller white and blue Beowolves to assist them. Ruby with her semblance attacks the closest alpha in a flashy looking flury of rose petals and curved slices. After finishing her quick combo she fires herself away into the air and looks down at the Grimm. To her surprise the creature remains unfazed, which means it must've been exposed to a sharp weapon before and became immune to attacks from weapons with sharp edges. Which means Crescent rose would be useless against this particular Beowolf.

"Uh Weiss! This one can't be hurt my scythe!" Ruby calls out, dashing away from the monster just as it attacks her.

"Ugh, that's annoying." Weiss mutters to herself. "Help is on the way!" Weiss sends her pack of Beowolves to help Ruby. Basically the switch targets completely and Ruby attacks the Grimm that Weiss was fighting and Weiss attacks the one she was fighting. The pack of summoned Beowolves charge the alpha, on biting on one of its legs while another jumps on its back, and one more bites one of its arms. The beast roars in pain but throws each of them off, killing the one on hits leg with a stomp, biting off the head of the one stuck to its arm and literally ripping in half the last one on its back. Before it can recover from its small victory and line of fire is shot in its direction. Catching the left side of its body and setting it on fire momentarily but its goes out just as fast.

"Tch, these things got more durable now."

With Yang and Blake they are faring much better than the rest of their team since there's not many grimm who has fought someone with shotgun gauntlets on their wrists. The alpha that Yang is fighting has several cracks in its bone armour and is even bleeding black blood that drips onto the forest floor. The one Blake is fighting is too busy trying to catch her clone to realize that Blake is playing it like a fiddle. However it does catch on to her tricks and when it destroys the next clone it keeps its momentum, doing a full 360 horizontal swipe that catches Blake off guard and knocks her away. Luckily her aura blocked all of the damage but now she can't use that trick anymore. She hopes she has done enough damage to be able to take it on the old fashioned way. With lots of ninja moves and a short black katana.

Out of the whole group Mercury is having the most trouble. Regular Grimm he can deal with little to no problem but three pissed of alphas at once is a problem. Especially when his only weapons are his robotic feet and those smoke guns I forgot the name of. Mercury puts his assassin training to use as he dodge every attack the Grimm trio throws at him. Kicking off the recoil from his feet to redirect himself or counter attack one of the Grimm. Noticing that this isn't really getting him anywhere since he cant fight back effectively he kicks off one of the alphas face and launches himself toward his closest allies which happen to be Yang and Blake. He makes his entrance by kicking the side of the Bewolfs head that is about to attack Blake and sending it tumbling away into a tree.

"Yeah I needed help so I came to you guys." Mercury greets with his usual cocky smirk.

"With what?" Blake asks.

"Oh just look that way."

Blake does as she is told and sees three incoming angry charging Beowolves and her eyes widen in surprise. Quickly she dashes out of the way and meets up with Yang, who just got finished pummeling her own alpha, ending the fight with one powerful uppercut that broke its neck. With one down there are six left and we now have the unlikely alliance of Blake, Yang and Mercury up against four of the angry alpha Beowolves. Yang fires up her semblance, unleashing the power she has stored up form her fight she had earlier. With the assistance of Blake they take on the two on the right, leaving Mercury alone with the other two.

"Oh I'm glad we all agreed on that plan." Mercury mumbles to himself as he gets ready for more fighting. "Well I guess two is easier then three."

Mercury preemptively fires smoke rounds around himself in a circle making a small cloud of smoke above him. In an axe kick he directs all of the projectiles onto one of the alphas coming his way. Pelting it dozens of times and eventually knocking it down, it rolls forward itself and passes Mercury. The other alpha engages Mercury with reckless wild swipes and stab attacks. Against one reckless alpha Mercury has little problems with since the one that he attacked earlier is still stunned and concussed as it tries to get up, but ends up falling on its face again. Mercury kicks away one of its arms as it tries to grab him and with his other leg kicks it in the neck. The alpha stands on its hind legs and holds its neck, not being able to breathe. Mercury takes advantage of this by knocking it off balance by kicking out one of its legs. The alpha looks up at Mercury as his boot is coming down on its head.

"Heh, this must have been the youngest one." Mercury guesses as he dusts off his shoulder and drags his boot into the ground to rid it of the disgusting black blood.

Ruby and Weiss aren't so lucky since their Beowolves don't seem to be taking much damage from either of their weapons. Weiss wants to summon that queen Lancer but isn't getting the time she needs in order to summon such a large ally. So she opts for using her glyphs to help block attacks and give her steps to gain a higher altitude as she fights. Ruby is doing the best she could against the biggest alpha there, dashing and slashing away at the monster. She is making deep cuts and gashes here and there but the monster doesn't seem to care as it swipes her away once more. Before she can tumble away too far a white glyph stops her momentum. Ruby looks up to Weiss who is standing on one of her glyphs and silently thanks her with a nod. The color of that glyph turns red and launches Ruby straight toward the alpha with her scythe off to her side, intending to cleave in half while using the burst of speed from Weiss's glyph and the recoil from her gun she does just that, be it not all the way through. Almost nothing can endure that team move as long as they can land it. Ruby pulls out her scythe and lets it fall back, its torso bleeding too much for it too handle.

"This one is down Weiss I'm on the way!"

Together Weiss and Ruby are now fighting against their last alpha. Yang and Blake has taken out one of their own as well. Mercury dispatched his two so now all that are left are two alpha Beowolves against four huntressesand one assassin. Being smarter than most Grimm they turn tail and run. The group of five group back up together and check if everyone is okay.

"Well that was easier then I thought it'd be." Mercury says.

"If that was a pack of alphas then where is the alpha of those alpha?" Ruby asks. Unsure if there actually would be one for this particularly unusual pack of Beowolves.

Before any of them can answer her question they hear and feel slow powerful stomping resonating from the forest around them. Mercury points out her jinx.

"You just had to bring that up didn't you."

The five of them ready themselves for a tougher fight. The two alphas that ran away have returned but just stare at them from a distance. Out from behind them a Beowolf that could very well be larger then a Goliath reveals itself. Bone armour is attached to almost every vital area on its body. It almost looks like an armoured horse but with much much more of a menacing "I'm going to tear you apart" look. Its red eyes flame a dark blood red that trails a bit behind its head, almost resembling a Maidens flame. The alphas that RWBY and Mercury were fighting earlier make way for their pack leader out of what looks like fear from them. They whimper and bow their heads down as it passes them.

"Well that's new." Mercury mentions. Secretly really nervous and a little scared this new kind of Beowolf. However he spent years pushing his fear aside for the sake of living so he can easily push his fear aside and help out with this new type of Beowolf.

"I feel like we should give it a name." Ruby mentions.

Everyone looks to their leader like she has grown three heads but think about the discovery they had just made. If this is really the first time a Beowolf of this kind is making an appearance then might as well right?

"How 'bout we call it a super Beowolf and leave it at that?" Yang suggests.

"Because that's boring. Now c'mon guys we have a couple more seconds to decide!"

"Super Beowolf." The rest of her team say in unison. Not wanting to deliberate on this topic any longer.

Ruby pouts at being ganged up on but goes back into serious mode when the now dubbed Super Beowolf begins its charge at them. The ground shakes with each of its steps and the smaller alphas trail behind it.

"Take out the smaller ones first so we can all focus on the big one! I'll distract the Super Beowolf for now!" Ruby shouts. Yang and Mercury intend to take the alpha on the right while Blake and Weiss take the one on the left. Yang meets her alpha head on with a punch to the gut, head and side. Knocking it to the side, Mercury takes advantage of the opening and quickly finishes it off with an axe kick to the head. Not wanting to waste time doing flashy moves that takes too long. Yang stops in her tracks once Mercury finishes it off and growls softly to herself at the sight of him.

"I had that."

"I know, just didn't want you to take too long."

With a quick nod Mercury ignores Yangs glare and jumps up at the oppurtunity to go help Ruby with the Super Beowolf, ignoring the glare he got from Yang when he interfered with her fight. Yang moves to help Weiss and Blake dispatch of their own Beowolf by launching herself their way with her Ember Celica. Blake and Weiss together are faring quite well against this monster but can't seem to be able to finish it off. They come up with the plan of Blake and Yang distracting and hurting the alpha as Weiss stays back and focuses on summoning the queen Lancer. This time she is successful and the white and blue Queen Lancer is summoned. It makes its entrance by stabbing right through the back of the alpha and throwing it aside. The last alpha Beowolf quickly bleeds out and dies.

As that was all happening Ruby and Mercury are barely able to hold their own against the Super Beowolf. It has taken no damage so far and Ruby's bullets just bounce right off its tough bone armour and into the ground.

"Okay thats not working." Ruby says as she notices that all she is doing is pissing it off.

Mercury on the other hand is trying his best to at the very least crack its armour with his kicks. Even using the momentum from firing his boots to increase his power when he strikes down on the beast's back. All he manages to do is bounce off of its armour and flip backward and onto his stomach.

"Well this sucks." Mercury mutters to himself as he pushes himself back on to his feet.

The rest of the group meets up with Ruby and play a game of keep away from the monster they are all trying to take down.

"What's the plan against this thing?" Yang shouts out, even she can't even dent its armour.

Suddenly Mercury gasps softly to himself as he just thinks of a ridiculous plan but it might work if the girls work with him.

"I have an idea!" Mercury shouts loudly so his voice would reach every single girl.

"I swear if you say hit it really hard I'll hit you really hard." Yang shouts back bitterly.

"I guess we can hit it… really hard..." Mercury hesitantly starts.

Yang growls angrily and her eyes turn red and she glares at Mercury in the distance.

"Together?!"

"...Whatever."

The group of five all group up together all all charge their ranged weapons. Ruby loads in her most powerful bullet that is meant for penetrating armour too tough for most bullets, Yang cocks her gauntlets for a barrage of explosives, Weiss prepares to launch a trap with the Queen Lancer that can lock it in place so it can take a hundred percent of all the damage they're about to deal to it. Mercury fires another cloud above him similar to what he did against Yang during the tournament and prepares to launch them all right onto the monster. Blake doesn't really have any powerful ranged attacks so all she can do to help is fire her bullets.

"Together!" Ruby shouts, giving the cue for all of them to open fire at once. As soon as Weiss hears this she makes the Queen Lancer pounce onto the Super Beowolf's back and stab it through one of its legs. Keeping it immobilized for the time being. All at the same time Ruby fires her most powerful bullet that she has, Yang fires her barrage and Mercury kicks in the direction of the monster and all of the smoke projectiles he made all launch themselves into the monsters chest. With all this combined firepower they injure the super Beowolf while unintentionally destroying the Queen Lancer as well, it falls to all fours while keeping a paw on its cracked and bleeding chest. It roars out in anger and pain so loud that everyone has to put their hands on their ears in order to protect themselves from going temporarily deaf. Instead of attacking though the Super Beowolf turns away and runs to live to fight another day. It is surprisingly fast enough to get out of everyone's line of sight before they can begin chasing it.

"They're getting smarter." Blake points out.

"This is bad. If that thing decides to attack us again it's going to be immune to everything we just threw at it." Weiss.

"That wound looked fatal. There's a chance it may just die on its own." Mercury points out. Hoping that he is right. If that thing does come back from all those wounds it's going to spell a lot of trouble for the group. They need to get out of this forest and fast.

"We need to get out of this forest."

"How much longer? You're the one who knows where to go." Blake asks.

"If we walk during the night I can get us out of here and into some village where we can rest up. In the meantime we can have that well needed talk."

Ironically even when he said that the next hour of walking consisted of mostly quiet walking. Although Mercury as now gained the 'privilege' of walking beside them now. Officially now being their traveling partner although not having any of their trust yet. Despite him fighting with them against that pack of Grimm alphas. Mercury found talking to them about his past more difficult then he thought. It doesn't make anything easier that the girls aren't bothering to start a conversation so they can eventually get to it. But finally Mercury grows some balls and starts talking.

"I never truly enjoyed working under Cinder." Mercury begins. After hearing silence he takes that as his cue to keep going. "She found me after I killed my dad, he was the one who basically taught me everything I know but after I figured out that he was the one who killed my mom I killed him." Mercury reveals.

Everyone is taken aback by this news but remain quiet and listen for more of the story. It messes up Yang and Ruby more since they know the pain of losing a mother very well.

"Cinder was looking for my dad but when she found me standing over his body she took me instead. That's when I met Emerald for the first time. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I was given the mission to help Cinder take down and absorb this woman's power. Turns out this was the Fall Maiden. You all know how that ended up. Soon after that we were told about Salem, and the Maidens and the relics and damn was that an eye opener for that I learned quickly that going up against Cinder wasn't a good idea after witnessing her take down an entire White Fang camp by herself, not even breathing hard afterwards. That's how we got the White Fangs allegiance." Mercury says that last sentence while looking at Blake.

Blake looks down after hearing this, that answers that question she had when she was obsessed with learning why the White Fang would work with humans. She thought that would be the most likely case after learning about the Maidens and that Cinder was one of them but nothing was confirmed until just now.

"So skipping explaining everything about what I did at Beacon since we all know what happened. Long story short me and Emerald became somewhat reluctant compadres. We'd never admit that we cared about each other." Mercury chuckles sadly to himself.

"She was the only reason why I didn't ditch Salem and her goons earlier. I actually tried convincing her to leave with me during that battle we had at Haven. I think Qrow overheard that whole thing so the next time you seem him if you don't kill me later go ahead and ask him. So now we're at the part that I have been stalling for… Salem killing Emerald, and boy did she kill her brutally. You girls already know that part when we first met up for this little journey. So now here we are, I probably left some stuff out, i'm not the best with story telling but I'm sure you're all smart enough to fill in the gaps." Mercury finished, coming to a full stop to face the Team he caused so much pain to.

"I guess I did leave some things out… I'm sorry for everything I did." Mercury apologizes for one of the first times in his life to someone other than Salem and Cinder. "And i'm sorry that it took too long for me to realize that all I was doing was helping to end the world." Mercury ends with his head hanging. He can't bear to look into their eyes. After a couple of moments he raised his head and met their eyes. Surprisingly they weren't filled with hate anymore.

"I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we accept your apology." Ruby says with her usual cheery smile. Weiss and Blake both nod in agreement.

Mercury looks to Yang, still unsure if she feels the same way. Yang locks eyes with Mercury.

"It's going to take some time… but for now we're good. Just know that if you try anything i'll make you regret it." Yang says, despite the threat Mercury smiles and chuckles a bit.

"Wouldn't have it any other way blondie."

"And don't call me that. We aren't _that_ good yet."

"Fair enough."

And with that Team RWBY with the addition of an old enemy are now on good terms. For now at least. After about two more hours of walking and casual chatter they make it to the village Mercury was talking about. After getting rooms they all make plans for when they should leave again and to warn them about the new type of Beowolf that they encountered earlier. Mercury has to get a room just for himself for obvious reasons and for the first time in a while, Mercury was able to have a comfortable sleep.

"Well here's to an adventure for good for once." Mercury says to himself before going to sleep.

* * *

"It appears that Tyrian was defeated and killed." Hazel reveals.

" **I know he would be. All I needed him to do was get his venom in that boys body."** Salem says boredly.

"You… knew?" Hazel asks.

" **Of course, with his venom combined with the mark I gave him I was able to come very close to converting the boy. Once he resisted my grasp with the help of the relic that chose him and I was flushed out, I knew that Tyrian was as good as dead."**

"Hmm." Is all Hazel says in response.

" **Of course I know how to improve upon the new species of Grimm I created now thanks to Tyrians efforts. I took too much of his soul while working on him. I need to leave** _ **just**_ **enough so that my Grimm hybrids may use aura to protect their bodies. It's a work in progress but I have plenty of specimens to work with and send after them as tests."**

"What do you want me to do in the meantime?" Hazel asks, not wanting to hear about Salem's disgusting experiments.

" **Go to Atlas and make sure that** **Jacques** **Schnee is still loyal to us. Then begin your search for the Winter Maiden."** Salem demands.

"As you wish." Hazel says without hesitation.

" **In the meantime I am going to secure us more allies."** Salem reveals, looking into her globe and already sets her eyes on a potential recruit. The new young and innocent Fall Maiden.

The race to the Fall Maiden begins next chapter.

* * *

 **AN- This chapter was hard to come up with guys but the next I have planned already. I dont got much to say this time so thank you everyone for reading this chapter and story.**

 **Not much happened this chapter I know but I am low on ideas for the RWBY adventure part of the story. Next chapter from this story will be a small time skip of a couple weeks for Team RNJR and I got ideas set up for that. As the last bit of this chapter just hinted at.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think so far of this story and feel free to help me out if you wish with ideas.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	21. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 20

**AN- First thank you to my reviewers from last chapter**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Thank you for another review man. That is what I felt about Mercury around volume 4's beginning. I thought that if anyone was going to betray Salem and Cinder it would be him. Hopefully this Team RNJR chapter is more appealing because I feel like last chapter was a little forced in some parts. Thank you for the review and for enjoying my story.**

 **Zeldawolffang- You'll just have to wait and see what happens ;).**

 **Sopher007- Who knows what the future may hold. That future arc is still under development. There are still new villains and heroes to come. Don't count out what you're thinking just yet. Thanks for the review**

 **Guest- Interesting thought you have there. I'll use my imagination to picture that. Thanks for the review!**

 **Thank you all for these amazing reviews and constant support that I've been getting since like a month and a half ago. Sincerely. The fact that I have gained 128 followers and nearly 100 favorites already in this short time is incredible to me. Thank you all for giving me something to stride for. Almost makes me emotional.**

 **I hope this chapter with Team RNJR is better for you guys, I will do some serious editing on last chapter sometime in the future because I thought it was kind of forced, except for the parts I had planned with Mercury. I know Team RNJR must be more popular with you guys right now since Hector is there so I'll be giving you guys one last treat before I take a break from this.**

 ******Yes you read that correctly, after this chapter I need to take a break. It's been almost nonstop 1-3 chapters a week for the past two months, and while I'm glad you guys are enjoying it so much I am tired as fuck. Not at the story hell no I love it so far it's just that I gotta rest my brain for a bit. This does NOT mean in any way that this story is being discontinued, I will keep this going for at least a year. Or at least that's the goal. I just need like at least a week break to catch up on everything else in life. Of course I'm going to keep writing the next chapter but I'm not going to be writing in 8000 word intervals like I've been doing before. Just a little here and there and when my week is over I'll finish it off and edit. It might be more high quality writing so think that as a bonus for those making you wait. I'm sorry if this disappoints you, Thank you all for reading and I'll see you at the end of this chapter.******

 **Also I still need submissions for the Fall, Summer, and Winter Maidens. Those are still up and are still going to be up for a while. Tell me whatever Idea you may have. Preferably at this point I only need a Summer and Winter Maiden. But whatever you guys come up with I will take under consideration.**

* * *

Chapter 20 Team RNJR's adventure part 3

 **Several weeks after the life or death battle with Tyrian**

"Alright where the fuck are we?" I ask my team as I try to find out where we are on this map. My clothes got magically stitched up overtime and I have no idea how but just imagine that it all looks good now. The only major difference in my appearance is my lack of my left eye and my facial hair returning with a vengeance. I just have a scar going from a bit above that brow and it ends just below the eye. Ren was a very good medic that day and stopped the bleeding before I could lose too much blood. Ruby is NOT going to be happy about that when she sees me.

"You're holding the map upside down." Ren points out. His hair has gotten slightly longer, as it now touches his shoulders.

"Alright, Jaune you're the new map guy." I say with a huff as I roll up the map and toss it to Jaune who is just to my right. Jaune here looks more like a man now with his own facial hair coming through for what I think is the first time. Once it gets fully grown he'll be a chick magnet. His hair remains the same.

"You should have let me handle that in the first place." Jaune says with a small smile. He examines that map and easily determines our current location. "It looks like we're about two or three months away still at the pace we're going. If we find any means of transportation we can get there much much faster."

"Uuuggghhh, this is so boring, at least when that guy came back we had something to do for a couple hours." Nora jokes. Nora's hairs has also gotten slightly longer, but is still in the style thats its always been in, I don't know how she does it when we're traveling in the middle of the woods. She decided it would be fun to hop on my back since Ren denied her request. I've basically been dubbed the sacrificial lamb for anything Nora comes up with and no one wants to entertain her brilliant ideas. It's fun most of the time but her thigh is rubbing against one of my scars so it feels weird.

" _I really gotta get those two together sometime."_ I think to myself as I take a small glance to Ren.

"Yeah as much as I enjoyed ripping out my own eye I dont think thats a good idea." I joke back, patting Nora on the head after she slumps her head against my shoulder

"How are you able to joke about that already?" Jaune asks.

"Because I have a sense of humor, I mean give me an eyepatch and I'm a pirate!" I exclaim in the best pirate accent I can muster up as I cover my left eye with a hand and put on. The looks on my teammates faces was all I needed to know that they had no idea what the hell I was talking about.

"Are these 'pirates' in your world?" Ren asks. That question confirms for me that they have no idea what a pirate is.

I face palm at not thinking that far ahead, of course they don't know what a pirate is.. "Alright, do you have like, I don't know gangs that sail ships and go around attacking other ships and steal their stuff?" I ask, trying to see if they have anything like a pirate here on Remnant so I could use that as a comparison. Jaune, Ren, and Nora all share confused glances with each other.

"Ooo there was that one time something like that happened!" Nora exclaims. Making something up completely off the top of her head in an effort to help me out a bit.

"Alright jokes ruined, Jaune how far are we from the next village? And Nora please get off, you're rubbing against my back scar and it feels uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time and I want you to stop." I finish as I let go of Nora's leg, Gravity quickly takes over and she would have fallen on her butt if Ren didn't stop her fall with a quick hand to her back. To stop her path to the ground.

"It's about a day away or so, unless you want to carry all four of us on your back and run as fast as you can with your semblance." Jaune responds.

"Yeah as much as I like carrying people long distances I'm going to pass on that for the reason that I don't want to." I respond while stretching my arms out above my head.

"Heh, well as long as the trip to Patch has been so far, it has had its ups and downs. Some moments we can all laugh about."

"Yeah, like the team attack training you came up with that ended in a crushing failure."

"Hey! I thought we agreed to never talk about that."

"No, _you_ agreed never to talk about that. I have a sense of humor." I point out.

"When did this happen? I didn't know you guys were training to use a team attack." Ren asks.

"Oh I am so glad you asked because no we TRIED to come up with a team attack. The training went downhill ever since we started, it went a little like this…" I begin the short story of the failed team attack me and Jaune tried to come up with.

* * *

 **Flashback to a couple of days after the fight**

" _Jaune what the hell are we doing?" I ask Jaune as he leads me into the woods. He told me he has something he wanted to work on but he's been leading me for more than necessary. I was a bit moody at this point in time because of the loss of my eye so yeah that was a thing. I still have a bandage over my eye to not only hide my self-inflicted wound but to stop it from bleeding even the smallest amounts of blood. Ren says it was so it wouldn't get infected to so we'll go with that._

" _I got an Idea for us! I want to have a team attack with you." Jaune finally reveals. I look at him with a confused/ questioning look because I thought him amplifying my aura and semblance would be enough of a team attack. He does have the power to make my regular low power Kaioken almost as strong as it is at times ten. A rough estimate would probably be times seven or eight._

" _I thought we already had one though..." I point out quietly. I find all this unnecessary but I am too nice to deny him this, and I dont have the energy to not be nice, I hope that makes sense. I humor him and continue to follow him until he finally stops in a more open part of the woods._

" _Alright this seems to be a good spot." Jaune says as he takes out his shield and only his shield. He just points one of his hands at me and concentrates. Secretly he's been training to use his semblance with one hand with me as a surprise for Ren and Nora per his request. I don't really see the point of it but if Jaune can use his semblance with one hand then he could at the very least try to defend himself we his free hand if we can't get to him fast enough._

 _Jaune, although a little tense and stressed out while doing it, manages to do as he was planning, he uses his semblance on me with one hand while holding out his shield. I'm not using my semblance at this time because I still don't know what I am supposed to do._

" _There you go, you did the thing you wanted me to train you for. Good job. Now what am I supposed to do?" I ask as I feel the amplified aura flow around my body._

" _Okay, my plan is for you to run and jump at me, then with my shield here I am going to throw you toward whatever enemy we're fighting, for this test I want you to aim for the tree." Jaune explains, raising his shield and strengthening his guard as much as he can under all the stress he's under._

" _This could very easily backfire but in the slim chance it doesn't lets try it!" I shout that last part as I sprint toward him. I jump up and point my feet towards his shield. Jaune with a grunt tries his best to launch me as far as he can, and while he does shoot me a couple of… inches, he does fulfill at least that part of his plan. I fall face first in the dirt. I push myself up and onto my knees and spit out a leave that got caught in between my lips._

" _Alright, we're done with that one." I say with a muffled voice since I didn't bother to lift my head just yet._

" _Sorry man, I noticed that I don't have a lot of strength while I'm using my semblance." Jaune says as he takes a seat next to me._

" _Well at least we got something out of it. You can use that little trick one armed during combat if the need for it arises." I point out, finally sitting up myself._

" _You're starting to sound more like Professor Ozpin by the day." Jaune notes with a small chuckle._

" _Wow it's almost like he is a part of me. Well I think a team attack for is should just be you amplifying me and then I'll just launch myself toward whatever enemy." I suggest._

" _I think it's already a team effort just for me to use my semblance on you during a fight." Jaune says nervously, completely out of ideas now._

" _I'm glad we came to a unanimous decision."_

" _I agree that we should not tell anyone about this besides the part where I can use my semblance with one."_

" _Understandable."_

* * *

"Yeah that day is fun to talk about and I laugh everytime I think about it." I say after I end the little short story.

"Ooo we should come up with a team attack! I already know a name for it… flower power! With you being the beautiful and delicate flower of course." Nora says in a tone that makes it sound like she is serious but joking at the same time.

"Wow, I've never been insulted and complemented at the same time before and I thank you for this new emotion." I point out as I place a hand over my heart dramatically.

"Wait now you guys want that as a team attack name? Why not before?" Jaune asks, slightly hurt that the team attack name he came up with that was rejected by Ren and Nora is now making a return.

"Well technically since im a delicate flower and not what you make pancakes with its completely different." I say as I pat Jaune on the back. Attempting to cheer him up by pointing out a minor difference.

"I guess…" Jaune replies, not fully convinced.

"Alright well to make you feel better I am going to come up with a name for your semblance. Lets see, you amplify other people's auras, heal people, and you're a nice guy soooo, lets ignore all that because I suck with names and call it aura amplification, or for short just say I am amplifying your aura."

"Haha, wow Hector you are easily one of the most entertaining person to be around." Jaune compliments me to which I smile at.

"Are you used to having only one eye now?" Ren asks a more serious question.

"Well it took some getting used to but I just need to rely on my other senses. If anything I just need to get used to seeing only the right side of my nose for the rest of my life." I answer which earns a small chuckle from Ren. He is the hardest to get laugh and I have made it one of my goals to do so, and I mean full on break out laughing. Not that poor excuse of a chuckle.

"I wonder how the others will react to it." Nora brings up.

"Well at first Ruby'll be like 'Oh my god what happened are you okay?' and then Weiss would ask 'How could you get yourself that hurt in the first place?' And Yang would say 'That scar looks awesome dude!" Blake would just widen her eyes and let the others talk for her because she's quiet." I lsit off all of my predictions.

"Wow, that is actually spot on for every single one." Nora is quite impressed with all of my predictions.

' _Although it may not be exactly correct I believe you are 'in the ballpark'.'_

"Ozpin I need you to stop trying to be young."

' _I am simply enjoying myself with the memories of your old world, do not worry I am only interested in what your kind did for fun or for work.'_

"What'd he say?" Jaune asks, not as confused as before since he knows when I randomly talk to myself it's mostly because of Ozpin asking or saying something.

"Something you probably wouldn't understand." I wave off, not wanting to get into it.

"You never really told us much from your old world, as we walk why don't you tell us more about it?" Ren asks, actually quite interested to learn more about me.

"Well no one really asked, if you want to know something just ask me." I say in an almost bored tone. Even though I am pretty uncomfortable talking about Earth since I basically left my entire family and the couple friends I had. I just hope they don't bring any of that up.

"Did you have any brothers or sisters?" Ren asks, not knowing the sensitivity I have on that topic.

" _Oh goddamnit."_

That question makes me wince very noticeably that everyone takes a note of. Even Nora gets more serious.

"I uh, have a little sister." I reveal in a pretty sad tone. "I wonder what she's thinking right now. I just sort of woke up here randomly without any real explanation."

Nora slaps Ren in the back of the head softly at making me think about that. Ren whispers an apology and turns back to me to apologize personally.

"I'm sorry for asking that. I wasn't aware that it was a sensitive topic for you." Ren apologizes with a bow of his head.

"No problem man, I knew it was going to be asked one of these days." I accept his apology happily as I pat his back playfully. "Anything else?"

"What was your world like?" Jaune asks.

"I could have sworn that I already said the answer to that question about exactly fourteen and a half times but basically it's a lot more boring then this world. Politics and all that I'm not going to get into because it makes my brain hurt. No Grimm, no Salem equivalent, no dust, no faunus, and the only threat to humans are other humans." I give a much shortened version of the comparison between Earth and Remnant.

"Did you have pancakes?" Nora asks because of course she would ask that.

"Of course we did, we had restaurants that were there specifically for those who wanted pancakes." I answer with a smile because I know she is going to be very excited about that.

"When can we go there!?" Nora asks, almost teleporting in front of me and grabbing my shoulders. A line of saliva coming out of the corner of her lips and with a sparkle in her eyes.

The others including myself laugh at her expected response.

"Im serious!"

"I know you are that's why it's funny. Trust me if I knew a way back don't you think I would've gone back or told you guys already?" I answer honestly. My team gets understandably sad at my honest answer, thinking that if I was given the chance to leave right now I would take it and leave everything behind.

"Would you? If you could right now." Jaune hesitantly asks.

I do a lot of thinking on my answer to that question because I don't even know what I should say to that. The only good thing about going back would be that I would see my family again, I might keep my powers and Ozpin but that would basically doom Remnant to Salem. So I am here to stay at least until Salem is defeated after that I can't say. I'll lift their spirits for now and make them optimistic

"Guys, dont worry, Im not leaving you anytime soon. I'm here to stay, Salem made this personal after trying to take me over TWICE now." I answer pretty honestly, purposely leaving out that last part.

"Yay!" Nora exclaims, jumping into the air. Jaune sighs in relief and Ren smiles with approval. All this happening warms my heart. All these characters who are real people to me now, all value me as one of their best friends. That's not even including everyone from RWBY and the future people I'm going to run in to pretty soon.

"You guys are just the best."

"I know we are, Team RNJR is the best team around!" Nora says happily.

"Sometimes my back hurts from carrying you guys so much though." I joke as I rub my back and fake a pained moan.

"Oh shush you. Not all of us have a thousand year old man who has endless hours of combat experience inside of them AND have an insanely powerful semblance!" Nora rants.

"I know that was the joke." I point out as I gently push Nora's finger out of my face. The look on Noras face after she realizes that it was a joke is priceless and I can't help but laugh out loud at it.

 **Squawk**

I stop in my tracks at the sound of what I think is a Raven squawking behind us. The others don't realize what I am doing until I jump in the air and catch the bird that made a sound.

"Raven I swear to god turn into a human right now!" I yell at what I think is a raven with red eyes.

"Hector! That's not a raven." Ren points out.

When I hear him I take a glance back toward him and then back at the bird. It's not a raven at all but a crow. A crow that smells like alcohol. Wait a sec…

"Qrow?" I ask the crow. It bobs its head up and down and I immediately release it. Qrow transforms back into his human form, keeled over and panting.

"Geez kid you scared the hell out of me." Qrow says as he has a hand over his heart.

"Qrow what the hell are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be the stand in headmaster of Haven?" I ask, a little upset that Qrow left his post to come find me.

"I got a capable substitute dont worry, but that isn't what I am here to discuss."

"This couldn't be sent through a text?"

"You know without the CTC towers I can't do that when you're this far in the woods." Qrow points out.

"Oh… Go on then."

"Raven visited me." Qrow flatly says, getting straight to the point.

All of our mouth's drop at the news. All this traveling and the life or death battle with Tyrian while all we had to do was just wait for Raven to come to us herself.

"Son of a bitch." I say as I slap my face. "What did she want?"

"She was looking for you." Qrow reveals another bit of information

Another slap to my face.

"Of course she was." I sound defeated, the whole plan I had set up is drastically changing already and we aren't even at patch yet.

"Before I go any further you uh… wanna tell me what happened to your eye?" Qrow hesitantly asks, not knowing if it's a sensitive topic or not.

"Tyrian, Grimm hybrid, semblance suppressing venom and Salem." I explain in the shortest and laziest version possible. Qrow's eyes widen at all the news, he left to find us as soon as he heard that the train we were on was destroyed the day after, which was the same day Raven came to visit him while she was looking for me.

"Alright we can talk more about that later. Raven said she would speak to you. Alone. So if you can just follow me this way I can take you to her. Don't worry she won't try anything. If you guys start fighting I doubt we'll be able to miss it anyway." Qrow explains.

"We can't trust her!" Jaune voices his protest, along with the others.

"Guys." I silence them in my serious leader voice and a stern look. "The last time we fought we caused quakes all around Mistral. If we start fighting again I think you guys would be able to notice and come help me. Qrow, take me to her."

My team can't deny my logic but can't shake the feeling of uneasiness they get at the thought of me talking to Raven alone. The last time we fought it was a draw pretty much so they are understandably worried.

"Don't worry guys, this won't take long." Qrow assures. We start to walk into a thicker part of the woods and after a couple of minutes into a more open area. It's an odd natural formation since it almost looks like a perfect circle. At this point we just have to wait for Raven to show herself so I just find a tree to lean on, so does Qrow a short distance away.

"Ruby and her team left early." Qrow reveals as we wait. I take on a pretty surprised look but quickly brush it off as I think,

" _Of course they would."_

"How long after we left?"

"The same morning. They left a note telling me that they were leaving." Qrow says as he takes out the note from one of his pockets between his fingers.

"Well knowing them they'll run into more trouble then I am so I suggest you go to them next."

"Oh don't you worry thats the next stop. I'm sick of being stuck at a desk doing paperwork." Qrow says with a smile.

Any further conversation we were going to have is cut off as we hear something cut through the air and a red and black transparent portal appears not too far from us. I raise my guard up and Qrow just takes his flask out and drinks from it. Not long after Raven dawning her usual red and black outfit with her new Grimm mask that looks the same, walks out of the portal. Hand on hilt and immediately locking eyes with me. Or in this case locks her eyes onto my one eye.

"Well kid, this is where I leave. Try not to kill each other." Qrow says with a two finger wave to me as he turns back into a crow and flies off the begin his search for RWBY. Oh boy when he sees Mercury that's going to be fun. I give him a hum of acknowledgement and I push off the tree to step up to Raven. The portal soon does away and a tense silence fills the area around us.

"Well you've seen better days." Raven points out breaking the silence and referring to the obvious scar on my face and scruffy facial hair.

"Yeah and you look exactly the same, It's good that you're here because as I'm sure you heard, I kinda started a hunt for you." I respond in a slightly hostile tone. I feel an itch on my left hand that holds the scar that Raven gave me when we fought.

"I've heard. I'm not here to fight." Raven says, taking her hand off of her hilt and taking off her mask.

"Hm, that reminds me of something… Oh yeah when I went down into the vault one of the first things I said to you was that we don't have to fight. Such convenience." I say, taking my hands out of my pockets to reveal the improved Ebony and Ivory. At the sight of my weapons Raven drops her mask and places a hand on the hilt of her sword.

"If it means anything to you coming from me… I _promise_ that I am telling the truth." Raven almost sounds like she is pleading to get me to believe her. I've never even heard her say the word promise from my memory.

I arch an eyebrow at the promise and bring my hands up to cross my arms.

"So do you want to tell me what you wanted me for first? Or should I tell you what I want you for?"

"..."

"Alright I'll take your silence as the go ahead for me to go first. I need you to help me find the new Fall Maiden, she's alone and has had her powers for a very short amount of time. I need to find her before _someone_ else does. After that Im probably going to need you to open a portal to your daughter so it could save us months of time." I explain my motives of hunting her down. I keep my guard up for any movements that can indicate if she is about to make an offensive move.

Raven chuckles at my plan.

"What makes you think I can find this Maiden?"

"Well you found the Spring one didn't you? I'd say you have some experience with hunting down Maidens." I explain.

"Hmm, not a bad plan. But definitely not a good one either." Raven backhandedly compliments.

"Oh shut it and tell me what you were looking for me for." I demand.

"Salem came after me. I don't know how but Hazel found out that I was the spring Maiden and that I inadvertently help you get the relic at Haven. So long story short Me and Qrow are the only members of the our tribe left." Raven reveals a bombshell. I widen my eye at the news and can't help but feel sympathetic. That tribe was basically all that Raven had to lose besides her daughter and Tai.

"Damn, well you're not the only one she came after. Sent this really powerful Grimm hybrid after me. I was barely able to survive."

"She sent those after me a couple of days after the battle. Dozens of them. The one she sent just for you must have been much more evolved if it was able to take you on."

"Venom that was suppressed my semblance for a good bit. I broke his neck though so I'm good."

"Hmm."

"So… are you like a good guy now or what?" I ask after a couple tense moments of silence. Raven has yet to take her hand off of her hilt so I stay on guard.

Without any response Raven slices through the air. Creating a portal for what I think is for herself to escape through. I get ready to stop her from escaping but all she does is sheathe her sword again and look at me.

"Fall is most likely on Patch. I made a portal to Taiyang, it will stay open for about 15 minutes. I came to you because I need your help, as much as I hate to admit it. All I need for you right now is your word that when the time comes, you will answer my call, and will come alone. This is the best offer you're getting from me." Raven offers, finally taking her hand off of her hilt and crossing her arms and leaning on her hip.

I lower my arms and think one what I should do. If I accept this offer then me and my team can find Fall much, much faster. But on the condition that Raven is going to take me whenever she wants so I could help her with whatever she needs my help with. It could very well be a trap and her tribe could be well and healthy but if I take that risk then this would shorten our trip by months. We could probably find the Summer Maiden to and kill two bird with one stone before we make our way to Atlas. Which I still need Raven for if I want to get there fast. After a minute of deliberating with Ozpin in my head we finally come up with a decision that may help us both.

"Alright, but after whatever you need me for is done, I want a portal to Yang and the others for myself and my team. By the time we're done they should be in Atlas and I don't feel like walking for another five months to get there."

"You're not exactly in a position to negotiate." Raven points out.

"Actually you said you _needed_ me for something. Which means most likely it's something you can't handle on your own." I counter with a victorious smirk.

Raven remains silent as she knows she is caught in a bind here. Her deed does need me to be in it in order for it to be successful. Without wasting any more time thinking it over Raven steps up to me and extends her right hand. "Deal."

I look at her hand and the back to her, I take a step forward and while looking her in the eyes I take her hand with a firm grip. "Better not be a trap or else Im probably going to have to kill you." I playfully threaten with a smirk. Luckily Raven catches on to my little joke and remains apathetic.

"Give me your word." Raven demands as her eyes begin to flame, and not letting my hand go until I give it.

Getting serious again I give her what she wants. Possibly signing my own death warrant. "You have my word."

With a nod and a small smile Raven lets go of my hand. It was the first genuine smile that I have ever seen her wear on her face, despite it being so small that it is barely noticeable.

"As we shook hands I added you to my list of people I can use my Portals for. You'll know when I need you." That is the last thing I hear Raven say just before she turns into her bird from and flys off.

I release a breath of air I didn't know I was holding and I shake my head. Already having second thoughts on what I just agreed to.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" I ask myself. I turn back to fetch my team before the portal closes on me and we have to walk the rest of the way to Patch anyway. After three minutes I get back to the group who are all sitting my a lantern that Ren brought for the nights. As soon as they spot me they all shoot me with a barrage of questions.

"What happened?"

"Did she hurt you?"

"What's the plan now?

And other questions that I couldn't listen to because of the overlapping voices of all of my teammates.

"Alright all of you shut up! Just follow me and I'll explain what happened." I demand, annoyed that my team just gave me a headache when I tried to process all of the questions that they just shot at me all at once.

On the way back to the portal I explain everything that happened between me and Raven. They had mixed feelings about the whole plan and tried to convince me to go back on my word since they can't trust her.

"Guys, we can't afford to have Raven as and enemy. The only one out of any of us that can beat her is myself. And that's _if_ I can beat her, last time we fought it was basically a draw and I have no doubt that I am not the only one that has gotten stronger.." I point out, shutting them up right away, when we make it to the portal. I turn back to them, knowing that we got at least a couple minutes left. "Listen guys I know it could very easily backfire, but we needed her. It's why we left to go find her in the first place. I need you guys to trust me on this. If whatever she needs me to do with her backfires then it's on me and I'll need you guys to keep pushing forward. I'm sorry to burden you guys with this but it had to be done."

"It's not that we do not trust you Hector, we very much do. It's just that we do not trust her." Ren says.

"If this backfires I'm going to be breaking a lot of legs." Nora threatens in a way that I can't tell if she is actually serious or not. I'm going to go with serious to be on the safe side.

"I trust you Hector. If you think this is the right thing to do, I'm with you." Jaune says with a comforting smile. I can always count on Jaune to lift my spirits.

"Thanks guys, every single one of you. So you guys ready to go then? This thing is on a timer and I lost count a while ago." I ask, getting ready to jump through the portal.

Everyone nods and I turn fully toward the portal. I take a deep breath, shut my eyes, and take a step through it. The air around me gets warmer and the sun shines bright into my eyes. After a couple of moments my team follows through, I reopen my eyes and see Ruby, and Yang's father staring at us as he waters his plants. Blinking a couple times to verify that what he just saw actually just happened.

"Okay don't freak out but I have come here all the way from Mistral in search of Magical Young women."

"Uh… why did you come through Raven's portal." Is all Taiyang says in response. He was expecting another visit from his ex wife but is very much surprised at the sight of four teenagers coming through it instead.

"I'm Hector by the way. We came to an agreement of sort. This is part of said agreement. Saved a lot of time so I took it." I answer honestly. "Oh wait! I know someone who can explain this to you a lot better than I can." I mention as I let Ozpin take control. In a flash of green coming from my eye Ozpin takes control. Tai is even more confused. He has yet to recognize the old members of team JNPR and is just trying to wrap his head around what is happening in front of him.

"Ah, it has been a while since I was given control. It is certainly refreshing to be able to breath on my own." Ozpin in an echoing voice that resonates with both of our voices.

Tai's eyes widen at the instant recognition of Ozpin's voice. "O-Ozpin?"

"Yes, Mister Xiao Long. It has been some time." Ozpin greets.

The other members of RNJR also make themselves known, introducing themselves. Tai remembers them as the ones who visited his daughter after she got hurt from Beacon. He assumes that these are the ones that Ruby traveled with.

"Now as much as reunions are pleasant there is something much more important we have to talk about." Ozpin brings up.

"Of course. Come in." Tai says, beckoning everyone to follow him into his house.

"I must warn you. This story is quite long." Ozpin says as we all enter the wooden house.

* * *

After a REALLY long explanation of everything that has happened so far, starting from my arrival on Remnant to my talk with Raven. He could have left the parts where me and Ruby were hanging out a lot and getting close but I had no choice but to let him speak. I don't understand why he had to tell him every little thing but whatever. That's going to lead to an awkward conversation with Tai in the future I bet. It took so long to explain all this day turned to night before we knew it.

"Wow… that was a lot to take in. So these relics and the Maidens are all true. Geez I've missed out on a lot." Tai struggles to find the words to describe the way he feels at the moment.

I finally take back control of my body with a flash of red and shake off the weird tingly feeling I get when I I get my body back.

"Yeah, I wish he left a few of those parts out but yeah that's our situation right now. So have you seen any magic fire girls around here?" I ask, hoping to dodge the topic of his daughters relationship with me.

"Before we go on about that how about we finish this talk in the morning. I'm sure you are tired by how your eye looks like you're barely awake." Tai points out. The other members of team RNJR already hit the hay when it started to get dark. Me and Tai are the only ones awake right now.

"Yeah, that makes sense." I respond with a yawn.

"Still it's incredible to me. All this time someone like you was out there that is able to take on a full power Maiden on your own. How does all that power feel?"

"Don't even get me started on that, it still blows my mind to this day."

"Heh heh, I can only imagine how you feel man. You saved both of my daughters lives, I thank you for doing that. If you need anything at all know that you can rely on me. Also I'll give you a day to settle in before I have to question you on your intentions with Ruby." Tai instantly gets dead serious as he says that last part. I get nervous quickly and stand up to head to one of the guest rooms.

"Well it was nice meeting you but I have to take that offer of yours and head to sleep Hehe, night!" I say as I dash up the stairs in a blur of red and black.

Tai chuckles to himself after he hears the door slam upstairs.

"All that power and he's scared of a girls dad. I like him already."

* * *

I lay on the bed as soon as I enter the room. I am exhausted and the feeling of a soft bed instead of the cold forest ground that I felt through my sleeping bag is a welcome change. I am thinking about how well this can go or how shitty it can get.

" _I wonder what the new Fall Maiden is going to be like."_ I think to Ozpin.

' _She is no doubt going to be young and inexperienced. You said you would train her yourself if you have to and you're going to have to follow up on that pretty soon if the pace of this journey continues to go at this speed.'_

" _Oh shit…"_

' _What?'_

" _I should have ask Tai what happened between him and Raven after the battle of Haven."_

' _You are hopeless.'_

" _Goodnight to you to Oz. And yes I will train her."_

* * *

 **AN- Spent all day on this one. Hopefully I didn't let you all down. You guys expect that little twist with Raven and Qrow? I hope not because it was meant to be a surprise. Tai will have some words with Hector pretty soon. Expect that to be a pretty funny conversation.**

 **As a reminder to you guys I still need entries for the Fall, Summer and Winter Maidens. The requests are still up as I go through each character. So when Hector FINALLY meets the Fall Maiden then that's when the Fall Maiden will be closed down for requests. And so on and so forth. All entries will be accepted through any means you find most convenient.**

 **Now my eyes hurt from the light from this laptop screen so I'm going to start my break now.**

 **Please Review and tell me what you think of the story! I am interested in hearing your thoughts and ideas you may have. Thank you all for reading and for giving this guy's something to do.**

 **See you guys next time!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way, shape, or form.**


	22. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 21

**AN- I'm back! My break was not worth it because all I thought about was writing, I came up with a few ideas for this chapter and I aim to put it into action. One thing I have to mention before I begin is that Chapters from now on, unless they are big important stuff, are going to be around 6-7k words. Before I was able to pump out 8k word chapters like they were nothing but now I am on a time deadline, with work being a thing of course, they decided to have me literally every day of the week now. But fret not! There will still be at least one chapter a week! I'm sorry for my little break and I hope that these next couple of chapters will appease you guys and girls.**

 **Of course, thank you to all my reviewers from last chapter**

 **Zeldawolffang- Thank you for your input, I'll consider it. Thank you for the review as well.**

 **Tigervolano5000- The legend back at it again with another review. Right away i'll say that I don't care if you curse or not in the reviews. But Raven has had a rough couple of weeks, lets just say she's not exactly, mentally stable. Neo will return yes, can't leave out our favorite mute person now can we? Salem has more lieutenants, some that are going to be mentioned for the first time at the end of this chapter. I kept laughing to myself as I was writing that part out to don't worry, all that power and everything he has been through and his crushes dad is what he fears the most. Ilia will be making an appearance soon, but i'm not gonna lie when I say that after the battle of haven arc I kind forgot about her… sorry, for now she is looking for Adam so he can be brought to justice for everything he has done. Thanks for the review and your continued support. I hope this longer than usual wait is made up by this chapter.**

 **Guest 1- I wanted to rewrite the Battle of Haven arc so I wouldn't just end up writing exactly what happened in the show, so I left out some things out, and added in a bunch of shit as well. Thank you for your review!**

 **Guest 2- I have a plan that is not exactly that but similar, stay tuned for when that comes in.**

 **I have a new idea for this chapter that I want to try out, it'll be pretty obvious once it happens. Tell me what you think!**

 **Now onto the show!**

* * *

Chapter 21- Adventure to Atlas part 4

 **Mercury's Pov**

Now _that_ was the best sleep I have gotten for a _long_ time. I wake up and do a quick morning stretch before heading into the bathroom to freshen up. My new reluctant comrades must be awake or waking up soon. I've been accustomed to waking up early and not getting much sleep, so i'm an early bird most of the time, even though I hate mornings. I look into the mirror and into my own eyes.

"Man, I look like shit." I point out, my hair is a mess and all over the place, and the dark spots under my eyes have become more prominent despite the great sleep I just had. Even my skin seems to be rougher at the touch. "Ugh, no wonder they were so distrustful when they saw the other day."

I wash my face with water before I start brushing my teeth, as I brush my teeth I fix my hair the best I can with the water. I can't make it look the same in the case that someone or some _thing_ could recognize me. Instead of having it up and in its usual style, I make it more of a wild look, having a few bangs over my forehead now. "Eh, not bad but, I like my old look better, but whatever I'll roll with it." I get my clothes back on and head out into town. ' _I'm sure the girls will come find me when it's time to go.'_ I thought to myself as I start exploring the village. It's nothing special but it looks cozy. A couple of kids look my way and get all excited. I remain stoic as two of them run up to me, twins no doubt since they look exactly the same.

"Oh! Are you a huntsman!?" One of them asks, excited to meet one face to face for what seems like the first time.

I don't know how to answer that question, I definitely have the skills of one but in terms of heart and character? Hell no.

"I don't know how to tell you kid but no, I just cool this cool." I answer as I rub the little guys head.

"Wha? But you have robot legs!" The other brother points out.

My eyes widen at the realization that my pants are torn enough so that the cyborg parts of my body are out for display. Without another word to the twins I dash away to a random alley, way too fast for any of them to see. I would never admit it but i'm a bit sensitive about my legs, I don't want them out for display and the current state of my clothes are just not going to do. Going back to my roots I walk past a clothesline and grab the first adult sized pants I see, it happens to be black which is just fine by me as I quickly take off my current pants and throw them in the trash and put on the new ones. It doesn't match very well with my shirt but it gets the job done. I got out of the alley just in time for the guy who owned the clothes to shout out that his clothes have been stolen. I chuckled to myself just after he finished his shouting. I know its illegal but hell it's damn hilarious to see their reactions every time.

"You know stealing pants is something I thought you were above." A distinctive feline voice calls out to me from behind, no doubt it's the black haired one. I knew I was being tailed or followed at least.

"I like to call it more of a… borrow without permission." I reply in my usual overconfident tone. I turn to face her and place my hands on the back of my neck. "Good morning." I greet with a smirk.

"If you're going to stick with us, things like this is going to have to stop." Blake says, ignoring his little quip.

"Okay, how about I promise to not do it ever again?" I offer sassily. Even holding my hands out as if I am giving up.

"If you actually promised that I would trust you even less then I do now." Blake says, unamused at my antics.

"What was that? Trust me even less than you do now? Wow that means a lot to know that I at least have some trust coming from you." I half-sarcastically point out.

Blake remains unamused. "We're leaving soon, if you want to stick around then come back with me." Blake says nothing more as she turns around and starts to walk away. Leaving me no opportunity to throw any more quips her way.

"Sheesh, and I thought I wasn't a morning person." I mumble to myself before I catch up with the cat faunus with a light jog and we walk side by side. After about a minute of silence that I can't bare I open my mouth again. "So, how's your morning?"

"Fine." Blake deadpans.

"Well, my morning is great so far, thank you for asking, a little pair of twins ran up to me and thought that I was a huntsman so that was cute."

"You'd be a horrible huntsman."

"Hey! I'd be a great huntsman." I argue, contradicting my early thoughts just a few minutes ago.

"Mmm." Is all I get as a response.

"So does that mean you're done talking? Do I gotta get used to that, since you know the whole bad guy past that I'm rocking?"

"..."

"Alrighty then."

Within the next couple of minutes we make it back to the Inn we slept in for the night. All the girls are awake now and it seems that they were actually waiting for us to come back. I wave hello and greet them the same way I did Blake,

"Good morning girls, how's the morning going for you?" I added a couple bits but close enough.

"Sup." Ruby is the only one to wave back with a small smile on her face. Yang and Weiss just glance in my direction and just acknowledge my existence. After a couple moments of just standing there waiting for the other to talk I break the silence.

"Is there something I'm missing? Could've sworn I was the first to wake up."

"The village leader asked us to look for some of their missing people. Five women, two kids, and three men, they think they were kidnapped by bandits. That's what today is going to consist of, we'll leave for Atlas tomorrow morning." Weiss reluctantly explains for me.

"Oh, and I assume that I am coming along?" I cross my arms, I love pushing their buttons, no matter how much they'd love to be rid of me.

"Because of Ruby's persistence in letting us know that you deserve a second chance, yes, you will be joining us." Weiss finishes.

"Well, thank you, Ruby." I say the best thing that I can come up with for the young leader in the most genuine voice I can muster up. I don't deserve anything from them, but here they are, giving me a second chance to make things right. I've done nothing but hurt them but they are tolerating me for now. Man when I earn more of their trust, things are going to get very fun, I can already tell.

"No problem!" Ruby says in her usual high pitched voice and with a shrug.

"Did the guy tell you where to start looking or are we being detectives for today?" I ask the girls. Getting back to more serious matters.

"He said to check the woods three miles south of the village. That's the direction of the screams he heard." Blake reveals. It still sends shivers down their spines even after they received the request.

"Yikes, sounds serious." I point out the obvious.

"We're going to find them and bring them back, before you ask the reward is food for our travels." Yang adds in a slightly bitter tone.

I think nothing of it and only see this as an opportunity to gain more of their trust. Besides, at least they're not hostile and Ruby seems to be more then willing to give me a chance. "Lead the way then."

"You're the tracker here, you lead the way." Yang counters.

"Thanks for the compliment, follow me then, I think south is this way."

"You _think_?"

"Well I _am_ the tracker here so yeah, I think it's this way." I sassily remark.

"Enough with the sass and walk." Yang says with a roll of her eyes.

"Haha, alright Blondie don't get your panties in a twist."

"Shut it."

"Too soon sorry."

We walk through town to the south gate and tell the guards of our intentions. That we are the huntsman that took on the task of looking for the missing citizens of this village. They let us out without any further questions and we start making our way down south. I was just messing with them when I said I 'think', I just decided to have a little fun. I spot tracks off of the path we are walking on and I gesture to the tracks.

"Tracks are this way, most likely this is the direction where they were taken. Did the guy give you a description of what we might be up against?" I ask, directing the question toward Weiss more than anyone since she was the one who brought it up to me in the first place.

"The bandits had black hair, some of it covered their arms as well. I remember that he said one of them had a tail and claws so there are probably Faunus to worry about to. I think they dyed their hair as a initiation of sort to be part of their little gang." Weiss explains for me.

That description sounds eerily familiar. I have hope that it's not what I think it is because if it is, those people are already dead… or worse. "Well looks like our black haired friends went this way."

I follow the tracks with the now tense Team RWBY as a disgusting smell reaches our noses.

"What is that smell?" Ruby asks as she pinches her nose shut. I almost don't want to tell her what that smell is. I've become way too accustomed to it during my time in Salem's castle.

"Its… Grimm, and not the normal kind." I say with a concerned voice. If memory serves, there are kids missing to and there has been no signs of human life around just yet. But there are signs of a struggle. A couple broken sticks here, a splatter of blood there, and some grass patches that have been underturned.

"What do you mean "Not the normal kind"?" Blake asks for clarification.

"I can recognize this smell anywhere. Remember what I told you about Tyrian? Well, he wasn't the first one of his kind." I explain for them to understand what I am getting at.

"What? You couldn't tell us this sooner?" Yang asks angrily.

"I didn't think she could have made more of them already, it took her months just to get the first one right and the poor bastard couldn't even breathe properly. Just letting you all know now, if those things took those people and they've been gone for even a day, there's not going to be much to find left." I warn them with a serious look on my face. Joking around is over now as we very much might have a life or death battle on our hands pretty soon. "In better news, they shouldn't be even nearly as strong as Tyrian was so we should be able to handle ourselves."

" _Help…"_ A woman's voice croaks out so quietly that we can barely hear her.

All of our heads snap in the direction of the sound. RWBY was about to jump in there to help but I stop them by holding my hand out in front of them. I step forward first, ignoring their protests to see where the voice could be coming from. When I walk around a tree I can see the back of a woman who is kneeling down, clutching a little boy's upper half of his body as his head rests on her lap. She strokes his hair before croaking out again.

" _Please… help."_

"We have to help her!" Ruby exclaims, almost dashing right by me but I managed to catch her by the wrist just in time before she could get too far.

"Ruby no!" I raise my voice at her as I yank her back behind me and into her team. "That's not a woman anymore."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asks, surprised by my sudden change. The look in my eyes make me look like I have murderous intent as I glare at her.

"Hey! Turn around, slowly." I call out to the woman.

The snow white skinned woman slowly turns around to reveal just as I was suspecting, her face is contorted in disgusting ways and her teeth have been sharpened as if they belong to wolves. Her eyes look just like a Grimm to, they even glow red in the dark like regular Grimm. She also has long claws, growing off each finger where her nails should be. The woman breaks out in psychotic laughter and throws the child's body at us, which I kick away no problem. The girls behind me get snapped out of their paralyzing shock once they see me deflect the body to the side. Everyone takes out their weapons and form a circle. Soon, about two dozen or more of these hybrids seem to come out of nowhere as they quickly surround us. Most likely theses are the people that we were supposed to find and probably the ones who kidnapped them in the first place. This is bad, not only did Salem find the perfect balance to make a Grimm/human or faunus hybrid but now she doesn't even have to make them herself anymore for more of them to be made. That means that the ones that they kill can be turned into one of these things.

"Girls, remember that these aren't people anymore, they're Grimm. Do not hesitate to kill them." I state, I have no problem with killing but I doubt any of these girls have ever killed anything that looks human. It's going to be hard for them to deliver the finishing blows.

"T-there h-has to be away to turn them back! We don't have to kill them!" Ruby exclaims, not wanting innocent blood on her hands.

"Ruby listen, that soft naive part of your personality will get you killed one day if you don't cut it out. You need to learn that you can't save everyone, no matter how hard you try. So suck it up, all of you, and treat them like any Beowolf." I say nothing else as I break away from the group with a battle roar as I slam one of my feet into the closest hybrids face, it reels back from the pain, and before It can even begin to recover I place one hand on it's chin and the other on its head and quickly snap its neck. The hybrid falls to the ground with a thud and RWBY looks at me with horror. I potentially just killed a person so efficiently and without remorse.

"Stop staring at me and fight!" I shout at them as I dive into more combat. ' _All this negative energy being given off by the girls are just going to attract more.'_

Ruby's grip on her scythe is weakening as her whole body shakes with fear and shock. She never even thought about killing a person before and the others are feeling the same way, except for Blake that is.

Blake never told her teammates but during her time as a member of the White Fang, she took the lives of several humans. She is still shaken up at the thought of having to do it again but if it means keeping her team alive and well, than it is something she is going to have to get over right away. Without hesitation she is the first one to join me as she cleaves the head off of one of the attacking hybrids with her katana in one fluid motion before quickly moving on to the next. The rest of RWBY are shocked to see their teammate decapitate a person with little to no hesitation, before moving on to her next target.

The horde of these Grimm hybrids all attack at once and the rest of team RWBY is forced to fight. Though, Ruby, Yang, and Weiss aren't fighting to kill. Only to incapacitate. What they don't know is that these hybrids have a small healing factor for the wounds that are meant to slow them down, the only way to stop them is to put them down for good. That's something they just can't bring themselves to do. No matter of much of a monster they resemble at the moment.

My kicks are weakening as I begin to tire, they just keep coming with no brakes, the two dozen seem to have tripled all of the sudden. They even start to get hits in on me as I begin to get overwhelmed. Seeing that it's time to bust out the smoke I start kicking projectiles all around the battlefield. Breaking the ribs or cracking the skulls open of some of the humans turned monsters. Blake caught up with me and is using her semblance with fire dust primarily in order to take out multiple hybrids at once. But she doesn't have enough fire dust left and quickly runs out. Now being forced to use her semblance without any of the dusts special effects.

Yang, on her own is stuck defending herself by five of the hybrids, with more on the way. She punches and kicks her way without firing her Ember Celica but it's not enough to keep them down for good. The hits she is receiving are too weak to add any power to her semblance so that just puts her at an even worse disadvantage since she is also pulling her punches. Realizing that if this keeps up she is going to end up being torn apart she Shuts her eyes and mumbles "I'm sorry." she pulls her fist back and punches the closest hybrid in the chest, only much harder this time and fires her Ember Celica this time. She makes a hole in the what used to be a man's chest as he goes flying back, landing on the ground lifeless. The body even dissipates like its a Grimm to. Which adds some comfort to the fact that she just killed someone potentially. She pushes her emotions to the side for now as she fights her way out of the corner she was pushed in. Now that she isn't holding back anymore the number of the hybrids finally begin to decrease. Weiss and Ruby are shocked to see her do something they never thought they'd see her do.

Ruby and Weiss are fighting together and are having the same problem as Yang earlier, they aren't fighting to kill but rather to keep the monsters away from them. Ruby uses her speed to her advantage as she easily dodges the reckless attacks and counters with the blunt end of her scythe. She can't keep this us for long however, her luck eventually runs out as she finally gets hit in the side of her head and is sent tumbling away into a tree, Crescent Rose flying out of her hands. Weiss see's this happen and immediately prioritizes keeping Ruby safe from the monsters that aim to take advantage of her in her stunned state. Activating her speed glyphs she quickly dashes her way to Ruby and stabs the clawed hand that is extended toward Ruby, she then kicks the monster away before summoning an Ice cocoon around herself and Ruby and begins to summon an Atlesian Knight.

"Weiss, what do we do?" Ruby asks, obviously distressed as she finally regains her composure.

"The only thing we can do right now… survive." Weiss answers as the Atlesian knight bursts from the glyph beneath her. She really doesn't want to have to kill any hybrids herself but like Blake and Yang, she'll do anything to keep them safe. The summoned Atlesian Knight shows no mercy to the hybrids and in one giant horizontal swing slays half a dozen of the attacking monsters. The ice barrier surrounding Ruby and Weiss quickly falls as Weiss pours her aura into the knight to make it last as long as possible.

* * *

Ruby examines the rest of the battlefield and things aren't looking too good, despite the Atlesian Knight being summoned. The hybrids just keep coming seemingly out of nowhere, slay one and two more take its place. Blake, Yang and Mercury are all fighting together now and despite winning every fight that they get into they are still losing the battle. One slip up is what makes her heart stop, Yang slips across the blood soaked soil and lands on her back, she desperately guards herself as four hybrids immediately jump on her, clawing away at her aura. She won't last much longer like this. Blake gets overwhelmed by the amount of enemies she is facing. She falls to one knee and quickly gets surrounded, her aura is low and she is exhausted. She prepares to make one last stand as she dual wields her katana and sheath as a weapon waiting for the right time to strike. Mercury got separated from the group as a more powerful breed of the Grimm hybrid wields a bone mace forced him away. The weaker ones stay back and let the stronger one take the lead. Mercury with his smoke semblance and killing skills is what kept him alive this long, but even his stamina begins to run out as he can barely defend himself from the monster.

Ruby begins to tear up as she fears the worse, so much is happening so fast, too much was happening so fast, they were looking for missing people and ended up walking right into a trap that is so well sprung it's like they planned it. At this rate they'd be lucky if one or two of them escaped. The very thought of losing even one of her comrades saddens and angers her to no end. The Atlesian Knight does its best in warding off the attackers from getting to Ruby and Weiss, but even it is overwhelmed as the hybrids as they climb up its legs and overwhelm it, toppling the white knight over, dissipating into white essence as it torn apart. Weiss almost passes out from aura exertion since she poured basically all of it into this summon.

Time seems to slow for Ruby as she helplessly watches as her friends are fighting desperately for survival. She feels a powerful power surging from her brain to her eyes, her fear turns to anger and determination as she begins to hover off of the ground. With a powerful scream and with tears coming from her glowing silver eyes the whole battlefield is filled with a white light and it burns away and Grimm to ash right away. Yang rolls on her side and squints her eyes to see her little sister who now has white flames soaring out of her eyes that almost look like wings. Mercury falls on his butt and leans against a tree, blocking his eyes from the blinding white light coming from the silver eyed warrior. Finally after a couple of moments the light fades away, but Ruby instead of passing out this time remains hovering in the air. Silver arcs of flame only much smaller comes from her eyes. Making her look like some sort of deity. Blake, who is the first to stand back up after the near death experience looks around, looks at her leader in shock, she's never seen this kind of power coming from her. Yang stands back up and slowly approaches her little sister. Calling her name while doing so,

"Ruby!" Yang reaches her hand out to grab her sisters wrist.

Ruby looks at her little sister and her gaze softens at the sight of her.

"We won, everyone is okay, I need you to calm down now okay?" Yang pleads.

Ruby slowly hovers back down to the ground, her silver flames diminishing from her eyes but still hold and silver glow to them, making her eyes appear white. Once she touches down she almost passes out but is caught by Yang before she can hit the ground. Ruby rests her head against her sister and asks,

"Yang, what did I just do?"

"I… I don't know, I think this is what Professor Ozpin talked about, your silvers eyes being special and all that." Yang answers as she helps her young leader up.

Weiss, being closest to the explosion of power is still recovering from the overexertion, but stands up nonetheless, she has nothing to add about the silver eyed power that just came from Ruby.

Mercury, now able to stand back up, quickly makes his way the the rest of the group, he needs to let them know something otherwise they just might walk right into another trap when they make it back to the village.

"I know everyone is shocked and tired but I need to let you all know something." Mercury starts, gaining the attention of every member of RWBY there.

"Do you know anything about what just happened to Ruby?" Blake asks, still sitting on the ground.

"Well… I might not be the best person to ask that but I know some things about them. But we can talk about that later. My concern is that there's no way that there were that many of those things just sitting here and waiting for us to drop by." Mercury states his concerns.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asks, although she knows what he means but she is just in disbelief.

"I mean that, the village is probably not the best place to go back to right now." Mercury hesitantly reveals. It is true what he said. It would make sense If the request they got was accurate, there should've been maybe a dozen or two. But this was almost a hundred of them, maybe even more than that.

"Oh god… I'm going to be sick." Yang says as she passes Ruby to Weiss and heads to a tree. The combined stress of killing what used to be human beings, and the fact that some of them are from the village that day is too much for her to handle. She sucks t up after she is done and goes back to the group with a bad taste in her mouth.

"How do you do this?" Yang asks Mercury.

"What do you mean?" Mercury asks, not knowing what Yang is referring to.

"How do you kill and not show any remorse afterward?" Yang rephrases her question for the ex-assassin.

"It uh… comes with practice." Mercury hesitantly answers.

The rest of the group is silent at his answer but quickly it changes topic back to what is at hand.

"So what do we do? Do we try our luck with the village anyway? Or do we just find a place to rest and head out for Atlas in the morning." Mercury speaks up.

Without hesitation the leader of RWBY answers for them. "There is still people we can save at the village, we go there first, save who we can, and get out."

Everyone seems to be on board for that plan except for Mercury and Blake. The more, logical and realistic ones of their little group, but they stay silent because the only way for them to accept it is to see it for themselves. Everyone gathers the weapons and themselves and begin the hike back to the village, again lead by Mercury.

* * *

After a quiet hike back to the village they reach the gates, and as Mercury suspected the gate is open and there are no guards. After sharing a look to the girls behind him he hesitantly cracks the gate open so that he can peek on the inside. The sight he sees is horrifying. There's no bodies just, scraps of broken armour, blood, and severed fingers. Everywhere, some of them too small to be an adult. Not wanting to get stuck in the same position as just an hour ago he closes the gate and blocks any of the girls from getting in, he whispers to them loudly,

"Do NOT go in there." Mercury warns.

"What's in there?" Yang whispers back.

"Nothing you want to see. Listen, I know you girls have this whole noble hero thing going on but believe me when I tell you that there isn't anyone left to save here."

"I believe you." Blake speaks up, albeit nervous at the feedback she is bound to get from her teammates.

"What? How could you?" Yang asks Blake angrily.

"Yang, I don't want to have to kill people again. I have enough on my conscience as it is."

"That reminds me, since when can you kill so easily?" Yang bitterly asks.

Blake winces at the question. Yet another thing that has been revealed not on her terms. "Yang please, I'll talk to you all about it later. Now is not the time." The faunus pleads.

Yang looks away from Blake and makes a note to question her partner about it again later.

Weiss who has been silent for a while now speaks up finally. "Let's just get out of here. There's nothing for us to gain here."

Ruby doesn't know what to say or do. She wants to help whoever may still be alive in the village but on the high chance that there's no one left to save all they'll be doing is wasting energy on slaying hybrids. Not to mention her team is having inner turmoil with one another. They are all traumatized after today and her head is still sore from the power that she used earlier. She makes one of the hardest decisions of her life, and agrees with Mercury. Going against her own nature to help anyone in need at any time.

"Let's just find somewhere to rest up…" Ruby mutters, looking to the ground, ashamed of herself for making this decision.

Yang is shocked to see her usually so cheerful and helpful little sister make a decision like this. It's just so out of character. With everyone now opting to just leave the village alone instead of saving anyone who _might_ be left. They turn around and head on a different path. They have to go around the village now in order to get back on track.

* * *

After hours of more hiking it is now turning to night. Everyone is exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally. This is not something they'll be getting over anytime soon. Blake starts a fire and states that she will take the first watch. Everyone nods and hums in acknowledgement to her as they set down there sleeping bags and climb int. All except for Mercury who still sits on a log, holding his hands out to the fire to keep warm.

"Aren't you tired?" Blake asks after she notices that Mercury is still awake.

"Of course I am. Just can't fall asleep easily nowadays, especially after what happened today."

"It was hard on everyone, but I think you did a lot to help us today. Without you I don't think any of us would have been able to do what we did."

"I just did what needed to be done."

"Well, someone had to. It may be a little too late to say this but, thank you." Blake says as she stand up. "I'm going to scout the area, make sure were not being watched. Stay awake until I get back."

"Hmm." Mercury hums in acknowledgment,

After Blake leaves Mercury alone he smiles to himself. Progress was made. Although a unpopular decision was made. His hands tremble as he warms them. Not out of being cold but out of nervousness. He doesn't know why but after today he i just overwhelmingly nervous. He fears what comes next after this. Are they just going to keep running into monsters like this? Are they going to keep being forced to do things they don't want to have to do? The only hope they have is the silver eyes girl. He knew she was powerful if she used her power but he didn't think it was _that_ powerful. The last time she used it she got knocked out before she could use any damage and the time before that he wasn't able to witness her power when she maimed Cinder and Immobilized the dragon. Mercury looks to where Ruby is sleeping.

"Tomorrow, I'll tell you everything I know about those eyes of yours. Heh, to think the annoying little girl from Beacon is now one of the last hopes against Salem. Fuck these girls are going to get me killed one day."

* * *

 **AN- I'm back! Oh boy what have we here? Yes, these zombie like creatures of Grimm are a thing now but they don't eat people, I will explain more on that next chapter or if you ask me. Some turmoil within RWBY, Uh oh. But at least Mercury and Blake made their peace with each other so at least that is a thing.**

 **I look at my earlier chapters and wonder to myself "How the hell did this go from riding Ursa's to dark shit like this?" I'll deal with it though, no worries.**

 **Ruby actually didn't pass out after using her silver eyed power?! What is this Blasphemy? Yes, after the third use of her eyes that was interrupted I think she would be able to not pass out right away. But how will she cope with the potential murder of innocent civilians? Find out in the future chapters!**

 **I enjoyed writing this one. Please review and tell me what you think, as soon as this chapter is posted I will be stuck at work for the next 8 hours so give me something to smile about while I am there. As always thank you for your support and thank you for reading my story!**

 **Wanna keep up with me and the progress of my chapters? Follow me on twitter!**

 **/genatools**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	23. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 22

**AN- First thank you to my reviewers of last chapter.**

 **8-bit J- Well now you'll see what's going on with them. It's probably going to be a long one because I want to get a lot done this chapter so I hope you enjoy!**

 **Zeldawolffang- Thank you lol. I know a lot of people probably expected the hybrids to become a thing but I'm glad I still managed to surprise you. I hope you enjoy this chapter to.**

 **Tigervolcan5000- Your prediction was right indeed. War is a shitty thing, and RWBY must learn that yes, and with the help of Mercury, who probably killed a lot of people offscreen, they might get over that whole mental block they have on themselves. Yeah, i'm kinda pissed that everytime Ruby activated her power the damage was either done offscreen, or she was knocked out before she could do any damage. But what I had her do is what I personally thing a silver eyed warrior can do against Grimm, and there's more where that came from! Hector can't be the only super strong non-maiden warrior out there anyway. In other news for you Your Fall Maiden entrie is going to be in this story, but I have made some adjustments to fulfill some of the others readers desires as well as my own. I changed her first name (You can thank my sister for that) and her personality, but everything else should be as you wanted. I hope you enjoy it anyway! But in even better news your Summer Maiden will remain untouched and will be in this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for another review.**

 **Envoy of Torrask- You'll see what I have planned. Our heroes will try to figure out and understand the Grimm infection as soon as they can but it's not exactly a virus per say, more on that in the future. Thanks for the review and thanks for enjoying my story!**

 **Now let's get straight to the show!**

* * *

Chapter 22- The race to the Fall Maiden

"AH!" I wake up in a sweaty mess early in the morning. I've been having nightmares off and on ever since that night with Tyrian. The nightmares consist of me being controlled by Salem and being forced to slay my own teammates, including RWBY. Everytime I wake up in this sweaty mess I feel phantom pain where my missing eye used to be.

"Agh, damn nightmares." I say as I wipe my face with the blanket.

' _This is a reoccurring matter, I suggest that you get some help for this weakness.'_ Ozpin points out in a concerned tone.

"Can't, I promise I will but not until we at least find the Fall Maiden." I respond as I throw on my clothes and exit the guest room.

' _This weakness of yours can and will be exploited by Salem or any person who has some kind of mind semblance. Just pointing that out for you since I know you'd rather have the truth laid out in front of you.'_

"Which is why I'm not going to fight Salem anytime soon, and if someone wants to fuck with my head, that's what I got you for. You have been getting better at preventing mental attacks right?"

' _Improvements have been made yes, but it is still not guaranteed.'_

"You forget to add Knolly into the equation all the time Oz, for now we'll be fine."

' _Do not rely on the relics power, you only have one-fourth of the relics power as of this moment, 'Knolly' will help yes, but do not expect it to fully nullify any mental attack. You will need to rely on yourself in order to nullify it completely.'_

"I know you're right Oz, don't worry, as soon as I can get the help I need, I'll get it."

' _Very smart of you. Perhaps the new Fall Maiden can be of assistance.'_

"That would make things way too easy."

' _True.'_

Finally I make it down the stairs, during my conversation with Oz I was very slowly going down each step. Fortunately Tai has also woken up early to tend to his plant outside, so now I won't be alone with my thoughts and Ozpin. Pushing my irrational fear of a certain girls father aside, I step outside onto the porch and make my presence known by clearing my throat. Tai hears me and turns his head to give me a small smile in acknowledgement.

"There he is, the Maiden buster himself. What're you doing up this early? No offense but yesterday you looked like you were about to die." He greets kindly, standing up and facing me.

"Well that's what happens when you fight a genetically Grimm enhanced faunus." I reply with an amused smirk, and pointing a finger to the left side of my face. "Need any help? I got nothing else to do until my team wakes up anyway. Figure I'll give em a little sleep in time after the traveling we've been doing. Besides trying to wake Nora up early is a workout within itself." I chuckle to myself after saying that. Remembering a time where Nora ripped apart her sleeping bag on accident when I tried to wake her up earlier in the morning.

"Sure, I'm sure you know how to pull weeds right?" Tai inquires me, half expecting me to say no.

"Of course, grab at the roots and pull right? That's how it was in my world anyway." I kneel down beside him and grab at the root, it was harder than I expected it to be but to I managed to pull it out.

"Good job. Glad you came to help because this gives us the perfect opportunity to talk about a few things we didn't get to last night." I'll take that as a warning.

"Oh gosh, is this about you know who or the other you know who?" I ask, knowing what's coming.

"Depends on who you're thinking about."

"Well, two people come to my mind, there's tall, red, and angry, and then there's small, red and not angry. I'll leave it up to you to decide where we should start."

"I'm sure you know which one I am going to ask about first." Tai's tone of voice suddenly gets twelve times more serious to the point where I am getting nervous around him again. "You know this was going to be brought up right? Between Ozpin telling me that you two just _hung out_ basically every time you trained, and you saving her and her team's life it's just a little hard for me to believe that either of you haven't developed feelings for eachother just yet. So I'm just getting to know you before I let my fatherly instincts kick in."

"Well… I never denied it. I'm not going to lie and pretend that I don't have feelings for her like some boring romance movie. I don't know how she feels though so don't get your hopes up on killing me just yet." I confess, no point in hiding it when he's just going to figure it out anyway eventually.

"I admire your bravery but you're fucking stupid if you don't think that she does." Tai states in his same deadly serious tone I now know him for. Also surprised as shit since he cursed at me. Seems like everyone has been holding back on me.

"I uh… what do you mean?" I hesitantly ask.

"I'll let you figure out the answer to that question yourself. Just know that because of what you did at Haven, you're okay in my book." Tai finally relents and returns to his friendly tone.

Realizing what he means I look away, I feel some heat rise to my face but its not noticeable enough to be called out on luckily. "Well thanks I guess." I say as I pull another weed out.

The rest of the garden work was done in silence. The only sound filling the void being the sound of the weeds being pulled out of the ground by the root. After about half an hour of doing this chore the deed is finally done. We stand back and admire our work. Due to the scorching heat I wipe my brow of sweat and throw it to the ground.

"Well I think now's a good time to wake the others up. It was nice chatting and receiving a silent death threat." I wave goodbye as I head back into the house and up the stairs.

"You do know this is my house right!?" Tai asks as he follows me in the house. Only to find me already jumping up the stairs. "Heh, you're one odd nut."

Back with me I just made it to the room they are all staying in. I know the perfect way to wake them up. I slam my hand on the door three times and walk in.

"Alright you schmucks wake the fuck up!" I shout as I enter the room. To my surprise my team was actually already awake and getting their clothes on, so all I managed to achieve is make them all jump. "Oh, good morning." I nervously say as I scratch the side of my head with a single finger.

"Did you have to try to wake us up like that?" Jaune says after he sighs in relief, calming down from his little scare.

"Well I thought you were asleep so yes, but since you were actually awake, I apologize for my actions." I say, giving a mock bow.

All of a sudden my head begins to pound as visions fill my mind like an old movie where it went black between each frame. My one eye actually glows blue, the same blue as Knolly's center when I held him for the first time. I see a slideshow of a town being attacked by what looks like the same type of Grimm hybrid as Tyrian. People being massacred while the guards do their best against the overwhelming numbers of the new creatures, but failing anyway. Lastly I see some of the Grimm hybrids pulling a young teen by her long brown hair as she kicks and screams. Then it all rewinds, to a point in time in which I assume is the present and everything is fine, the villagers are doing their usual errands and the guards are for the most part relaxed, not expecting any sort of attack. The final thing- or rather girl I see, is the same brown haired girl with what I now see as the same fiery Amber eyes that Cinder had, sitting on her own on a swing with a sad expression on her face, her brown hair passes her shoulders and she wears torn up grey hoodie with the ends of the sleeves looking like they have been burnt, and black shorts to go along with it, revealing the dark skin on her legs. Also In her hands is a bag of food. I quickly realize that this is the same girl that was being kidnapped before but this time I see a small magical Amber colored flame on her heart. Almost as if she knows she is being watched she looks right into my eye, but looks away as she sees nothing herself. Snapping my eyes open I push myself off my knee and back up to my feet with the help of Jaune and Ren.

"Are you okay?!" Nora asks, concerned for my health.

The blue glow fades away and the brown of my eye returns and I take a deep breath.

" _Oz, explain."_

"I don't know what that was, but I think I saw the future." I state as I recover fully.

"What? Hector are you sure you're okay?" Jaune asks, fearing that I just went and lost my sanity.

' _The Relic of Knowledge gave you a brief moment of foresight, thus allowing you to see the near future and giving you the knowledge of where the Fall Maiden is and what will happen if we don't get to her in time.'_

I relay the message to my team and they all nod in understanding.

"Oh duh, how could we not think of that? The Relic of Knowledge gives the wielder Knowledge!" Nora exclaims as if she just figured it out all on her own.

"Yeah, I'm just wondering why it didn't do any of this sooner. Could've saved us a lot of trouble." I point out bitterly, referring to the day we left Haven to head to Patch, where we had to deal with a certain scorpion.

"Do not stress yourself thinking about that, perhaps it did not fully trust you with its power yet. They are sentient, and could you blame them? There are some evil beings out there." Ren states, successfully calming me down before I can get too heated.

"Yeah, besides if it gave you these visions it must trust you now right?" Jaune asks, patting me on the back.

"Alright alright I get it, before we got off on a tangent let me tell you the visions I actually saw. It was night time at some town or village, but it was being attacked by some sort of new Grimm creature, the same type Tyrian was." I reveal, everyone recoils in surprise and slight fear of the news. The last time they faced up against a Grimm hybrid we were all almost killed, and I lost an eye. "Before you freak out, no, these ones aren't even nearly as strong as him but in numbers they are deadly. The town was overrun and the girl who I think is the Maiden was dragged away. So long story short we gotta get there before the Grimm do, and we're leaving now." I declare as I put on Ebony and Ivory

Without a word the rest of my team grab the rest of their things and weapons and follow me as I head back down the stairs and outside.

"Where are you guys going in such a hurry?" Tai asked as he lugs a log around on his shoulder.

"We know where the Fall Maiden is." I lay out the truth right away.

Tai widens his eyes at the news. "Really? How did you manage to do that already?" Tai asks as he drops the log down to the ground and catches up with us.

"Not enough time to explain, we gotta get to the village by nightfall or else she is going to get taken away by you know who." I state, loading in fresh enhanced lighting dust crystals into my gauntlets.

"Well let me come with you. I'm a huntsman and as you know part of the job is to protect people." Tai didn't ask to come and I'm smart enough not to deny some more help.

"Go ahead, grab whatever you use as a weapon and quick. Every second counts." I say as I lean on a tree.

Not long later Taiyang comes back with weapons that seem very similar to Yang's. Even when he cocks the shells init sounds the same. He notices my stare and laughs.

"What? I was the one who trained her to fight with these things, you really think I didn't have a pair of my own?" Tai asks with a smirk that must be exclusive to the Xiao Long family.

I chuckle to myself at the weapon reveal and I beckon him over to follow us with a flick of my neck.

" _Of course he would have the same weapon as Yang, he's the one that trained her!"_ I think to myself as Team RNJR begins their search, now with the addition of Taiyang Xiao Long himself.

Time for the second stage of our adventure to begin.

* * *

In the very village Team RNJR and Taiyang have begun their search for, the Fall Maiden decided to move herself from the swing to the outskirts of the village, kneeling down beside a soft flowing river which is so crystal clear you can see the fish swimming in it. Ever since her eyes changed color and she unlocked her aura she has begun to keep to herself mostly, her personality changed drastically when she gained this power the same day Haven was attacked. She used to be a cheerful young teen just like the rest of the kids there but she's been more distant now, afraid to be with anyone ever since she accidentally burned a boy who was just trying to talk to her. It doesn't help that she is an orphan either. Pushing her sad thoughts aside, she looks around to check if anyone is looking at her. After seeing that the coast is clear she cups her hands together and forms a small flame. It's amazing to her how this flame doesn't damage her at all, it doesn't even feel hot to the touch, just a soothing warmth cradled in her hands. She has been trying to get her power under control ever since the accident, with very little results. Soon the flame in her hands goes out of control and blazes out in all directions, the source still being cupped in her hands. Getting so hot that it burns all the grass around her. Right away the Maiden puts it out by separating her hands and calming herself down. Frustrated at no progress being made and at the situation she is in she begins to cry. She curls up and buries her face into her knees, wrapping her arms around them as well. She sobs quietly so she won't attract any more attention.

"Why… why me?" She cries out between sobs.

As she cries she hears a stick breaking in front of her. She looks up from her knees with now red eyes and looks around. She could've sworn she saw a head peeking out from behind a tree but in that same moment it disappears. Now unsettled she stands up, wipes her face of any tears and gets back in the village. She has nowhere to go since she was exiled by the orphanage that was keeping her for an unspecified amount of time. An unnecessary and cruel rule that punishes those who lashes out to other kids that most of the town have been trying to get rid of. Luckily for her they haven't realized that she sneaks in every night for food and a place to sleep, and leaves early in the morning before she can be found out. But during the day she has to stay outside.

Her stomach growls just as she makes it back to the village.

"Mmm, I need food." She whines as she looks for a certain someone.

This certain someone is a young boy who sells food to the village. He comes in every once in a while to sell his harvest that he grows from his farm. He wears a collared white long sleeved shirt, most of the time he wears his orange gloves that he uses when he works on the fields, dirty brown pants that has a stitched patch of cloth over a hole on both pant legs, and brown boots with black laces. His features include Brown shaggy hair, dark skin, Hazel eyes, and freckles. He is the same age as the Maiden, being 14 years old. This young boy's name, is Oscar Pine.

"Oscar!" The Maiden calls out to him happily as she runs up to him. Oscar has been a great friend to her recently since he gives her food. The other merchants in town isn't nearly as sympathetic to her current situation as Oscar is so besides scrounging the garbage for food Oscar has been her main source of food. Which he happily provides, even against his aunties wishes.

"Hey Rhea. How are you doing today?" Oscar asks with a smile as he sets up shop.

"Well… you know, same ol same ol." Rhea answers as she plays with her hair nervously, hoping that he didn't see the effects of her earlier shedded tears. She just couldn't tell him how she has been suffering from starvation and her newfound power, not to mention that she has been getting more depressed lately.

"I figured, well are you hungry? You definitely look hungry." Oscar points out the fact that Rhea is holding her hands on her stomach.

Rhea's eyes lit up at the mention of food. If she had no control over herself she would've started drooling on the spot. She nods her head a few times very quickly, which makes Oscar chuckle at her reaction.

"Well I brought something just for you this time. I swear these people have to get rid of that stupid rule so there won't be people like you starving on the streets." Oscar says as he pulls out a large paper bag with fruits, and breads in it, along with a baked potato which is Rhea's favorite food so far.

Rhea gasps at the gift and almost breaks down. "Oh, Oscar you're way too sweet to actually exist." Rhea says as she grabs the potato out of the bag and digs into it right away. It is still warm so he must have made it just a few hours ago at most.

Oscar rubs the back of his head as he gets red from embarrassment of the compliment. "I'm sure a bunch of people would do the same."

"Seriously Oscar, thank you, this means so much to me. I haven't gone to sleep with a full stomach in a while. This should last me a couple of days if I'm careful with it and don't eat it all in one night." Rhea says after she swallows a big chunk of food.

"Anytime, I'm only going to be here for a couple of hours this time and I won't be here again for a while, so I thought I'd give you something to last."

"Wait why not?" Rhea asks, already getting sad at the thought of not seeing her only friend for a while.

"The Grimm have been getting more aggressive lately, and my aunt needs my help in fending them off. I'm not much of a fighter but I can take care of the smaller ones without too much of a problem." Oscar explains.

"I understand…" Rhea says sadly. Accepting the fact that she won't be seeing her friend for a while after today.

"When I get back though I'll make sure to bring something for you like I did this time." Oscar promises as he finishes setting up his makeshift shop.

"You better. I'll leave you be for now, I don't want people seeing you with me just in case they don't go to your shop because of me."

Before Oscar can stop her Rhea quickly runs away out of earshot. He would have gone after her if some old lady didn't come to his shop just now and grab his attention. He sighs to himself and reluctantly gives service to his first customer.

Rhea sits back on the swing she was on before, most of the time she is left alone there so she can do as she pleases, such as eating more of the bake potato Oscar gave her. She pulls down her hood, revealing a pair of wolf ears indicating that she is a Fanus, and digs into the remaining half of the potato, quickly finishing it off within two minutes. Most of the village is indifferent to Faunus so for the most part she faces no discrimination except for a few other kids who don't know any better.

Suddenly a strange but familiar feeling fills her heart and chest as she feels something flowing around her. For some reason she feels like someone is looking right at her, but when she looks to see if someone really is there she sees nothing but buildings and the other villagers. Although she feels a sense of unease with the feeling she has.

"Huh? That's strange." Rhea mutters to herself tilting her head in confusion. "That feeling felt so… familiar, and scary at the same time. How could someone not actually be there?"

Rhea's rubs her head as the feeling fades away. She doesn't know what that was but thinks it may have something to do with her powers. "Are there others like me out there?" Rhea asks herself as she gets more hopeful at the thought of not being the only one with powers like this. "he felt close. Is he coming this way?" The young Maiden asks herself as she takes a bite out of an apple that she unconsciously pulled out of the bag, before widening her eyes and dropping the apple back in the eye as she realizes what she just said. "Wait how do I know its a he? How did I know it was even a person? Oh gosh my head hurts again." Rhea questions herself as she rubs her head again. Unknown to her but during that whole ordeal her amber eyes glowed in response to the strange feeling in her head, going as far as to have the tiniest burst of flames, barely noticeable, erupt from her eyes before diminishing back to their normal state almost right away as soon as she rubs her head again.

Brushing off the incident as a side effect of her powers she goes back to eating the apple she pulled out from the bag earlier. Eating it much slower than the baked potato from earlier. The next two hours pass before she even knows it and the sun is just beginning to go down. She continues to swing slowly on the swing as she hugs the bag of food protectively, getting too bored to stay in this spot any longer she decides to go bother Oscar again. She quickly finds her way back to where his makeshift shop is set up, but something just feels off as she makes her way to him. Like something really bad is about to happen. When she makes it to his shop she sees him doing his usual thing of waiting for a customer to show up. Most of his stock has already been sold due to a very busy day which is shown through the young boys eyes. He is tired no doubt but he has to stay for another two hours before he can leave.

"Oh hey Rhea." Oscar greets with a tired yawn.

"Hey, busy day?" Rhea asks, leaning on the table he's sitting at.

"Oh yeah, almost done though so that's a relief." Oscar says with a tired chuckle.

Before Rhea and Oscar can start up a conversation, one of the guards at the western gate of the village shouts to an incoming potential threat. "State your business!" The male guard shouts as he points his spear/rifle hybrid weapon at the person. The reason they are being more cautious with this one is because of how this one looks. They ward off some bandit attacks from time to time but ever since the attack on Haven they just stopped all of the sudden. This worried the village leaders more than it gave them hope because they think that the bandits are grouping up for a final all out attack.

This person wears a cloak over their body that covers their body from head to toe. Hiding all of their features.

"Hey now no need to be so hostile, i'm just a traveler and I've just happened to _stumble_ across this village." The man's voice calls out to the guards, but in an unsettling sarcastic goodie-two-shoes tone that sends chills down the guards spine.

"Sorry sir but we're not letting anyone in without a proper permit, so unless you have one one under that cloak of yours, you're not getting in." The guard half lies. After Beacon's fall and the attack on Haven you can never be too careful with strangers.

"Of course, here let me _show_ you." The man reveals his black and gray gloved hands and the light colored skin on his arms. He moves to take off his hood, the guards slowly lower their guns at the sight. But as soon as they begin to relax the cloak blows off of the man in an explosion of smoke, and when the smoke clears the man is nowhere to be seen.

"Close the-" The guard is cut off as he feels a knife's edge on his throat.

"Shhh shh shh shhhh, we don't want to have blood on this beautiful wooden post now do we?" The man sadistically taunts.

"Let him go!" The second guard shouts as she points her rifle at him. Now that the cloak is blasted away, she can clearly see the man's face and features. He has a burly muscular build, and has wild grey hair that flows around his face. He also sports a light well trimmed beard that matches with his hair perfectly. He is wearing a sleeveless red t-shirt with black combat pants to go with it. He has mechanical boots on that indicate that he may have bionic legs.

"Oh girlie, don't be so dramatic. I like things… to the point!" The mystery man in a blink of an eye throws his knife into the female guards eye and out the back of her skull, killing her instantly. He cover the guard's mouth who is in his grip and threatens him once again.

"One squeak out of you, even if its a deep breath, and you'll end up worse than drama queen over there. Got it? Blink twice for yes and once if you want to die."

The guard blinks twice out of fear and the murderer spins him around and shoves him behind one of the wooden post, out of sight of any potential witnesses that would make his job more difficult. He pulls of a picture of a certain young girl with Amber eyes and shows it to the terrified guard. "You see this girl anywhere around here? Remember to be honest~" The man asks. Almost singing out that last word.

The man, unable to answer with his voice, nods his head quickly. Giving him 'Yes' for an answer.

The man smiles and closes his eyes. Before covering the guards mouth and stabbing him in the gut and chest five times each, hitting every major organ with near perfect precision, the look he gives the guard with his eyes makes obvious that he is clearly enjoying his suffering. The guard's screams of pain are muffled by the glove of the, making it so quiet only the killer can hear his muffled cry for help. Just before the guard dies from his wounds the man whispers into his ear one last time.

"Good boy." He whispers before he twists the blade and pulls it out. The body falls lifeless in a sitting position and he wipes the knife on his shirt to clean it of the blood.

"And that's why I wear the red shirt." The sadistic killer mutters to himself. "Now to find this girl and bring her back to that creepy castle… she didn't say anything about bringing her in unscathed though." He ends with a mad chuckle to himself. He looks off to the village and wonders where to check first. He didn't get much info except for the picture of the girl and what continent she _might_ be on. But due to his assassin and tracking skills he managed to find where the girl is living in an short and impressive amount of time, on the same day this village was scheduled to be wiped out by a new type of Grimm Salem cooked up.

He quickly dumps the bodies over the wall and into some bushes. It should keep his presence unknown at least for a couple of hours until people start asking questions that consist of 'Why is no one guarding the west gate?'

"Time to get to work." He mumbles to himself as he saunters his way into the village, looking as natural as possible despite his intimidating choice of attire.

Back with Oscar and Rhea they only heard part of the conversation, before it suddenly got all quiet, but due to people going about their business as if nothing happened they don't draw any dark conclusions just yet.

"Huh, wonder what that was all about." Oscar wonders as he fixes his hair so it doesn't get in his eyes.

However Rhea doesn't share his thoughts. "I don't like the sound of that. They were shouting at a guy and now all of the sudden silence? I don't know about you but my mental alarm bells." Rhea lays out her concerned thoughts.

"Come on Rhea, how could one guy take on two armed guards clad in armour and win without making a sound?" Oscar asks with a clueless smile on his face.

"I've heard that the guy and his friends who saved Haven went up against an army and beat them back. Who's to say there aren't people can silently take down guards despite being outgunned and outnumbered." Rhea points out.

Oscar thinks on what she said and actually considers that possibility. There are some incredible people out there that can do amazing thing. He mentally scolds himself for momentarily forgetting that some people can move at the speed of sound.

"You know… I think I'm going to break down shop early today." Oscar says as he stands up from his chair.

"I don't blame you, I think I'm going to pack it in early to." Rhea agrees.

The two kids say their goodbyes for now and hug each other, making it last longer than intended but neither of them seemed to mind. Oscar waves goodbye one last time before taking off out of the Northern gate of the village. Rhea didn't show it but she was greatly saddened at the departure of her friend. Once the gates were closed once again she went to her usual spot in the village near the water where people can't see her, so she can try to practice what she thinks is her semblance.

* * *

After a few hours of walking and chatting I finally ask the question that I have forgotten to ask so many times already.

"Oh! Before I forget I gotta ask what Raven did over here right after the battle of Haven. I've been wondering that for so long now." I mention, staring directly at Tai with a enthusiastic grin on my face, the others also share my curiosity but are not nearly as enthusiastic as I am.. Tai doesn't share my enthusiasm though, he looks down to the trail ahead of him and sighs sadly.

"Honestly, we didn't say much to each other, we talked about what's been going on for the past years and she told me about what happened at Haven, and how she finally had a full conversation with Yang. She talked the fight you two had, said it was the most fun she had in a fight in a very long time, I didn't know it was you she meant until I Oz told me that whole story in case you're wondering, also the whole one eye thing and the facial hair also made it difficult." Tai explains hesitantly.

I feel that there is much more to what happened that time but I won't pry on this guys personal life and get on his bad side.

"Yeah I bet she was having _so_ much fun when I slammed her face against the Vault door." I point out, trying to lift the mood with some humor. Luckily Tai has a great sense of humor and laughs at the new information.

"Really? She just _happened_ to leave that out." Tai says between laughs.

We went on comparing information on both sides of the story. I make sure to tell him about all of the good hits on him but I don't leave out where Raven pinned me down a couple times and almost killed me. While it seems like she was having a blast now that I have her side of the story which consisted of a mostly equal battle with her having the slight edge. But my story is more intense and filled with more action. I don't leave out the part where we were both bloodied, bruised, and had a few cracked ribs, unfortunately the fight got cut short by the healing magic of the Vault so we'll never know who would've actually won the fight. Despite the confidence in myself that I could've beaten her in the end. I things weren't so tense the other day I might have challenged her to another fight.

"Hah man that is a day I'll never forget." I say as I wipe a tear of laughter from my eye.

"Yeah me neither! It's the day Team RNJR got a new leader!" Nora exclaims, pumping her fist into the air in excitement.

"We were so lucky that his last name starts with an R or else we would have been in a tight spot for the name." Jaune points out.

"Meh, I would've kept it RNJR anyway. I have no idea how the hell H would fit into that anyway."

Before our conversation can continue we hear the sound of horse hooves coming from the opposite direction. We all shift our moods to a more cautious but friendly attitude as we watch the small carriage being driven by a very familiar boy. He notices us, smiles and waves.

"Hello!" The unmistakable voice of another character from RWBY I nearly forgot about makes an appearance.

"Oscar?" I ask with wide eyes and with surprise. The others don't know how I know this boys name since it is their first time seeing this kid.

"H-how do you know my name?" Oscar asks, getting nervous and ready to make his horse go at full speed.

Realizing my mistake and snapping myself out of my unintentional stare of surprise I wave my hands out in front of me and change my demeanor to a much more friendly one.

"Woah, woah, woah, don't freak out. I'm a huntsman and this is my team. Sorry for freaking you out there." I sputter out in hopes of calming him down before he can run off.

Oscar is a little suspicious of my claim but once he notices Tai and his eyes light up.

"Oh! You're Mister Xiao Long right? You're a teacher at Signal, whew, and here I thought I was about to be mugged." Oscar says and sighs in relief right after.

"Heh, yeah that'd be me. You're telling me you don't know who this guy is?" Tai steps up to the young boy and asks, pointing at me with his thumb. With RNJR not far behind him at all.

Oscar leans in closer to look at my face, then the realization finally hits him and he gasps. "You're the one who saved Haven!" Oscar exclaims, jumping off his horse and running up to us excitedly and holds his hand out to shake mine.

" _And here I thought I was excited when I met these guys."_ I think to myself as I happily accept his handshake offer.

"It's great to meet you si-"

"Don't call me sir. And likewise." I cut him off as we release each others hands.

"Ooh, Hecky is getting famous." Nora points out with a impressed look on her face.

"I believe Oscar here has made it clear that he is already famous." Ren corrects.

"What about us though?" Jaune asks, admittedly a little jealous that they didn't get as much of the popularity.

"Did you fight two Maidens back to back and save all of our lives?" Ren counters.

"I mean… I did get him back on his feet so technically I indirectly saved everyone." Jaune points out.

"He's not wrong you know." I add, almost forgetting about the speechless kid in front of me. Before I get too distracted and off topic I get everyone back on track with a single question. "Alright Oscar, do you know a girl with fiery Amber eyes and long Brown hair? Wearing a gray hoodie and black pants? May or may not have She is very important to the current mission we're on at the moment."

Oscar widens his eyes as he instantly thinks of his Faunus friend from the village just south of here. She matches the description perfectly save for her wolf features. She did tell him that she thinks that she unlocked her semblance but he never saw it for himself. Nonetheless if that girl is important and Huntsman are looking for her then he shouldn't keep her location a secret. Especially since the man who saved Haven himself is looking for her as well.

"Yes, I do know a girl that matches that description almost perfectly." Oscar answers honestly and with little hesitation.

"Wait really? ' _That actually worked on the first try. Holy shit thank you luck.'_ Point us in the right direction then!" I say as I put my hands on his shoulders suddenly, the feeling of the cold metal on his shoulders surprises him and he almost jumps.

I notice his discomfort and remove my hands from his shoulders, mentally scolding myself for forgetting once again that I was wearing Ebony and Ivory. "Sorry about that, we're running out of time. The village you just came from is about to be attacked by Grimm. You need to tell us where it is right away before we're too late and that girl ends up either dead or kidnapped or worse." I explain in a much more serious tone.

"Oh, in that case then the village where she lives is just a few miles south of here, just follow the path and you can miss it. Her name is Rhea by the way, in case you need to know." Oscar explains for me.

I smile at finally getting what I needed to know for the past couple of months. What I lost an eye and some of my sanity for. "Thanks kid, now get back to your home and stay there." I say as I give him a nod and start to hike in that direction with my team and Tai close behind.

"Wait! Can I come help to? I may not be nearly as powerful as any of you but Rhea is my friend. I want to help if I can." Oscar pleads. Pulling me by the end of my sleeve before I can get too far out of reach.

"You want to help? Don't get yourself killed trying to be a hero. I'm sure Rhea wouldn't like that in the slightest." I say with a smile, I slowly place a hand on his shoulder and surprising everyone there I pinch a certain nerve that knocks him out instantly, but making him feel little to no pain. A trick that I learned by having it done multiple times to me by Ozpin during our mental training sessions.

"Hector what are you doing?" Tai asks, shocked at my actions.

"Guys relax, I'm not about to let this kid follow us anyway despite my warning, trust me I've seen enough movies to know where this would go if I let him walk away." I explain the intention of my actions as I set Oscar's unconscious body back on the bench, I then write a quick note explaining my actions that I took out of Ren's pack,

 _Hey Oscar, sorry about doing that to you, hope you're not in any pain. But I can't have myself be worried about you when we get there. By the time you're reading this it's probably night fall. DON'T do anything stupid, if I see you over here I swear to god I will pimp slap the shit out of you in the most scolding way possible. - H.R_

I put the note in Oscar's pocket and give the horse a nice slap on the butt and it goes running. "He'll wake up in an hour or so, but even then he would only be able to use one of his legs and his arms for a short time. I don't know how that works but other then that he will be perfectly fine. Now stop giving me those judging looks and let's go save that village."

' _I don't believe I ever said to use that technique on a child Mister Rivers.'_

" _We're low on time and I'm not about to let myself worry about this kid, sorry for not letting you know, I promise that I will go see the kid and let him know that the Maiden is safe sometime in the future."_

' _Very well, at least you didn't cause him any pain.'_

" _Exactly!"_

"Next time warn us before you do something like that, for a second there I thought you actually lost it." Jaune mentions.

"Nah, not yet anyway." I joke, looking back at him through the corner of my eye.

* * *

Back in the village the Fall Maiden has unknowingly attracted some unwanted attention. It is about seven o'clock at night right now and the sun is dropping fast. The killer from earlier as opened the Western gate just enough so that it wouldn't be noticeable. So when the attack commences they can all funnel right into the village and get to where the meat is. The killer has had his eyes on the Maiden for quite some time now. He knows that she is the one he is looking for since he just watched her conjure up a ball of magical flame in her hands. All he is waiting for is the ensuing chaos to begin so he can make his move. Even though he just wants to knock her out and get her out of here without anyone noticing, his sadistic nature makes him want to see what's about to happen. Soon enough, a woman screeches at the top of her lungs. This puts everyone on high alert and the security guards within the village all run toward the sound. Rhea dissipates the small flame with a flick of her hands and gets back up. Unfortunately for her that was the man's cue to make his move. Before she can begin to run back to the village he steps in her way, standing about two meters away from her and with grin on his face.

"W-who are you?" Rhea asks, already getting nervous and intimidated by the mere look of the man.

"I can't really share that info just yet little girl, but I guess you can just call me Mister Black, but enough of that do you know that you are a _very special_ girl? And the woman who hired me has paid me a lot of money to bring you to her. So be a good little girl and come with me." The assassin explains briefly in a unsettling almost fatherly tone. Trying to manipulate the young Maiden into coming with him.

Rhea doesn't buy it though. She's smarter than people give her credit for. " Would I be happy at the end of that trip?" Rhea nervously asks, taking a step back.

"Hahaha… hell no." The assassins tone gets much more evil suddenly and he steps toward the girl. Out of panic Rhea falls back onto her butt as she crawls backward away from him.

"No! Get away!" Rhea screeches, holding out a hand in front of her and conjuring up a flame to fire at him.

The man stops in his tracks and arches an eyebrow at the actions of Rhea. "Huh, so you've been practicing. Good, makes this more fun." He breaks into a sprint as he tries to close the distance between him and the Maiden before she can fire off any of her power at him.

Rhea has never intentionally used her powers on someone before, it is only out of panic that clenches her eyelids closed and launches a fireball at the man in front of her. To her surprise the man easily blocks it with his forearms and gray colored aura that flares at the moment of impact. The flames disperse around his body, he lowers his guard and cracks his neck, giving a taunting smile to the young girl.

"Ah that was pretty soothing, you mind doing that again? The flames of a Maiden are just so warm."

"What? A Maiden?" Rhea questions out of a mixture of confusion and fear.

"Oh you poor little innocent girl. Too bad your voice is getting annoying now or else I'd let you squeal a little more." Black says tiredly, he dashes up to the sacred Maiden and before she can scream kicks her in the head. Not knocking her out but dazing her enough to the point where she can't make a sound out of her mouth.

"You're still conscious? Damn you are more resilient than I thought." Black grabs the girls hair and as she kicks and grunts pulls her away toward the nearest gate. "Come on, don't be difficult now."

As he drags her across the ground, he makes it back to the main part of the village just in time to witness the western gate just slam open and dozens of Grimm hybrids run into the village. He snickers at the mass panic and raises the girl onto her feet and makes her watch as a nearby guard gets overwhelmed and torn apart. This fully wakes up Rhea and she shuts her eyes to look away, vomit working its way up and she barely keeps it down. "See that? That's the future. Get used to it." The assassin says, unfazed by the gruesome event taking place just ahead of him.

"Please… stop." Rhea cries out, tears threatening to shed from her eyes.

"Afraid not little girl, it only gets worse from here." Black says, hoisting her back up by her hair and over his shoulder.

Rhea screams in pain as she feel's her scalp burn. Struggling to pry his hands away from her hair so she can at least try and escape him.

* * *

We heard the distant screeching and sounds of fighting and all broke into a sprint. We were too late, couldn't get there in time to stop them from getting in and wreaking havoc on the villagers.

"Fuck! We wasted too much time!" I yell frustratedly.

"You can still make it in time before too much damage is done." Ren points out.

"What do you mean?"

"He means use your semblance and get there! We'll catch up with you don't worry." Tai answers for me.

I am hesitant about going off on my own and leaving my team again, but if it means saving lives and the Maiden then I'm all for it. "Alright. You guys better not get there just as they retreat though!" I close my eyes as I am sprinint and focus my semblance into speed. "Kaioken times three!" I easily triple my speed with little stress on my body and I zoom out of sight within seconds.

"Wow that is cool." Tai mutters. "Alright double time kids, can't have him take all the glory now can we?!" Tai shouts, hyping up the remaining members of team RNJR.

"Lets just hope he gets there in time." Ren mutters to himself.

Back with me I have the village in my sights, I can see the color of flames in the horizon of the night sky. I grunt and push my Kaioken to times four so I can get there even faster. I don't want to use too much of my energy before I get there just in case there is another Grimm ike Tyrian. But I am definitely getting a good warm up out of it. Seconds go by and the village is getting larger as I get closer to it. Now I can see the same gate that I saw in my vision earlier that morning.

"Alright, sorry about this villagers but I'm on a tight schedule." I mumble and apology as I Intend to do something that's probably not smart.

* * *

"Wow, just look at all this chaos." Black says as he heads to the worst gate he could possibly have chosen.

Rhea remains silent, she senses a certain someone coming this way. She has the same feeling of a mixture of excitement and fear from earlier fill her body but she knows help is on the way. Very powerful help. At this point she would take any kind of help though.

"What's wrong? Did you break already? That's no fun." Black mutters in a bored tone.

"No, you just took too long." Rhea responds in a monotone voice, uncharacteristic to her usual high pitched childish voice.

"Oh really? How did I-"

Black gets cut off as the northern flies off its hinges, creating a small dust cloud that goes up to my waist. The dust quickly clears due to the wind I create with my flaring aura.

"Ah shit, I was warned not to mess with you." Black says, holding the Maiden out in front of him as a human shield. "I can see why now, this must not even be close to your full power huh?"

Rhea doesn't even scream out of fear. She just widens her eyes as she stares at me. She recognizes me, although she never met me before in her live. Her powers react as a side effect of feeling the very aura that belonged to the man who slayed the last Fall Maiden, and Rhea gets so hot that she burnt right through Black's gloves. Black curse and throws her away. Now there is nothing between me and him. I dash toward him and easily overpower and slam him against one of the nearby houses wall, holding him up by his shirt.

"Who are you!?" I shout as I look him in the eye.

"You're a smart cookie. But I'll give you a hint anyway." Black says, pushing my arms up roughly and kicking me away.

I barely feel the kick but it does the job of gaining some distance for him. I keep my eye on him and wait for him to give me that hint. Just in case he's actually serious about that hint.

"Listen closely because I won't be saying this again. My last name is Black and my son fucked up his part at Haven. That should be enough for you to understand." Black says. My eye widens as I instantly recognize his last name and easily understand the hint he just gave me.

"Marcus?" I call out in disbelief, letting my guard down for just a second. Marcus takes advantage of that one second of processing and distraction as he creates a massive blast of smoke that rises out from his feet. I flare my aura and the smoke dissipates instantly but Marcus Black is nowhere to be found.

"How the fuck is that guy alive?! Didn't Mercury kill him?" I ask myself out loud.

"I taught that kid everything he knows, but he didn't do the one thing I told him to do after each kill. Make sure they're down for _good_. Kid forgot to check for a pulse." Marcus' voice rings out from all directions. It's as if he is the smoke itself. My suspicion is confirmed as all the smoke unnaturally flows away like a wind current. The growling of the hybrids around me, circling me and Rhea who is just a couple feet from me on her side.

"Oh that's just going to be annoying." I mutter to myself. Before I can complain further I look toward the young Maiden that I have been looking for, for months. When I look at her I feel something familiar coming from her, she looks back at me, still on her side and her Maiden eyes flame. A look of fear overtakes her features despite what I just did to save her and she gets up and runs away, the Grimm hybrids ignoring her and focusing on me entirely.

"Wait! I'm not going to hurt you!" I yell in vain as she runs right out of the gate I just broke down. Before I can go after her I am attacked all at once by the hybrids. Grabbing my arms and jacket and attempting to pin me down. With a frustrated yell I break out of their grip, launching a few of them back several meters and some of the stronger ones just stumbling away. "Damnit! Kaioken!" I scream, I have to end this fast and find her. If Grimm or Marcus finds her before I do and takes her to Salem its going to causes too many problems. We would have another Cinder situation on our hands. Ignoring the painful memories of the last Grimm Hybrid I fought, I easily dispatch of all the weaker one around me in a flurry of punches and dashes from each creature around me, faster than the eye can see. With all of the Grimm in this area down I sprint out of the gate and sense around for the Maiden, when the others come here they're going to have to finish off the rest of them, hopefully they can stomach the gruesome sight. My eye glows blue, indicating that Knolly is about to help me once again, I can sense the Maidens magical power now and she isn't far, hiding behind a tree just a couple of meters away from me. I walk in that direction and I can see an outline of the Maidens aura that grows brighter and larger as I get closer. Not wanting to scare away the Young Maiden again I make my presence known to her.

"Listen, I know you're behind that tree." I call out to her.

Rhea gasps at the sound of my voice but doesn't respond, too scared to find the energy to get up and run away again. "Are… you going to hurt me to?" Rhea asks hesitantly.

"Hell no I'm not! If anything I am here to protect you."

"Then why am I so afraid of you? Even though I've never met you before." Rhea asks, not fully knowing the reason herself. When she first laid eyes on me she was hopeful to get out of the hostage situation she was forced in. But when she saw my red flaming aura and the look in my eye, she had a vision of me holding up another woman by her throat and throwing her off of a bridge. And then everything cut back to the present and she saw me staring down at her, still in my flaming aura with Grimm humans and faunus alike surrounding us.

Thinking on what she means I begin to understand why she ran away. The magical power of the Fall Maiden recognized me, and I guess as some sort of alarm it filled this poor girl with fear. Since the last Fall Maiden didn't do so well against me.

"There's uh… an explanation for that. But I promise you that I am not here to hurt you." I say as I kneel down beside her, taking off my weapons and holding out my scarred hand to her. I wear the softest expression on my face as I feel a unfamiliar protective feeling wash over me, as if I was meant to do this.

Rhea hesitantly looks at my hand and then into my face. She can tell that my words are genuine, and the power within her seems to calm down as her flaming eyes return to their normal state, as if the power itself believes me to be telling the truth. Her fear fading away slowly she reaches out and grabs my hand. I pull her up and she buries her face into my chest and cries. Finally being free from the horrors of everything that happened in the village over the past hour. Combined with finally having someone to watch over her, despite that fact that the person is only about four years older then she is.

"Well that was a complete 180 huh. Rhea right? " I say as I awkwardly rub her wolf hears softly in an attempt to comfort her. Crying people was always hard for me to try and deal with but my big brother instincts kicked in for this one.

"Yeah… Rhea Anani." She says, pulling away from me slowly.

"Alright Rhea, you know I am a huntsman right?"

Rhea nods slowly.

"Part of the job is saving people. And there are still people to save. My team may be there right now but they could use my help." I explain to her slowly so she could understand.

"I understand. Just don't leave me alone too long." Rhea pleads.

"Well I won't have to as long as you stay close. That guy who was dragging you by your hair might come back while i'm gone. Now I know we just met and made this bond but I need you to trust me that I'll keep you safe alright?"

Rhea thinks on my plan but accepts it reluctantly, she'd rather be stuck with me then that crazy murderer anyway. "...Okay." Rhea accepts hesitantly.

I stand back up and grab Rhea's hand. We run back to the village and just as I thought my team made it hear in time. I see them fighting a horde of Grimm, I am especially impressed with how Taiyang is so effectively dispatching the Grimm hybrids, not making any fight last too long and he moves on to the next. The way he fights is like Yang's style but much, much more skillful and fluent with his movements. He was the one who came up with his style of fighting anyway. Jaune, Ren, and Nora are much more hesitant in slaying these creatures that look very similar to a human, despite their unnatural claws and inhuman screeches and grunts as they fight, not to mention their highly contorted faces and Grimm eyes that even glow red like a regular Grimm's. One thing is certain. Even if we win today, it's still a loss. Barely any civilians are left and all the guards have fell. The only thing keeping the horde of Grimm hybrids away from the people is a formation made between Tai and RNJR. That is until we come in.

"Alright, Rhea, what I am going to do is unleash some of my power and get rid of all these things, what I need you to do is get to that group of people they are protecting. Can you do that for me?" I ask Rhea, looking down to the young girl to my side.

"Yeah, just make sure they don't get to me." She responds in a determined voice.

"Thatta girl. Okay not stand back. This might blow you off your feet if you're too close." I warn her as I slip my gauntlets back on and power up. "Kaioken!" I yell loudly, a blast of wind hits Rhea and even when she is standing back she still almost falls over from the blast of wind and power. She almost gets scared at the way I look again but swallows it down and takes it as her cue to start running.

To her it looks like I am teleporting around as I slay the monsters, killing them all in one blow. Ignoring the fact of how close they resemble a human. One Grimm tries to grab Rhea by her hair but before it can make contact I kick its hand away and slam my fist into his head, caving in his face as he falls onto his back lifeless and dissipating away.

Back with Tai he sees the display of power I am putting on as I escort a young girl which he assumes is the Maiden. Now he has to convince to others to last just a little while longer.

"Guys, if you're going to give it your all at any time now is the time!" Tai yells as he punches another creature of Grimm's head off with the combined power of his punch and firing his weapon at the same time.

"But… they're people!" Jaune exclaims, holding off another with his shield before bashing him away onto the ground. Ren and Nora having the same problem.

"They aren't people anymore! Accept it or you're going to die!" Tai yells at them.

Reluctantly the present members of RNJR stop pulling their punches, Nora is the first to make a kill as she swings her hammer in a wide arc, killing and launching away three hybrids in one swing. Ren fires his guns into the horde, killing several Hybrids by shooting them in the head. Jaune, has the most trouble with his Grimm, he wildly swings his sword horizontally and gets it halfway stuck in the side of the hybrid in front of him. The grimm spits up Black blood onto the blonde knights shield.

"I'm sorry!" Jaune yells as he finishes the slash, cutting the Grimm hybrid in half.

After not a long time of fighting I make my way to them, with Rhea by my side. Her eyes began flaming again as she gets angry about what happened to her village, her home. Despite being forced to live homeless she had people who cared enough to give her food, and let her have a place to sleep at least for a night. She gets so heated that she almost burns me with her hand as I am holding it. But since I also get really hot when I use my semblance the heat cancels eachother out, so it just feels warm at the touch.

"We'll get rid of them don't worry." I say with equal the amount of anger.

"If only I knew how to use these powers." Rhea says sadly, blaming herself for not being strong enough to at least try and prevent this.

"Hey snap out of it. This is no time to be getting emotional."

"..."

"Sorry about that. I'll explain everything once we clear this place up. C'mon." No more words are shared as I pick her up and dash behind my team and Tai.

"Sup." I greet as I set the girl down, who helps tend to the wounds of the huddled up group of people behind them. Without them having to acknowledge me I get back up and rush back into the fray. "Jaune! Do the thing!" I shout to Jaune who understands what I am telling him to do right away. The Grimm hybrids seem to forget about them all as the all switch their focus onto me simultaneously. Jaune sees his opportunity and grabs it my the balls. Raising his hands out and using his semblance to amplify my own. I feel the surge of power flow around my body that is the moment this battle was won. None of the hybrids stood a chance against me, even when I was severely outnumbered. After barely even a minute there is just one left, who is for some reason just standing still. It's eyes turn purple and the creature looks around until it meets my eye. I walk back toward my team and stand by them while keeping my gaze locked with the creature.

" **How does it feel? To kill, dismember and maim. Good right?"** The creature speaks with the voice of an all too familiar Grimm queen.

"What do you want now Salem? We already won this battle." I respond, ignoring the question.

The rest of Team RNJR all narrow their eyes at the creature, already prepared to dispose of it in the case that it tries anything. Although Taiyang is seething with anger, stepping up past me and staring the creature in the eye.

" **Oh? Is that Taiyang himself? I thought you'd be too far gone to attempt to rebel against me again."** Salem taunts.

"Not. Another. Word." Tai said through gritted teeth. Justifiably angry with the one responsible for Summer Rose's death.

" **I see you're still angry about your dear old leader's death. Don't worry, she put up a great fight before I killed her."**

"I said SHUT UP!" Tai screams as he fires off a incendiary round at the creature, setting it on fire, but seemingly not causing any but of pain in the slightest.

" **Oh Tai, you're not the one I am here for."**

"I don't need to listen to another word from you, you damn monster." I say angrily, joining Tai at his side.

" **Oh you foolish boy. I am not here for you either. I am here for the Fall Maiden."** Salem reveals.

I widen my eye and step in front of Rhea, who ran up to us as soon as the creature started to speak. I block the gaze

"Does she mean me?" Rhea asks, perplexed and really hoping that's not what she meant.

" **Oh when they are so young they are so adorable aren't they? I see that Marcus failed to capture you. I can't exactly blame him since that boy got here faster than we expected. I am the one who sent him after yo-"**

Salem is cut off as a fireball clashes with the creatures head. Making it explode in a fiery mess. We all widen are eyes and look back at the steaming hand of the young Maiden as she holds it out in front of her. Her eyes flaming and with an angry look on her face.

"The answer is no." Rhea growls out as the creature falls lifelessly onto the ground.

"Well I think that answered her unasked proposal. Great job Rhea." I say as I grab hold of her steaming hand, ignoring how how it is from the flame that was just there.

"Let's get out of here now." I say, looking down at the young girl as she looks up at me in surprise that I am holding her hand that was just on fire.

"You're not in pain?" Rhea asks me.

"Nah, I've been much hotter than you've ever been before I bet so i've just grown a tolerance to it." I explain to her, she gets even more surprised and wonders what exactly I am capable of.

"As for you all." I begin as I look toward the small group of civilians that managed to survive the massacre. "I suggest you find a new home, head north of here and there is a farm. I'm sure the owners will let you stay there until you can find someplace else to live."

Without a word the villagers head out of the northern gate, hanging their heads in sadness and shame as they are forced to leave their homes, luckily some of the guards actually survived, so they have some protection as they begin their hike.

* * *

 **The next day**

After the whole ordeal the day before we made our way back to Tai's household. We had two posted up for the night just in case some of the hybrids followed us. Ren and Jaune volunteered and set up a system where one of them can sleep while the other watches. Rhea and I are staying in a room together per her request, since I am the only one she kinda trusts to keep her safe. Since my earlier actions proved to her that I am at least reliable. Also just in case Marcus or anything tries to come here during the night and try anything I'd be there to stop them, and I don't fight quietly.

"Before I go to sleep can you explain to me what these powers are? And why people keep calling me the 'Fall Maiden'?" Rhea asks as she lays in bed. Making herself as comfortable as possible.

"Like I said earlier I'll explain everything in the morning. For now just sleep. I'll stay up for a couple hours to… think." By that I mean talk to Ozpin.

"Okay… Thank you by the way." Rhea says before she closes her eyes. Even her wolf ears adorably flatten against her head and pillow respectively as she goes to sleep.

"No problem."

After a few minutes she falls asleep and I take a deep breath as I relax into the shair I am sitting in that is placed next to her bed.

" _Alright Oz the fuck do I do now?"_

' _What you said you were going to do. Before we go to Atlas or Vacuo, the Fall Maiden will need to learn how to use her powers. Train her as soon as you can.'_

" _Alrighty then. Now how about you tell me hot the fuck Marcus Black is alive."_

' _That is something I do not know the answer for. The answer to that question would be better answered by his son_.'

" _Oh yeah, like that is something I can go do right away."_

' _Hmm, good point. That is a concerning matter that we will have to deal with one of these days.'_

" _Yeah… but I have an idea that no one is going to like."_

' _Oh? Please share with me this plan.'_

" _It goes a little like this…"_

* * *

 **AN- Holy shit this is the longest chapter I've ever written before… Like ever. Over 12k words in case you're curious.**

 **Now that it has come to my attention that I completely forgot about Ilia after the Battle of Haven. So I owe it to the character to give the character her own chapter about what she has been doing ever since the battle. It's not going to be a long one, but It will be sweet.**

 **What do you guys think of this chapter? The return of a character we all thought was dead before RWBY even started. What do you guys think of the new Fall Maiden? Hector's honest answer to Tai's questions about Ruby? And so much more that my brain hurts too much to think about.**

 **Please leave a review and share your thoughts! I READ EVERY SINGLE ONE!**

 **Wanna keep up with me and the progress of chapters? I made a twitter just for you guys.** **/genatools** **.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	24. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 23

**AN- As always, thank you to all my reviewers from last chapter**

 **Zeldawollffang- As always, thank you for the review and for pointing out the errors I make. See ya next time.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Like half of your review was covered in the PM response I sent you so there's that. So I think Marcus is the last one to cover, I am going to write a little flashback dream coming from Mercury at the end of this chapter to feature Mercury and Marcus' fight that was off screen in the show, of course we all know that Mercury won but it wasn't easy, it will explain at least how I think the fight went and how Marcus survived. Mainly this chapter will be about Ilia and what she has been doing, starting from the day after the battle of Haven. But I feel like I have to explain how Marcus survived as soon as possible before people start saying shit, also because I want to.**

 **Epicnessofpie- Of course I'll make a reference to Metal Gear Phantom Pain reference just because you asked for it. Look out for the next chapter that includes Team RNJR. Thanks for the review.**

 **If you read all the responses you already know but if you didn't well I'm going to say it again. The main plot of this chapter will be about Ilia and what she has been doing since the battle of Haven, then at the end of this chapter I am going to write out the ENTIRE fight scene with Mercury and Marcus that happened off screen in the show, so I could show you how I feel that fight played out and how Marcus survived. Of course we all know that Mercury won but he was bloodied and bruised afterwards so be ready for another bloody and dirty fight. In other words, half is about Ilia, and half is about Mercury and Marcus.**

 **In order to prevent confusion please remember that this chapter begins the day after the battle of Haven. So Hector still has both eyes at this point and everyone is still recovering.**

 **Lastly, I thought of something to do with Ilia to add to her character as well has make some moments with her more special and unique. Whatever emotion she is feeling her face will change color to correspond with that emotion, and jesus christ there are a lot of colors. Everytime a new color is mentioned I will explain what emotion she is feeling. I know Roosterteeth did something with this but I don't remember if they did this often, so I decide to make it a full blown thing. The little freckles, or scale things on her face or body are going to be the parts to change color, so when I say face just know that its those parts of her body, not the entire face.**

 **And for you Ilia fans, she will return, her entire journey isn't going to be left in the background after this chapter.**

 **Now that all of that is out of the way let's get right into the next chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 23- Of Smoke and Scales

 **The day after the Battle of Haven**

After the intense Battle we all had after the battle of Haven, we have all just awakened after a well needed sleep, a rest that lasted until nearly 2pm. But two people who have never conversed with each other just happen to be the only ones who woke up early. Of course there's myself, and then there's a certain reptilian Faunus who played a very important role in defending Mistral and Haven from it's attackers. I am in my usual hang out spot on my own this time, staring out into the city I just played a big part in saving, y'know, the whole fighting two Maidens in the same day thing I did, and saving everyone's lives. I have a bandage on my left hand, which is the one Ravens magical sword stabbed through. Luckily the Vault's healing magic saved me from all the scars I basically gave myself after the spat with the Maidens, so I'm relatively unscathed physically. As I am pondering my thoughts I hear footsteps coming up from behind me. Soft yet loud as shit since they obvious aren't trying to hide. I spin around on the railing I am sitting on and face my visitor. This visitor is of course, Ilia, dawning her usual ninja looking getup with her whip sword attached to her hip. This surprises me since I don't think I've actually met her before.

"Oh, I don't think I met you yet." I greet as I roll my shoulders.

"You're Hector right?" Ilia asks, leaning against the wall in front of me.

"That is indeed my name. How do you know my name by the way?" I answer with a nod.

"You're not exactly hard to find, also everyone has been talking about you since that orange girl bragged about you to everyone as soon as you left her alone. Is it okay if I ask you some things?" Ilia asks, her skin color and texture returning to normal to indicate that she is not hostile. Which makes no sense to because I thought she'd know that I already know that she is a friend of Blake. I don't know, maybe my mind is just too small to understand.

"Oh of course she did, _Goddammit Nora,_ Alright what's up?" I ask, standing up and sitting in a chair I didn't even know was there in the first place but I play it off like I did.

"The Maidens… is it true that they exist?" Ilia just had to choose the one question Ozpin forbid me from answering truthfully.

' _Hector, you know the rule.'_

"I do know the rule, but most likely she is going to find out anyway." I respond to Ozping out loud, which confuses Ilia to a degree.

' _And what happens if the whole world found out the truth?'_

"Yeah yeah I know, mass panic, Grimm, people dying, seriously you've told me that at least a dozen times by now." Okay now this is too much for Ilia to just stay quiet.

"Who… are you talking to?" Ilia asks hesitantly, the skin on her face changing color to gray to indicate perplexion.

"Oh that's just the other soul that lives in my body. He gets annoying sometimes." I answer honestly.

Now Ilia's face goes into a deeper tone of gray, she wasn't told about anyone having two souls. I haven't even scratched the surface about what's going on on Remnant right now and she is already getting a headache from trying to process this new information.

"Oh…" Well now she just thinks i'm crazy.

"Okay I know that sounds crazy but trust me, there's a whole long ass story behind it. If you want to know that one talk to one of the others, I'm getting tired of explaining it all the time." I say as I crack my neck. "Oof, that was a loud one."

"So about the Maidens." Ilia begins, getting me back on topic as her skin color changes back to normal.

' _Hector do not-'_

"Yes they're real." I completely ignore Ozpin's rule, I mean come on, at this point she is one of the main characters, she was bound to figure it out anyway.

' _ ***facepalms in my mind***_ '

"And you fought TWO of them in the same day?" Ilia asks, combined with the shock factor at the revelation of four beings in the world having massive destructive power, she's almost envious to them.

"Yuppers."

"...Wow." Ilia couldn't find any other words to say. The color of her face changes to bright Orange to indicate curiosity and surprise.

"Yeah, I was pretty surprised when I was told about it to."

The color of Ilias face changes to an even brighter Orange as she thinks about how powerful I have to be in order to compete with someone who has that much destructive power, and then it hits her. That massive red light she saw when she was defusing all the bombs, that was me. But before she can question me about it I point something out.

"So is that color changing thing usual with you?" I ask, I actually didn't know that her facial features changes color to indicate whatever emotion she is feeling. Well you learn something new everyday. Either that or I didn't pay much attention to her character

After being asked about her Faunus features, Ilia changes to a Rosey pink color to indicate embarrassment. This color can be embarrassment or compassion but in this case the former would be the correct mood.

"Sorry about that, I don't really have control over that all the time, unless I'm in a fight that is." Ilia says as her face returns to its normal color.

"No worries, some things can't always be controlled. So is there anything else you came to me for?"

"Yes actually… There's one more thing." Ilia reveals, getting much more serious all of a sudden.

"Oh we're getting serious now. Alright what is it?"

"I want to go after Adam, the main base of operations for the White Fang have left is in Vacuo, I haven't told anyone else about this yet-"

"Wait wait wait, stop right there." I demand, shaking my head and facepalming. "Why are you doing this on your own exactly? And why are you telling me this and not Blake or the other Belladonnas or literally anyone else?"

Ilia's face remains serious as she replies. "Because the place is a fortress, on the off chance that the White Fang still have their morals together and set up a defense we wouldn't be able to even dent it. Also… I know they would come after me." Ilia explains. "I was always a lone wolf during all of my missions anyway."

"So let me get this straight, you're going to go find Adam who is on the other side of the world, kill him, get killed yourself or at least almost get killed, and then what? Come back and join the secret war that I wasn't supposed to mention?"

"That sounds about right."

"Now's the time where you tell me why I am being trusted with this information."

"I need you to tell everyone else that I'm leaving, and not coming back for a long time." Ilia answers.

"Oh no girl you're going to tell them this yourself, or at least Blake. C'mon you think she's just going to be happy with the fact that I just let you go on a suicide mission by yourself?"

"Hector, i've done things… things that I am not proud of. I don't deserve to be around you all much less to be trusted with something as important as this war you mentioned. I need to settle my own issues before I can focus on someone else's. I'm sorry to put this on you but please, I'm sure she will understand." Ilia sadly vents, her facial features changing to a light blue to represent sadness.

I sigh, crossing my arms. Here she was, Ilia the chameleon Faunus who is also an ex-member of the White Fang trusting me of all people to do something she should have the guts to do herself.

" _Jesus Christ what am I about to agree to?"_ I think to myself before I move my hands to my hips. "Alright fine, but if you die I'm going to be very angry with you." I playfully threaten as I step away from the railing.

Ilia breathes a sigh of relief, and she gains the color pink on her facial features to indicate gratitude and/or happiness. "Thank you, I won't forget this."

"I just hope I don't regret this when I go to sleep tonight." I say with a playful smile, extending my fist out to bump her own.

Ilia just stares at my fist then back up to my face, her face turning back to gray and her head tilting to one side as she thinks about what I mean by the new gesture. But then she remembers suddenly that this is supposed to be a gesture of friendship, or something of the sort. So she reaches out and awkwardly wraps her hand around my fist, with a smile on her face no less as if nothing is wrong with what she is doing.

I chuckle and we shake our hands awkwardly to solidify our agreement. "Close enough." I say as we release each others hands.

"Wait did I do that wrong?"

"Yes."

* * *

 **Present**

The memory is still fresh in Ilias head, it has been months since she had left Mistral In pursuit of her own mission in Vacuo, she arrived in the hot desert kingdom just hours ago.

"I wonder how he's doing now." Ilia wonders, oblivious to everything that is going on with us, she knows about the Maidens but is still oblivious about the great threat that looms over the entire world. She has done some research on the way to Vacuo and found out that the four Maidens usually or on each of the four continents, so if her research is correct, then the Summer Maiden should be on the same continent as she is right now. That makes her both nervous and excited to meet her, but she isn't her priority right now. She traveling through a small desert at this time, her goal is to make it to Shade academy and rest there for two days before setting off to find the underground base. Thanks to her Reptilian Fanus biology she is able to withstand the punishing heat that burns down on everything that isn't under shade. But that doesn't stop her from at least sweating a good amount.

"I gotta get out of this heat. I should get to shade and cool down for a bit, maybe wait for night and get out of this desert." Ilia plans to herself, she talks to herself when she is alone just like I do so that's another plus for her.

And she does just that, about two hours of rest and cooling down later, she gets back up and travels in the much cooler temperature, it's not night but it is much more bearable. The past few months of traveling for her has been mostly uneventful, except for a few scuffles with a bandit every now and again, but they all seemed to stop after the first couple of tries, and that was just to get out of Mistral. She heard about a train getting blown up back in Mistral, but she didn't pay much mind into it since the Kingdom currently had its saviors there, or so she thinks. She left before she can find out what Team RNJR and RWBY is doing right now, going on their own little adventures to different parts of the worlds to both defend and try to recruit the other Maidens, and to guard the other relics. She left the same day she talked to me about her plan to avoid any confrontation from anyone who would try to stop her, she made it out just in time before Blake started yelling her name. Then proceeded to slap me once and forgave me the next day. As she thinks on about what happened in the past and the choices she has made, she laughs at some of them and cringes at the others. Ever since Blake left the Fang it made things a little more… difficult to say the least. She still wonders if she made the right choice betraying the White Fang in order to help Blake and her family on the fateful day in Menagerie. But she has learned that it is way too late to start regretting things now.

Before she can think any more on her past choices, a Grimm shoots itself out of the soft sand, as it should. Ilia jumps back and throws off her cloak, revealing her to be in her usual fighting uniform. She whips out her lighting whip/sword, and without hesitation attacks this new Grimm. This Grimm is a very rare kind that is exclusive to the deserts of Vacuo, and rarely is spotted in other hot areas with a soft ground. Ever heard of the Mongolian Death worm? Well imagine that in a Grimm form and there you go, except this particular type of Grimm as been named the 'Sanus Death Wurm' or Grimm-wurm for short. This Grimm-worm has bone-armour plates all along the top of its body, while the bottom has no armour it is still very tough to penetrate, It has millipede like legs that can act as hooks and can also help with its digging and tunneling. In addition to the armour plating on its back, it has some sort of red dorsal fin that goes down the entire length of its body from what Ilia can see. So it might be able to travel from continent to continent by the ocean if it wishes. Finally, the head is shaped like a sea dragons, but what's different about it is the way the jaw is shaped differently and also has bone armour all over it, and the snout is more rounded and ridgid. It has red markings that trail down from its snout and all the way down its long body all the way to it's tail, and of course the eyes are the traditional glowing bloody red that screams 'I'm going to touch your skin violently.' It roars a animalistic high pitched roar at Ilia as she charges bravely into battle, her skin color changing to a Dark Yellow to indicate Bravery, also to match in with the color of the sand around her. Luckily for her this is a rather young Grimm-wurm, so it is not nearly as tough as it's elders.

"Good, I'll be able to penetrate its hide." Ilia mutters to herself as the adrenaline begins to kick in.

Another lucky thing that just happens to be the case for this type of Grimm is its highly susceptible to Lightning attacks, and it just chose possibly one of the worst targets to attack, of all time. The Grimm-wurm opens its mandibles to reveal a spear like tongue that is disgustingly long, at almost lightning speed it launches its tongue out in an effort to stab its prey and bring her into its disgusting mouth. But Ilia sees this coming and rolls out of the way just in time, and counters with her whips, whipping it on the tongue once and causing the creature to suck it back in and recoil back to howl in pain. Ilia uses this small opening to get in closer, but doesn't get too close since the Grimm-wurm digs itself back into the sand beneath them. Ilia quickly looks around to find some sort of rock foundation or at least a harder ground to stand on as she predicts the Grimm-wurm to attack her from below, and if that happens it's bad news for everyone. Seeing no other option however, Ilia braces herself to pull off some ninja shit so she doesn't end up getting eaten, time seems to slow as she feels the ground beneath her begin to vibrate and her feet begin to sink into the sand. The same second the Grimm-wurms nose touches her foot she jumps up as high as she can, although it's not that high because of the soft ground it's high enough so she could avoid getting caught in its mouth. Time flows back normal speed as the Grimm-wurm launches out of the ground, attempting to catch it's prey in its jaws. But Ilia has other plans, she flips off of the nose of the creature and lands on the top of its head, using the armour plates between the neck and head as support for her feet. The monster roars in displeasure and shakes its head in an attempt to shake her off. Ilia barely hangs on to its head and tries to stab the Wurm in one of its eyes, but due to the violent shaking and strain from trying to keep herself where she is, she misses and only scratches it just underneath its eye, barely missing the space between the jaws and almost got disarmed because of it.

"Well that's not going to work." Ilia mutters to herself through gritted teeth, her grip finally fails and she tumbles of the side of the Grimm-wurm, but luckily for her the soft sand below breaks her fall so she is relatively unscathed, but dazed from the height she fell from. She recovers just in time to dodge another attempt from the creature to stab her with its tongue. "Okay, enough of these games!" Ilia shouts at the creature angrily, her facial features now Dark Red to represent Anger and Hatred. She expertly dodges the next three attacks from the monster, appearing to be a blur of black and red. She closes the distance between herself and the creature and slashes and the softer underbelly, creating a large gash in its skin and making it howl in pain again as it feels the electricity course through its body before dispersing back out into the sand. Before it can try to get back into the sand to try to come up with another sneak attack, Ilia in a flurry of yellow lighting, stabs and slashes at the monster in every which place and way imaginable. Now the Wurm is bloodied and wounded and several of its digging claws have been either whipped off or cut off. It falls onto its side but is still alive. Ilia quickly runs up to its head and finishes it off with one final stab, using the whip part of her weapon to impale it through one eye and out the other, effectively killing the young Grimm.

Ilia falls on her butt and pants heavily, the short battle against this rare creature has taken its toll on her body, even though she never took and really damage except for maybe a bruise on her side from falling off of its head.

"Not the smartest Idea I ever had, i'll admit." Ilia says to herself as she goes through what has just happened through her head. The large creature just in front of her begins to dissipate quickly, the larger they are the faster they fade away. In just two minutes all that is left is a pile of Black ash, and a nasty stench left behind.

Just as she thinks that she is in the clear, she feels the sand beneath her begin to vibrate softly again. She jumps up quickly and looks around for any dorsal fins that belong to the same type of creature that she had just slain. In the far distance she can see a massive red fin sticking out of the sand as it passes by, at least five times larger and longer then the one she had just faced. Her eyes widen in fear and she does a 180 to head back in the direction she came to find some of the rocks that she rested under.

" _Yeah i'm just going to steer clear of that one."_ Ilia thinks to herself as she runs. If a young one could almost get her, she doesn't even want to imagine what would happen.

From what she had learned from the scuffle she just had, this type of Grimm can feel the vibrations in the sand from where your standing and come right for you. Since their eyesight doesn't seem to be as good. But something stops her, the soft vibration ceases and she looks back over to where she saw the massive looking Grimm-wurm. But it looks like it has been injured, part of its top fin have been sliced, and traces of blue lightning can be seen throughout its body. She can almost make out the outline of someone made out of the same Blue electricity but is waaaay too far to confirm that it is in the shape of a person. After a few more lighting strikes onto the Wurm, the creature digs itself underground to escape it's attacker. The Sanus Death Wurm may be one of the deadliest creature of Grimm on Remnant, but also has a weakness that no other creature of Grimm has. It can't adapt to become immune to what injured it after it survives an encounter, so it will always be damaged by whatever manages to break through it's armour, but if it manages to get to the size of the one Ilia has just witness no matter what you have it may not be enough to put it down for good. Just as quick as the little fight came, it vanishes just as fast, the only remains of the fight being a few patches of glass and melted sand in the ground. Not that Ilia can see it though, at the distance she is at.

"Man, things just get weirder by the day, alright let's get out of this desert." Ilia tells herself, the goal changed right back to where it started at the beginning of the day. Oh how things just love to run in circles.

* * *

 **Three years ago, unknown location.**

 _It was a rainy day at the Black household, something tragic has just happened inside the house. Apparently, Marcus Black has been hiding his assassin background from his wife of ten years. Mercury told her after his father had forcibly sedated him and replaced his human legs with bionic ones. He was entrusted with this secret long ago during one of his harsh training sessions, his father made sure not to pull any of his punches in order to 'Toughen up his son'. He could handle it well at first but taking his legs was a step too far, against his own sons will no less. The memory still present in his head as he still bleeds from the stumps of his legs, while they are attached to the bionics._

" _C'mon Merky, you'll be even stronger then me with these enhancements."_

" _Dad… please… stop." Mercury tiredly mutters, already half conscious from the vicious beating his own father had just given him._

 _Mercury has been strapped to a table, all of his clothes off dave for his underwear. He is bruised all over on the left side of his body from when he awkwardly landed on a rock after being surprise attacked by his father. What terrifies him the most is the tool table beside him, complete with a various amount of saws, scalpels, and what scares him the most, black gloves, at this moment is when he finally realizes that his father is bat shit crazy._

" _M-m-mom." Mercury fearfully and futilely chokes out just before he falls unconscious from the sedative._

" _Oh Merky, you always were a mama's boy, I'll be sure to take care of that while you're asleep~." Marcus almost sings that last part out in the most disturbing way possible. He's been slowly losing his mind ever since his last mission, which required him to assassinate two young children just for them being faunus and living in a human exclusive village. He used to not enjoy doing what he does, but did it for the money, but over the years he slowly lost more and more of his sanity and his sense of reality, to the point of no return. It only_

 _Hours later and the operation was complete, Mercury human legs were discarded in a blue bin and he has brand new installed bionic legs. Throughout the whole operation Mercury was as silent as a stone. Unable to react or feel anything that is happening to him. Marcus wipes sweat from his brow and heaves, proud of his work. On the table now is a much more pale Mercury due to blood loss, his legs replaced with strong Bionic ones, and blood all over the table and floor._

" _Now for the bitch." Marcus says to himself in a much more sinister tone._

* * *

 _Even more hours later, it is now the dead of night. Mercury finally wakes up from his comatose state. Snapping up to a sitting position, instantly remembering what took place just before he was strapped to the table. He looks around the room in slight panic until his eyes lock on a certain blue bin in the room, he sees his severed legs in there and widens his eyes in shock._

" _N-no, that's impossible, I feel my legs right here-." Mercury's voice cuts off instantly the moment he sees his new legs, he lip quivers in fear and shock, then eventually screams a bloodcurdling scream as he falls off the table and claws at the legs. He cant feel pain there, but he feels a phantom pain and feels his hands on those very legs. "No… he didn't actually..." Mercury mumbles as tears fall from his eyes, but soon he just begins to get angry with his father, swearing that he is going to beat the shit out of him, no matter how much better his father is then he is, and he hasn't even unlocked his semblance yet. He gets back up on his feet, albeit a bit wobbly out of the inexperience with prosthetic legs, and kicks the locked from the outside door open. After he does that he jumps in place a bit to test out his new legs, it's odd to him how legs he knows aren't his can feel so natural and strong._

" _At least he actually managed to make me stronger with these enhancements." Mercury thinks to himself as he moves his foot around in a circle, listening to the soft robotic sounds that it makes with every movement. Mercury sets his foot back down and takes a deep breath, while he was unconscious his aura healed his body almost perfectly, so he is ready for a fight. Before he heads out he wraps his hands in the tape he uses when he trains, not saying a word or even thinking of anything else besides what he is about to attempt. After tightening them one last time he readies himself for most likely a very bloody and messy fight. He thinks himself to be at least equal to his father now with the bionic enhancements he has just received. He is confident in his ability to at the very least fatally wound him. That is until he hears a scream of pain and fear coming from his house. That voice belongs to the one person he loves the most. His mother._

" _Mom!" Mercury shouts as he sprints out of the door, running at an inhuman speed he doesn't bother to acknowledge given the situation. He breaks down the door to his house and heads into the living room where he thinks the scream came from… only to find the body of his dying mother in the middle of the room with several stab wounds that were specifically placed in parts of the body to make the pain last the longest before the victim died. "Oh god no!" Mercury cries as he slides next to his mother, lifting her head to lean it on his leg._

 _His barely conscious black haired mother manages to open her gray eyes to look at her son. She smiles despite the tremendous amount of pain she is going through at the moment. "Oh… Mercury, you're here."_

" _Don't talk, just breathe, I'm going to get you some help." Mercury says through his tears as he carefully pulls out the knife that is still in her side. Upon further inspection he notices that her Achilles tendon on both legs have been sliced beyond repair, so even if she made it through tonight she'd never be able to walk again no matter how hard her aura worked to heal her._

" _It's… too late for me my son." Mercury's mother sadly states, somehow finding the strength to lift her hand to touch her son's cheek just one last time._

" _No! You said it yourself before, it's never too late for anything!" Mercury cries, pointing out something she said to him weeks ago. She told him 'it's never too late for anything, just like it is never too late for you to change who you are.'_

" _Heh, I love you Mercury… I always will." Those are her last words, before she succumbs to her injuries in her sons arms._

 _Mercury doesn't even say anything else, he knows when someone is dead and cant be brought back. Her injuries are just too much for an aura transfer to heal. He curses is father under his breath as his tears dry on his face. As he seethes with anger, smoke begins to pour out of his body, rising to the ceiling, then Mercury screams out of anger and loss of his mother, the smoke exploding out of his body and destroying the windows of his home, knocking over the candles that lit up the room._

" _Finally!" Mercury's head snaps to the direction of the voice, he sees his father with his deceased wife's blood on his hands and clothes. He changed into his combat clothes after finishing the operation on his son. Expecting him to not be happy with the choices he made. Little does he know he's about to bite off more than he can chew. "After all this time of trying to beat the semblance out of you, all it took was your mothers help. Huh, who knew Olivia was the key this whole time."_

" _Do NOT say her name! I'm going to kill you for what you did to us!" Mercury screams through grit teeth, right now all he sees is red._

" _Oh c'mon Merky, it was the only way! You should be thanking me for what I did for you." Marcus psychotically responds with a smile on his face that can only show true happiness. Despite the disturbing situation they are all in._

" _You're not my father_ _ **Marcus**_ _, you're just another target to me now." Mercury says in a emotionless tone. His face now void of emotion, but on the inside he has the most intense anger and hatred for his father that he has ever felt before._

" _Ouch, that hurt. Do you really think you can beat me Mercury?" Marcus replies in a much more serious tone and calling his son by his actual name instead of the nickname he gave him ages ago. Not liking it one bit that his own son called him by his real name instead of father or dad._

" _No… I know that I can_ _ **kill**_ _you." Mercury sinisterly answers as he stands up after gently setting down his mother's body and closing her eyes._

 _Marcus smiles at his sons declaration, actually proud of him for feeling that way. "That's the spirit son. When I win I'll make sure to wipe your memory, get rid of all the fun and love just like my father did to me before I killed him myself. One day you'll thank me just like I thanked him as I watched the life fade away from his eyes."_

 _Mercury widens his eyes at the news of his grandfather's demise, but doesn't feel bad in the slightest, he knows that if he did that to his father then he was just as bad, or worse. This cycle of Patricide has been in the Black family ever since the Great war years ago. "No… after I kill you, the cycle ends."_

" _Then shut the fuck up and do something about it, all this talking is making my throat dry."_

 _And Thus, the death battle with Father against Son began._

 _Mercury starts off my launching himself at his father with his newfound smoke semblance, using the very legs his father forced onto him to kick him through the wall and outside of the house. Mercury stands in the hole and jumps down to the ground, the candles that were knocked over earlier have set fire to the drapes somehow. The house that the Black family have lived in is now burning to the ground as the last two members of the Black family fight to the death. Marcus uses the momentum from his son's kick to wrap his hand around a telephone pole and launch himself right back at his son. All with a sadistic grin on his face as he kicks his son back into the foundation of the house. Luckily Mercury's aura protects him with a flash of gray, but not saving him from being dazed. Marcus dashes in front of him faster than his eyes can see and slams his knee into his face, making his head bounce off the concrete of the foundation, cracking it even. Then Markus grabs his son by the collar of his shirt and lifts him off the ground with ease, before throwing him into the car a couple of meters to the right of them, effectively destroying it due to the robotic enhancements he gave to him. Mercury spits up saliva at the moment of impact to the car before falling to his hands and knees. He barely lifts his head high enough to spot his father sprinting at him to deliver another knee to his face. He rolls out of the way at the last second and Marcus' knee instead hits the car, destroying it even more. He tries to pull it out but the metal of the car is keeping it in place and Mercury takes advantage of this, kicking his father's knee in an attempt to break it, but to his surprise all he hears is metal ringing out instead of bones cracking. Marcus smiles down at his son before he rips his knee out of the car, his pants got ripped up from the car and he reveals to his son that he also as Bionic legs. Now Mercury understands how he was so good at fighting with his legs, and how his strikes were so powerful._

" _C'mon Merky you can do better than that!" Marcus taunts as he once again kicks his son away, sending him tumbling down the hill. Mercury stops himself and looks back up to his father, who uses his semblance to fire off some projectiles made up of smoke toward him. During training he saw those projectiles hit trees, stone, and even a person. He also knows how much they hurt. But using his new legs to his advantage he kicks every projectile right out of the air in a stylish display of kicks and skill. Even sending back some of his own with his semblance. Marcus doesn't expects this and takes one of them right to the chest, taking a good chunk out of his aura as he recoils back from the surprise. But still smiles at how fast his own son got strong. Mercury fires off several more but they are either redirected, blocked, or dodged as his father dashes back toward him. In another amazing display of adaptability Mercury actually meets his father's foot with his own kick. A small shockwave can be seen travel across the grass around them as they collide. Without a second thought from either they get into a flurry of kicks, smoke, and punches as they attempt to put down each other. Marcus lands more hits on his son because of his experience but takes a few hits of his own, sme managing to damage him through his aura. But he makes sure to return the favor by nearly breaking his sons aura with a savage kick to his head that nearly breaks his neck. Busting his lip and giving him a black eye even through his aura. But he fights through the pain and while he is down, delivers his own savage kick to the midsection of Marcus, catching him off guard since he was about to start taunting his son again. But his aura keeps him from taking any serious damage. To any normal man that would've shattered there ribs and punctured their lungs, but Marcus is not a normal man. Now content with showing his son his true power, he unleashes a explosion of smoke that knocks his son away, farther down the path. He kicks in all directions while shooting off smoke projectiles, but instead of firing them at his son, what looks like to be a massive cloud of smoke forms above the two Blacks._

" _Surprised? I like to call this move 'The last thing you'll see'. Since everyone I use it on dies." Marcus says with a grin as he readies to do one final axe kick to launch the projectiles all at once. The life of his son means nothing to him at this point, all he cares about is winning this fight._

 _Mercury watches in awe as his father smirks and does one last Axe kick, sending all of the projectiles down at his own son at once. The last time he used this attack was only thirty armed and armoured guards when he got caught during one of his assassination missions, every single one of them was turned into a red paste. Mercury snaps himself out of his stunned state and rolls out of the way of the first few but quickly realizes that he can't dodge all of them. He starts to kick away some of the projectiles and even fires off some of his own to cancel out others. But no matter how many he manages to block or dodge, he slips on the wet grass and that's is where the battle turns from being even to one sided. The last fifty projectiles all hit their mark, all over his body. Out of pure luck, Mercury was able to survive the attack, but his aura is now down at zero. One downside about this massive scale attack for Marcus is that it drains a LOT of aura and energy, to the point where Marcus actually runs out of aura. He nearly falls to his knees due to exhaustion after the rest of the smoke collides with his son. Mercury, now bloodied and bruised, and his stitches reopening under the bandages he put on earlier, barely manages to push himself back up to his feet. Again out of pure luck and quick thinking, while he was down he managed to bring his legs up to block most of the attacks. That is the only reason he is still alive and not a red stain in the grass right now. Marcus widens his eyes in disbelief after witnessing his son rise up after taking the attack that can kill thirty men. For the first time in a very long time he is doubting himself to win a fight._

 _Mercury with all the energy he has left, surprises himself and dashes back toward his father. His father can barely react in time to block the kick that goes straight for his face. But his guard is easily broken as Mercury performs a switch kick, breaking his guard and depleting the last drops of Marcus' aura. Marcus yells in pain as his arms nearly break from trying to foolishly catch the kick. Mercury stomps toward his father who is now on his knees and kicks him in the face just like he did to him almost every training session, breaking his nose and giving him a bloody black eye of his own. The feeling he gets from beating his father is so satisfying to him that he can't stop himself. Marcus made the mistake of underestimating his son and overestimating his own endurance, and that angers him. He jumps back up to his feet and gets locked in a bloody brawl with his son, neither of them even able to lift their legs off the ground high enough to use them offensively. The whole time they stare into eachothers eyes as the beat each other. Mercury is the first to prioritize defense as his father pummels his guard. Both of their hands are bloody and both of cuts, scrapes, and bruises all over their body at this point. At the same time to two seem to be out of energy and both fall over, laying next to each other for a short time before Marcus pulls out a knife from the pocket on the side of his leg. Simultaneously, they push themselves back up and Marcus slashes his knife down his own sons left eye, barely missing it by a hair. Mercury falls backward to dodge and uses his momentum to lift his leg and kick the knife out of his hand. He pushes off the ground and flips back on to his feet._

' _Back to square one I guess.' Mercury thinks to himself as the two Blacks eye each other, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike or counter. Each go through dozen of possible moves the other could make over the several seconds that pass. They are both injured, weakened, and bloodied. The next one to land a powerful hit will win this fight. Time slows as Father and Son both go for a classic roundhouse, intending to kick the others head off. Marcus smiles to himself and his pupils constrict, knowing that his leg enhancements are superior to his sons, and without aura to protect their legs he would end up kicking his sons bionic leg off. Imagine the look on his face when Mercury instead ducks under the kick, before using the momentum from his dodge to spin and land a savage kick to his ribs, cracking and breaking all of them. Marcus is sent flying down the mountain, then rolls down several feet, before finally skidding to a stop on his face in the dirt, bloodied and dying. Mercury slowly walks toward his father, barely able to stand anymore after that grueling fight, his black and gray tank top may as well be useless with how soaked it is, his hands bloodied and his legs bleeding profusely where they were severed, the only thing stopping him from bleeding out is his own willpower and the tiniest amount of aura that just managed to regenerate just in time to save his life. He stops just before he gets to his father's body. He spits on his corpse and begins to walk away, but just as he turns around he sees two young women staring at him. One with shoulder length black hair that covers one of her eyes, amber eyes that look like they're about to catch flames, and wearing some sort of red dress meant for fighting in, her face looks beautiful but intimidating at the same time. The other has the same length hair but a minty color, Blood Red eyes, a green sports bra, and her weapons can be seen in the sheathe on her back, unlike the other one she looks to be ready to kill Mercury on the spot. The way they are looking at him nearly makes him attack them right there, but he controls his anger and asks,_

" _What the fuck are you looking at?" Mercury growls out as he pants from his fight._

" _We are looking for Marcus Black." Cinder states, ignoring his question outright._

 _Mercury looks back at his father's body and spits on it again, then looks back to the two women and gestures to his body with his hand. "There he is."_

" _That's the assassin?" Emerald asks, shocked with the fact that the 'Master Assassin' himself have been slain in single combat._

" _And you're his son." Cinder states, gaining a cocky smirk on her face. A change of plans have been made, and now she has a new person to recruit._

 _Mercury wipes his nose of blood as he stares silently at the woman. Silently answering her question since he doesn't even want to admit that he was his father's son._

" _We saw your fight from the treeline, he taught you well." Cinder continues, revealing that Mercury was being watched the whole time, but he doesn't seem to care as he just wipes his bleeding nose of blood once again._

" _Guess so." Mercury calms down a little bit, not trusting them and expecting them to attack him for killing Marcus, but something in the look of Cinders eyes just makes him feel at ease for some reason that he can't explain._

" _What's your name?" Cinder asks, wearing the same smirk on her face._

 _Mercury does not trust them one bit, but if he is about to die despite what happened he might as well give them a name to be written in the history books._

" _Mercury." He answers after a few seconds._

" _Mercury… Tell me, are you anything like your father?" Cinder asks, her smirk widening into almost a flirty grin, despite the chaos of a burning house and a dead body just beside them._

 _Mercury can already tell where this is going, since he killed his father he has shown them that he is better than him, despite all the luck he had throughout the fight. Whatever they wanted Marcus to do for them, now they want him to do it. Not seeing any other possible option, Mercury answers the question,_

" _I'm better in every way."_

* * *

 _Hours later, the burning house collapses, and Marcus wakes up and curls himself in pain as the pain of his broken ribs makes itself known with every movement he makes. When Mercury kicked him, his rubs just missed his vital organs, an inch closer in this direction or that direction and he would've been a goner. Marcus coughs up blood and lays on his side, letting his aura do the work._

" _Fucking kid, even with my aura and with surgery it will take years to heal this up." Marcus thinks to himself before he passes out again. He will survive from his injuries, and will make his son's life a living hell when he heals himself up, he can't go to any hospitals because he is a known assassin, all that bragging has finally caught up to him to bite him in the ass. Just before he falls unconscious he smiles one more time, already thinking of ways to deal with his son to punish him for what he did to him._

* * *

 **Present, somewhere in the mountains of Solitas**

"The worst part about him is that I somehow still feel like he's around, hiding in the shadows somewhere and waiting for the perfect opportunity to stab me in the back. Even though I know he is dead." Mercury finishes his story, throughout the whole telling his face stayed stone cold and expressionless, but on the inside it tore him apart. After what happened, being forced to kill again and needing to gain RWBY's trust, he decided it was time to tell this story for the second time ever, the first time being with his recently deceased friend. Even if she already knew all about it.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang throughout the sad story are all stunned to hear the depressing past of Mercury, Ruby and Yang lost their mother, but if they lost her the same way Mercury lost his they don't know how they would have taken it, or had the will to do something about it afterward, Blake and Weiss feel terrible for their former enemy. Of course, all the girls have some resentment toward him because of his lies, manipulation, and doing what he did at Beacon, but now they understand that he is truly trying to change now. Yang looks down at her cybernetic arm, she can relate to Mercury about not wanting any prosthetic limbs for a time, even though Mercury had it much much worse. After the past several weeks they have actually grown closer to Mercury, and slowly beginning to trust him bit by bit, slowly but surely. They've learned that the Mercury that they knew is actually not even close to how he really is, it's all been some act that he has kept up for years to hide how he really feels.

"I'm so sorry." Ruby says, tears threatening to escape her eyes after hearing all of that. Any resentment she may have had toward the former assassin and enemy is now gone. The rest of RWBY all nod, feeling the same way but not voicing it out.

"There's no need, he's dead and that's all there is to it, if somehow he's not, then I'll kill him again." Mercury says bitterly as he stand up and sits against a tree with some padding beside it. Preparing to go to sleep.

"It's not 'all good.' Obviously this is still bothering you. But we won't force you to talk to us if you don't want to." Blake points out before returning to silence and staring back into the flames.

The rest of the night is silent, and everyone is left with just their thoughts. They made it to Solitas, which is the continent that Atlas resides on just a couple of days ago. Over time they noticed Mercury began to act differently around them, but around strangers and during fights he would revert back to his old self. They confronted him about this constant changing of personality and attitude just tonight and that was how Mercury responded. In all honesty though, Mercury wasn't even intending on letting that much of his past out. It all just kind of came to him without thinking. He has been hiding his emotions for so long that he doesn't know how to let him out and the way he feels after letting them out after a very long time is unfamiliar to him. He doesn't bother to think about it much more and lets himself succumb to sleep.

* * *

 **Salem's castle**

After his short spat with Hector where he was promptly pinned against the walls and defeated in seconds. Marcus used his evolved semblance to fly his way back to Salem's castle in just a couple of hours. He enters the room with the long table and see's only Salem sitting in her usual throne. He reforms himself back into his physical body and wiggles a bit to shake off the weird feeling he gets every time he uses his semblance that way.

"Whew, looking a bit empty in here ain't it?" Marcus points out as he sits on the other side of the table, perpendicular to Salem herself.

" **What happened?"** Salem asks, ignoring the little quip to her rather large loss of allies.

"I thought you'd know that by now, can't you see through the eyes of literally any Grimm on the planet?" Marcus asks, once again ignoring Salem's death glare that hse always gives him.

" **Answer the question!"** Salem yells, slamming her hands on the table as she loses her patience with the white haired assassin.

"Alright alright chill, that Hector guy you told me to stay away from caught me just ask I was about to take the Maiden away. Pinned me up against the wall and beat me quickly, I've never faced such a powerful opponent before." Marcus says with a psychotic grin that could've rivaled Tyrians if he was still alive.

" **So I've noticed,"** Salem says, calming down after finally getting an answer out of the annoying man. " **I have a change of plans for you."**

"Oh? Another mission already? You must like me."

" **Shut up and listen. Your son is still alive."** Salem points out. Already Marcus can tell where this is going and his grin devolved back to a small smirk.

"I know, and?" Marcus asks in a much more serious and angry tone.

" **He was meant to die, but he somehow managed to survive and align himself with the silver eyed girl. I need you to find him, and kill him and whoever gets in your way, if you also kill the silver eyes girl I'll even give you a bonus, she's been getting much to powerful for my liking and too quickly, soon she might become a greater threat then the last one I slayed."**

"Last one you slayed? Pfft, I doubt that there was never a body." Marcus laughs after pointing that out.

" **You are walking and very thin ice Marcus."** Salem says slowly and through gritted teeth. It is true that she won her encounter with the silver eyed warrior pretty easily, but after her last attack that nearly destroyed the moon the body was never found. She assumes that it was completely destroyed along with part of the moon but this Marcus has been teasing her about it every chance he gets.

"Back on track then. Good I've been waiting for a chance to get back at the little shit. Where do I start looking?" Marcus asks, changing personas and enters his 'Assassin mood.' Salem likes this particular persona of Marcus because he keeps it simple and obeys. It is one of his redeeming qualities that makes having him around slightly easier. She would have killed him weeks ago if she didn't have a need for allies at the moment.

" **One of my Ravens spotted him with the girls on Solitas, start there and do not return until you complete your mission.**

Marcus stand up from his chair and bows to the Grimm Queen, "It will be done." Marcus says as his body dissipates into gray smoke and flies back out the window he entered through. He directs himself into the wind heading Northeast, which should at the very least bring him to the border of Solitas, after that is when he can start his search.

' _Oh Merky, can't wait to see the look on your face when you see me again.'_

* * *

 **AN- WOO I honestly think that this is the best chapter in terms of quality for this story yet! I haven't been this into writing a chapter since the battle of haven arc.**

 **Before anyone asks, Summer MIGHT be in this story. I'm just teasing it a bit to see if you guys actually want her or not. I already have a plan for her if you guys have a positive reaction to the little tease I put in here. But if not, well she's going to stay dead.**

 **Another thing before anyone asks, the reason nobody remembers the Moon being shattered is because Ozpin used his magic and the relic of knowledge to wipe everyone's memories of the Moon being full in the first place. So to everyone on Remnant it has just always been shattered.**

 **What do you guys think of this chapter? The story so far? Are you wondering the same thing about how the hell this story went from not so serious to serious as shit.**

 **Uh oh, how are RWBY and Mercury going to react to their new enemy?**

 **Next chapter will be with Team RNJR and will mainly focus on Hector training Rhea with the help of Ozpin of course, and maybe Tai Idk. But there is going to be a little twist.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of this story, and as always thank you all for reading my story and thank you if you enjoyed it enough to read this far into it.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	25. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 24

**AN- Here we are with another one, Thanks to all of my reviewers from last chapter**

 **AssessAndConclude- I have a different plan for Neo and she won't be running into Marcus anytime soon. I've already said too much, thanks for the review!**

 **Zeldawolffang- I'll think about it, but after all the positive feedback from the little tease I showed it's definitely a good possibility.**

 **Astra- Trust me i've already come up with dozens of cutesy and intense moments that all of our characters could have. And to that last thing, no Bahamut is not a thing in this story but maybe one day I'll introduce it, Summer and Salem both fought each other one on one and unfortunately Summer lost. Thanks for the review and your kind words.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Hector is friends with everyone, Ilia is actually one of the characters he doesn't know much about since he didn't do a lot of thinking about her during his time in the real world, so out of everyone she is closest to a "stranger" on the side of the good guys, excluding all the random civilians and new enemies of course. Ilia isn't really a heavy hitter of sort but she is definitely powerful, she just uses her speed and skill to stab, whip, and slash so fast and so many times and before the enemy realizes it they are already full of holes. That's what happened to the Grimm-wurm, and of course that may or may not happen ;). I had a goal of showing you guys that at least in my story Mercury wasn't always a dickhead, and I had to give everyone some insight on how Marcus is alive after that last chapter before people started calling it bullshit, i'm glad it came out as well as it did. Marcus has gotten a few disorders over the years, one of those disorders happens to be split personality of sort, there's a serious one, and the psychotic taunting one. Salem prefers the more serious one obviously, and she could kill him very easily but as much as she hates to admit it she needs him to make her plans go a little smoother. Salem and Summer fought on Remnant by the way, Salem's finishing blow was what destroyed the moon, I don't think Summer can survive in the vacuum of space but it would be awesome now that I think about it. Thanks for the review and I look forward to your next one!**

 **Well since literally every review I got last chapter gave me positive feedback about last chapter and wants Summer. So I'm here with the good news that the probability of her making becoming an addition to this story definitely skyrocketed. Luckily I already have a plan for her, and it involves… something that will surprise you ;).**

 **I have my next serious story that will take most of my attention after this one is either done or close to it, It's one that I've been thinking about since the last episode Red vs Blue Revelation. Seriously, when I start that one it's gonna take AGES until it's finished, and it's going to feature a certain very dangerous mute. The tile of this story is** " **Red vs Blue AU: The Meta lives"** **and just by the title you should already know what is going to make this Red vs Blue story an AU. But this story is FAAAAR from even being started so I'll just leave that hanging in the air for the next couple of months or maybe even a year or maybe even more than that. Or maybe i'll surprise you all and start it tomorrow. You'll never know, I just noticed that Red vs Blue doesn't really have a lot of fanfictions and I had a dream about the Meta/Maine fighting Felix and Locus, so that sparked this idea. Tell me what you think about it!**

 **And now that everything I wanted to cover is covered lets get on with next chapter of this story!**

* * *

Chapter 24- Training the Wolf

I wake up still in my sitting position from watching over Rhea. I had a dreamless night which is much more preferable than the previous nights, I look over to the still sleeping Maiden as I stand up and begin my little morning stretch routine.

"It looks like she is sleeping peacefully, despite almost everyone she knew has died brutally." I whisper quietly so I don't wake her.

' _That… is brutally honest and disturbing that it came from you.'_

"Truth always hurts." I respond as I sit back down in the chair.

' _What are you going to do when she asks about the Fall Maiden before her then?'_

"I… don't know, when it comes it comes and we'll have to deal with it then."

' _The longer it takes the more it will hurt, she already trusts you and-'_

" _Oz how do you tell a young girl that you killed a part of them in the past? I can't just say "Hey, you know why you were so scared of me when we first met? Well I actually stabbed the last Fall Maiden in the chest with my hand, electrified her with enough volts to kill a hundred men, and then threw her into an abyss where she fell to her death." Yeah, it's a lot easier said than done."_ I reply again, this time thinking my answer to Ozpin just in case Rhea is awake.

' _Hector, take this from a multi-milenia year old man, the longer you hide the truth the more damage it will do when it is eventually revealed. I can't force you to tell her but know that it needs to be done soon.'_ Ozpin lectures.

"Damn it, I hate it when you're right." I respond after a few moments of thinking on what he said.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Holy shi- okay how long have you been awake?" I ask the now awake Fall Maiden, startled by the sudden sound of her voice.

"Just about half a minute, It looked like you were focusing on something so I let you think until you realized I was awake. But when you spoke like someone else was in the room I got confused." Rhea explains, stretching her arms out and yawning.

' _Well she is certainly a smart one.'_

"Yeah, I tend to do that a lot." I mention, attempting to dodge her question from earlier and failing miserable.

"That doesn't answer my question though." Rhea points out, crossing her arms and squinting her eyes at me suspiciously.

" _Do I have your permission 'Oh powerful wizard?'"_

' _Please don't call me that…'_

" _I'll take that as a yes."_

"Alright smart girl let me elaborate than." I say as I get up and move to the end of her bed, placing my hands on the bed frame as I look her in the eyes with my own. "You might not believe me but this body actually has two souls, the one you're talking to right now, and the Headmaster of Beacon academy."

Rhea's eyes widen as she stares at me like I'm crazy, but then she tilts her head at me as she thinks more about it. "You mean the _deceased_ Headmaster of Beacon? The same one that hasn't been seen since the fall?"

I answer her question with a smirk and a bright green flash coming from my eye, letting Ozpin take control. Rhea feels a different aura entirely eveloup my body, now green instead of the usual dark red. Also, for the first time ever something else happens to my body when Ozpin takes control, my hair now changes to a silvery gray color, and my eye changes color from dark brown to a lighter shade of brown, even my skin turns paler to the point where it can me mistaken as someone else's skin. Overall I look like a much younger Ozpin with my features. Ozpin takes a deep breath and smiles at the young Maiden, who in turn widens her eyes even further at my transformation.

"Ah, I was wondering when this stage was going to come into play." Ozpin says in an echoing voice that merges both of our own.

' _Why does my everything feel different?'_

" _I'll explain later."_

"So? Does this answer your question?" Ozpin asks Rhea.

Rhea opens her mouth to respond but nothing comes out, she has lived in a mostly secluded village all her life with news about what is happening in the world coming every few weeks. The last news she got was about what happened at Haven. She had no idea that people like this existed. "W-wow, that is so cool!" Rhea shrieks as she jumps out of bed and grabs Ozpin's hands, looking up at him with gleaming eyes. Even her Faunus ears straighten up happily, if she had a tail I'd bet it would be wagging to. Then again she might have one but keeps it in her pants.

"Well, this was not the reaction I was expecting." Ozpin says with a chuckle.

"Everything about you looks so different now! Even your aura, it feels so powerful, not that the other guy's wasn't powerful or anything but yours is much different." Rhea points out.

"I can assure you that you haven't even seen the beginnings of either of our power." Ozpin informs with another chuckle.

"Really? Can I see?"

"I don't see why not."

' _Wait Oz are you sure this is a good-'_

Before I can finish that thought Ozpin hands me back the controls, all of my features return to normal in a flash of red.

"Time for this?" I finish my sentence unintentionally as I 'wake up'.

"Yes!" Rhea exclaims happily, letting her young age show itself for the first time in a long time. She certainly got over everything that happened yesterday fast, must be the Cinder part of her that came with her eyes and the power.

"Wait a sec I don't think you're ready to see that just yet." I say as I take my hands away from the young girls grasp.

"Why not?" Rhea pouts adorably, the added cuteness coming from her wolf ears twitching and almost flattening against her head.

"Because I don't want to scare you." I answer honestly, closing my eye and hanging my head at the memory of her being terrified of me even when I saved her from Marcus.

Rhea's mood does a complete 180 as she thinks of the same thing. She doesn't hang her head like I do but she is visibly saddened at the memory. "That's um… understandable." Rhea mutters as she grabs her elbow shyly.

"Before we get all depressed how about we have some breakfast huh? If you want to see it so bad I'll show you later." I say with a smile on my face, putting a hand on Rhea's shoulder. She smiles at how fast I can change the mood from sad to cheery so easily and nods at me

' _Oh my.'_

" _Oz I swear to god do that one more time and I'm finding a way to get you out of my body_."

' _Oh my.'_

" _ARGH!'_

"I'm going to go see if the others are awake, it's still pretty early so I might have to kick em out of bed again so if you hear a lot of thumping don't freak out." I joke despite knowing very well that they most likely kept watch the whole night in case any of those hybrids came by the house and the trolling I am receiving from Ozpin.

"Okay, I'm going to freshen up." Rhea says as she heads into the bathroom I didn't know was there. Geez how many restrooms does this guy have?

"Don't freshen up too much, today you and I are going to train." I mention with a wink, wait a second…

"Wait what-"

I close the door before she can properly come up with a response that I would have heard. I think it was among the lines of "Are you serious" or something else that would have been too incoherent to describe.

"You're going to train me?!" Okay so THAT's what she said, nearly busted my eardrum with that shriek even through the walls.

I chuckle as I walk to the next room beside me, thinking about the look that must be on her face after I left her with that little reveal. I knock on the door to the rest of my teams room and enter. Unsurprisingly, Ren and Nora are both asleep (in separate beds), Jaune must be awake still from his watch so he is either outside or downstairs. Nora has had the most sleep since she was quite depressed with the fact of having to Grimm hybrids who were once human not too long ago. I've managed to adjust to it quite quickly but it's going to be a while before my team can fully adjust. I move to Noras bed and sit next to her, gently nudging her to wake her up. Of course it's not going to be that easy, instead of waking up she grabs my arm and pulls me halfway into the bed with her monstrous sleeping strength, and trapping my arm between her head and shoulder and nuzzling into it.

"Oh gosh not again." I whine as I just let it happen, no use resisting at this point, if I try to pry myself away all it would do is cause chaos around the room. Geez how did Jaune handle this back at Beacon? He probably didn't have to since Ren and Pyrrha was always there to help him out.

"Oh dear, how is it that you are the one to always be at her mercy." Ren says in a tired voice as he pushes himself up to a sitting position on his bed.

"Help." I whisper loudly to him.

"Nora, stop that people are going to get the wrong idea." Ren states simply.

At the sound of Ren's voice Nora snaps her eyes wide open and shouts, "Pancakes?" Well it looks like someone doesn't feel too bad about yesterday. Too bad she didn't even let up on her grip on me at all.

"Oh good you're awake, makes this less awkward." I say as I finally manage to slip my hand out of her grasp.

"But you're so warm." Nora whines at the loss of her source of warmth.

"Well my semblance does make me hotter than Satan's asshole so that makes sense." I point out with a shrug. "So where is Jaune?"

"The last time I saw him was downstairs so he may still be there, Tai could very well be awake as well." Ren answers.

"Whats a Satan?" Nora asks, clueless of what I am talking about.

"Oh geez, basically the Salem of my old world to put it as simply as possible." I answer as I get up from the bed and head toward the door before I have to explain that. I am possibly the worst person to explain something like that. Luckily I make a quick escape before they could stop me, but before I close the door I remember what I came there for. "I got plans for all of us today since we managed to get to the Fall Maiden about two months ahead of schedule, so freshen up and I'll explain during breakfast." And with that I shut the door.

A couple minutes later and lo and behold everyone is at the dining table eating breakfast, Tai said he didn't have any pancake mix but somehow Ren managed to make some anyways. Honestly I think the guy keeps some in his magical back pocket at all times just for situations like these. Since Rhea doesn't really know anyone else and I gained most of her trust she is sitting next to me. She took down her hood to let out her wolf ears after we all insisted that we don't discriminate Faunus, it was a good step toward her trusting us more and we need to keep it up if we are ever going to fully earn her trust, I just happen to be a badass so I am on her good side so far. But thinking about showing of my full power to her is making me nervous, earlier it was implied that she might have gotten some of the previous Maidens memory and me showing off my red fiery aura might trigger something that will not be good for any of us, or she can just it can go the absolute opposite and do what she did when Ozpin transformed my body when I gave him control.

"So how did you lose your eye?" Rhea asks out of curiosity, I was the only one who didn't notice that she has been staring into my scar where my eye used to be. The rest of RNJR all wince at the question since they know that was a sensitive topic for me in the past. Despite me seemingly getting over it over the weeks afterwards when I was joking about it all the time. But that was with people I was comfortable with.

"I am cosplaying Snake from Metal Gear." I answer sarcastically, lazily turning my head to look at her. Rhea tilts her head in confusion at the reference I just made.

"Who?" Rhea asks, not catching on to my sarcasm.

"Nothing I was messing with you. I got into a really intense fight, almost lost and got infected with something nasty, I had to remove my eye in order for me to live." I answer, leaving out all the fucked shit that happened that night in the cave with Tyrian.

"I feel like there's a lot more to that story, but I'm sorry for asking." Rhea quickly mutters that first part out before she noticed my discomfort and apologized. Everyone keeps quiet and nervously shift in their chairs, for some reason or another.

"Why are you all being so quiet and awkward? It's not the end of the world when someone asks me about my eye. And to you it's not problem, maybe someday when I feel like it I'll tell you the full story." I point out with a chuckle to lighten the mood. Luckily it works and everyone chuckles along with me.

"So are you going to tell them or am I?" Tai asks, breaking the little moment we were all having.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about that." I look toward Jaune, Ren and Nora. They all look back with serious looks on their faces, ready to soak up whatever plan I have in store for them. "You guys are going to be training with Tai today."

Well that is not what they were expecting at all.

"In a form of fighting I've noticed that none of you are very familiar with. He just happens to be an expert in that form of fighting." I explain further, everyone quickly catches on to what I am saying and each let their heads fall onto the table, just missing their plates of food by mere inches.

"Do we have to?" Nora whines.

"Yes, one because I said so, and two because if any of you get disarmed while in a fight what are you going to do?" I bring up a fact that none of them like to admit, the only one who is actually a little decent in hand to hand is Nora, just because of her strength, Jaune has only ever trained with his sword and shield so you can just put that to your imagination, and Ren I actually don't know he is weak in that area or not, but judging from the not too worried look on his face he might at least have some experience. Well I guess we'll find out later.

"What am I going to do?" Rhea asks, already forgetting what I told her earlier.

"You, my young friend are going to be trained by me to control your powers." I reveal to the others for the first time. They all think it's crazy at first, but once they remember that I have went up against not one, but two Maidens in the past and killed one of them myself, they trust me to handle myself in case she gets too out of control.

"Oh yeah! You're going to show me how strong you are to right?" Rhea excitedly asks, geez this girl and her complete 180's.

"If you really want to I guess it'll be alright, for that I need Jaune here to make sure I don't end up killing myself." And with that Jaune, Ren, and Nora all head outside to wait for us.

"Why do you need him?" Rhea inquires, not knowing the abilities of anyone here besides a little bit of my own.

"Because power always comes at a price." I answer vaguely, though she understands that all too well if her time in the village was anything to go off by.

"I'm actually pretty curious myself, I've never seen you go all out before, I bet it would be a sight to see before I retire." Tai says, standing up to go outside with a smile on his face, it has been a while since he had anyone worthwhile to train since his daughter is somewhere on the other side of the world and the students at Signal aren't exactly a challenge. After he leaves the house I get up next and stretch my back, pushing my arms into the air above me and standing on the tips of my toes.

"Ahhh that felt good, well come on let's get this over with." Rhea stands up and we leave the house together, I tell her to stop by the others and keep walking a good couple meters away from the house, so I don't end up damaging it unintentionally. Jaune is on standby with his arms at the ready just in case I end up breaking myself again. After a couple of moments I drop into a lower stance with my hands at my hips and soon my body gains a familiar red flaming aura, purposely taking it slow to make it look more epic when I eventually release it all. Rhea hasn't ran away crying yet so everything is going well so far.

"Does his semblance have anything to with that red flame? I saw him engulfed in all that back at the village." Rhea asks with a curious look on her face as she observes me.

"Yes, that is one of the side effects that comes with his power." Ren answers for her.

"Just wait, it gets even better." Nora excitedly adds, she always likes it when I show off my power, it gives her goosebumps every time.

"Alright Rhea, this is when the good part comes in." I state with a smile on my face, my aura flares up even more and a wave of heat washes over everyone and everything around me. Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Tai all begin to sweat from the heat, but Rhea however is completely fine, instead she is just surprised that someone else can generate this much heat without having powers similar to hers.

"How are you not being affected by this?" Jaune asks when he notices Rhea not being affected by the heat.

"I got used to it." Rhea answers simply, not even looking at him when she did so.

"KaioKen!" I shout before anyone else can add anything more. Over the months I have trained my semblance and myself to go to higher levels of power, and while doing so actually lessening the unfortunate side effects that involve too much pain and possible seizures. While it is still possible I can now manage it more easily, and having Jaune around really helped out with pushing myself past my limit. Before Raven came and teleported us over here I may have destroyed a couple of acres of forest while I was training at full power. Luckily the only casualties were the unfortunate Grimm that were around so basically no harm was done. Another side effect of that training gave me the ability to raise my body temperature along with my power, so long explanation short I can rival the Fall Maidens heat when she gets pissed off now. Slowly I climb the levels of power that I have stored away within myself, the temperature around me begins to rise and the colors of my friends face turn red from the heat, and that's just from being a short distance away from me, imagine if I was in their faces fighting while fighting them.

"You think you can calm down with the heat?!" Tai shouts at me through the ripping winds I am causing.

I calm down on the heat a good bit and my friends sigh in relief as a cool breeze was over them. In truth I was just making myself as hot as possible in order to show Rhea that I can handle some heat, since even to me while I was holding her hand it was very warm to the touch. Probably because she was scared and had no control over her powers at the time since. I know that because when she grabbed my hands earlier when Ozpin took over they were normal temperature like everyone else's. I stop my flow of power suddenly, feeling my body instantly relax and my body cool down satisfyingly. I let out a long exhale and walk back toward my team, it wasn't full power, but I'm confident that it was more than enough to show off.

"Was that enough for you?" I ask the stunned Rhea.

"Well it was definitely enough for us. C'mon let him do his thing, I gotta get you guys into shape." Tai says as he beckons over the rest of my team. Jaune and Nora mentally ask me to reconsider this decision but I flick my head over the gesture them to get going. As the reluctantly walk by Ren gives me a nod.

"I'll make sure they don't die, don't worry." Ren jokes, wait…

"Did you just make a joke?" My answer was him shrugging as he made his way to join his longtime friends. "Well that was definitely a great answer that I understood completely." I mutter sarcastically with a roll of my eye. I notice that Rhea is still stunned and I wave my hand in front of her face. "Yo, you still there? Earth to- wait a sec- Remnant to Rhea here."

Rhea blinks her eyes a couple of times and her wolf ears twitch as she finally gets brought back into reality. "O-oh yes, sorry I was just… remembering something?" Rhea says that sentence as more of a question then a statement. Not sure herself of what was going through her head.

I frown unnoticeably at what she said, even if I keep it from her the power itself is going to share those memories, I wish I knew that was going to be a thing before I threw Cinder off of a cliff with a hole in her chest. "Yeah, remind me to tell you about the previous Fall Maiden after we're done training for today."

"Okay but I think you're going to have to tell me about everything if you want me to understand completely… how are we going to start? I never actually trained to fight before" Rhea points out, awkwardly raising her fists to get into a noobie fighting stance.

"I'm not exactly going to train you to fight with your fists, you need to learn how to control your power and that is going to be the main focus, once you get the hang of it we can think about getting you a weapon." I explain, pushing her fists down with one of my fingers.

"But what if I hurt you?!" Rhea cries out. "The last time I tried to control it I burned someone, and the second time I tried I almost burnt down the village."

"Which is why I am here. Go all out." I demand nonchalantly.

"Huh?"

"I said go all out, I can handle it." I repeat myself in a stern tone.

"But I just told you that I-"

"DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF?" I shout at her, going for the aggressive approach.

Rhea flinches from my shouting but nods, knowing that I did it with the purpose of getting her to get on with it. If my little display of power was anything at the very least she won't _kill_ me. Rhea forms a ball of fire in her hands and weakly throws it at me, I easily deflect it into the ground.

"I don't think that's all you've got, that last fireball you threw completely incinerated that last Grimm into ashes."

Rhea makes another stronger ball of fire, her eyes also catching flame as she reluctantly uses more of her power. This time when she throws it I have to use my whole arm to block it, it disperses and fades away as it wraps itself around my arm.

"That's better, the flames in your eye is what I am looking for. The reason I am telling you to go all out is to show you two things: That I can handle it, and that you can control it."

Rhea reaches up to her temples and feels the flames wrap around her finger harmlessly, when she takes her hand away the flame sticks to her fingers like glue, she freaks out at first but when she realizes that she feels no pain she calms down. I chuckle at the sight, since I know that most likely she is immune to all sorts of fire or heat attacks. Luckily these clothes are fireproof, it's perfect for training someone with magical fire abilities. Rhea weaves the flames around her fingers, tossing it to her other hand a couple of times. Eventually she hold it with both hands and focuses on making it as powerful as possible, not even saying a word the whole time, she is in her own little world right now as she makes the flame larger and more powerful. Powerful enough to make me worry a bit but I am confident in my ability to shut it down if anything bad happens. Rhea looks to me with wide eyes and smiles, excited that she managed to make the most powerful flame she has ever created. She is definitely a fast learner.

"Look at this! I never made something so pretty and strong at the same time!"

"You are a fast learned, I guess that is good." I say as I get into a stronger stance just in case it all spirals out of control.

"What do I do with this though? I don't want to use it as a weapon." Rhea surprises me with that one, now that I think about it I don't know if Maiden powers can be used to do other things like heal, or anything besides destruction. What surprises me more is that right after her declaration the flame in her hands actually turns paler, almost like a white but still with the orange outline.

"Well that's new, hey Oz can a Maiden use her powers to do something other then destroy?" I ask Oz, looking to my right to see his astral form standing next to me, every now and again he does that but no on else can see him besides me… I think.

' _I gave the first Maidens their power so that they can bring balance to the world in all sorts of ways, The Fall maiden can heal almost any injury with her magical flames as well as use them to do battle in combat, The Winter Maiden can use part of her power to cure disease or use her frozen flame to destroy any enemy, the Summer Maiden can use her electrical abilities to power any sort of electrical equipment or anything else in that regard with no limitations, or can use them in the same way you do in combat only much much more potent and has a much wider variety of use, and lastly the Spring Maiden can change the weather for those who need it, for example if a village or kingdom is going through a drought, Spring can cause a storm with heavy rain that can last up to a year to fill up the water supply, and well you know what else she can uses her powers for.'_ Ozpin explains with a smile as he looks to the young Maiden who is playing with the white flame.

"What'd I say about short and to the point explanations?"

"What'd he say?" Rhea asks, noticing the question and answer that wasn't directed to her or anyone else around so she assumes I'm talking to the other "me".

"Short version is that he said yes, it's very possible. Now let's get back to training, since you achieved a new power I want you to test it out on me." I say as I enter into a guard again, this time a more powerful guard with my arms out in an X formation. My back up plan is to have Ozpin use his shield ability just in case it's too much for me to handle on my own.

"So blast you again?" Rhea asks that in a much more relaxed tone then before, she knows that i'm tough now and i'm not even using my semblance at the moment so most likely I can take much more punishment before I can be fatally wounded.

"Thatta girl." I say with a wink, oh wait…

"Did you blink or wink? Or are you always winking since you only have one eye." Rhea wonders, placing her hands on her chin and taps her foot, thinking about it.

I was about to scold her for getting off topic but now that I think about it I really don't know, am I always winking? I still have my eyelid but it is all scarred up and permanently closed so maybe?

' _Mister Rivers please get back on topic, you're the teacher here.'_

"Uh don't think too hard about that, let's get back on topic." I say after snapping out of my train of thought, luckily nobody can hear my thoughts or else that may lead to a lot of embarrassing moments.

"Oh did the Headmaster scold you?" Rhea sassily asks, reading me like a book.

"Oh shut up and blast me already."

' _Uh-'_

" _NO!"_

Rhea does as she is told and forms the same ball of now white flame, this time it grows in size before constricting down to a smaller, more powerful ball of flame about the size of a softball. She juggles it in her hand for a couple moments before looking to me, seeing if I am ready to take it on. I get into the same stance as before, giving her a small nod to let her know that I am ready. Without a second thought she throws it, but as it travels through the air something dangerous happens, the ball increases in size about twenty times larger than before, now the size of a small car, I barely activate KaioKen fast enough to toughen up my body and disperse the flames with a right hook, the flames all dance around me, some sticking to the grass beside me, and the tree beside me now burning down. All of this happened so fast that Rhea didn't even have enough time to panic, but after processing everything that just happens after a few moments she runs up to me, tears threatening to break free from her flaming eyes.

"I'm so sorry! I-I thought I could control it but… but."

"Calm down I'm fine." I wave off her worries, my red aura dies down as I look over to the burning tree, I scratch my head and chuckle nervously, which confuses Rhea. She thinks she almost killed me and I'm laughing about it? "Maybe I shouldn't train someone who specializes in fire in a forest." I say as I look down to the Faunus Maiden. Rhea can't help but smile and join me in my chuckling fit which only grows in intensity despite the tree burning down in front of us and the blistering heat coming from it that would scare away any average human.

"Uh… what happened here?" Tai asks, coming around the corner with Jaune, Ren and Nora all standing with him, sweating bullets from the first couple minutes of their training session.

"I may have underestimated the flames of our young wolf here." I explain simply, barely looking in his direction. As if on cue the burning tree falls over, luckily in the opposite direction of the house, even more luck that it somehow missed any other trees and is burning harmlessly on the ground. The sound the tree makes makes me and Rhea flinch visibly, worried about the reaction Tai is going to have after seeing part of his property getting burnt down.

"My dad let me play on that tree when I was a kid… I think that was my favorite tree." Tai states sadly.

"Uh, i'm sorry?" Me and Rhea say in unison.

"It's… oh geez its fine, there's plenty of other trees around. But we're going to trade places since I don't feel like letting you guys burn down the island. It has much less foliage there. _How could I not think of that? Both of them can generate enough heat to burn down a house and I am letting them train in the forest of all places…"_ Tai thinks that last part out to himself as he facepalms.

Rhea and I listen to his order without hesitation, me reverting back to my irrational fear of a crushes father and Rhea just following what I do. I avoid the gazes from my teammates that just screams "Help me". Even Ren is having trouble with it but doesnt share the same expression I just whistle as I walk by and around the corner into a much more open training area. Perfect for the training for Rhea I came up with since I can deflect or block any of the fire attacks

"Okay, I probably should have put that probability into thought before playing with fire." I say with an unintentional pun as I look back at the girl behind me. The whole time Rhea's eyes have kept their flame.

"I forgot how to turn this off." Rhea admits without any shame, I get an idea that may or may not go well. "Alright, let me help with that."

"What are you gonna do?"

I answer her by covering her eyes with my hands, I feel the hot flames against my skin but persist in attempting to smother the flames.

' _What are you doing?...'_

"I don't think it's going to be that easy…" Rhea states.

"Well I think it will so shush."

After about a minute of silence and complete concentration on my part I finally take my hands off of her eyes, she opens them and her eyes reignite instantly, which in turn makes me groan in disappointment and sadness. Rhea giggles at my rather immature antics.

"Aren't you supposed to be the teacher here?" Rhea asks between giggles.

"Ugh don't say that, I'm only 19 and I already feel old." I whine playfully.

' _That may be because I am a part of your being.'_

" _Probably but it could also be taken as a joke."_

"Wait really? I thought you were like in your late twenties at least." Rhea points out.

"Ouch, well I'm shaving tonight now." I say, feigning hurt as I scratch my scruff.

"Well your scars make you look much older to, maybe I can…" Rhea trails off as she pulls at my sleeve, gesturing me to kneel down so she can touch my face. Hesitantly I listen and I kneel down, she reaches toward my face and I wince a bit as she touches the area where my left eye used to be. I stare into her face as I feel a warmth on her hand grow.

"You said I could use my powers for things other than to destroy right?" Rhea remarks.

I nod my head at her inquiry, too nervous to speak at the thought of possibly getting my eye back. Rhea tries her best to focus her power nondestructively, her flaming eyes actually dissipates as it travels down her neck, to her shoulder, down her arm and eventually to her hand. I glup and close my eye as I the soothing flame reaches the palm of her hand. I can feel _something_ happening but I don't feel my eye come back. Rhea drops to her knees and almost passes out, I catch her and she rests her head on my shoulder. I still can't see out of that eye so I assume that the attempt failed, which is to be expected due to the mass amount of inexperience that Rhea has. I touch that part of my face and widen my eye at the contact, instead of the scarred tissue that I've become accustomed to I feel smooth skin as if it was never damaged. Before I had two distinctive scars on the top on bottom of my eye from when I tore my eye out using Ebony. After a few moments of feeling out my face I can feel Rhea stir from her passed out state. Not long after she wakes up and pushes herself off me gently, then looks into my face, I couldn't help but get a little emotional, but not crying due to me holding it back.

"I haven't felt smooth skin there in a while, thanks for that." I say as I stand up, ready to get back to business.

Rhea smiles and nods at my show of gratitude, but it fades away when she notices that my actual eye is still missing. "But… your eye."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, that was literally your first try at something like that. Which is actually great, it means you're an even faster learner then I originally thought." I compliment. "But now it's time to get back to business." Before Rhea could get too happy about the compliment I gave her, her wolf ears slump back down atop her head.

"I think I'm better at controlling the more restorative parts of my powers, why don't we just focus on that instead?"

"Because what If I'm not there to protect you?" I answer her question with another question.

"I can hold them off with the power that I have." Rhea weakly argues.

"HA! And what if that someone is as strong as me? Or stronger than me?" I respond with more rhetorical questions.

"What? There's no way anyone is stronger than you! I saw how a fraction of your strength and I _know_ you can go higher."

My tone and demeanor gets much more serious in my next sentence. "Rhea, I don't win every battle. I lost my first real fight and _might_ have won the second, don't rely on me, your power is sought after by less than kind people, I thought you'd understand that when you were nearly kidnapped by the guy with white hair."

Rhea goes back to her depressed state as her mind wanders back to just yesterday night, that man was so terrifying to her, despite her releasing her power for the first time with the intent of injuring someone it did nothing to him. I notice my mistake right away and sigh.

"Sorry for bringing back those memories, but think of it this way, next time you're in a village being attacked by Grimm wouldn't you want to be able to protect those who can't protect themselves?" I ask in a more gentle yet still serious tone.

Rhea doesn't answer but does nod to confirm her answer, I uncross my arms and crack my knuckles, after hearing the disturbing but satisfying crack Rhea looks back up at me.

"So are you ready to stop moping and learn how to fight?" I ask with a confident smile.

"Sure." Rhea answers with a playful roll of her eyes, slowly getting back to her earlier cheery mood.

"Good, now since you have at least some control over some of the weaker version of your power I'm going to train you to fight, so come at me with any strategy and during this training session I'll tell you what you are doing wrong, don't worry I'll be going easy on you."

"But… I don't even know how to begin."

"Did you not hear like half of that sentence? I said use whatever strategy you can think up. Use your powers, and anything you have at your disposal."

"Okay." Rhea mutters, getting into a basic fighting stance, trying to mimic my guard from earlier when I was blocking her attacks. It's a fully defensive stance that forces the attacker to be on the offensive if they want to do anything other then stare at their opponent, unless they have ranged weapons of course but luckily for her I don't have any of those. Guns are overrated anyway. I want to test her reaction timing so I dash into her face faster then her untrained eyes can see. I don't attack or anything but she does jump back after about a second of staring at me.

"You got to react faster then that for someone faster then you, if I attacked you'd be laid out right now, just like this." I dash toward her again but this time I knee her in the gut, not hard enough to do any real damage but hard enough to knock the wind out of her and knock her off of her feet, landing with her face in the ground. I noticed something as my hit connected though, her arms were crossed just in time to minimize the damage, but since I got a strong knee it got through it anyway, she probably managed to do that just in time since I basically announced my attack, but it could have also been her reflexes.

"Good job, you managed to block it just in time."

"You could have been a little more gentle." Rhea groans out through her light pain, before finally taking a deep breath.

"I am being gentle, you just need to toughen up your body, now get up and stop being defensive, I might break you before making a fighter out of you otherwise." I say as I enter a lazy but effective stance due to my experience. Just simply turning my hips toward her while having my arms to my sides, my legs just spread out enough to pass my shoulders.

"Oh like that is going to do anything to help me out against you." Rhea bitterly states.

"With that attitude no you're not. But you might land something on me if you focus, remember that you ca use your powers, conjure up a weapon or something I don't know."

"I can do that?" Rhea asks, curiosity taking ahold of her.

"Probably." " _The last one could do that but that might have just been her semblance."_ I think that last part to myself.

Rhea conjures up flames in her hands and pushes her fists together, I raise an eyebrow at her concentration but don't do anything to stop her, I'm too curious to see where this goes. Although in a real battle I doubt that an enemy would just let her do that in front of them and I make a note to point that out once she is finished. Rhea pulls her fists apart and what looks like solid flames with embers falling off forms between her fists, it bends the farther her fists spread apart and eventually it falls to the ground, Rhea exhales deeply and examines her new first conjured up weapon, its a fucking fire whip.

"Well that is new." I say with a look of approval on my face. "Good job for being a Mary Sue and conjuring up a weapon, I didn't know you could do that already."

' _Any Maiden can quickly learn how to use their powers, some departments may be faster to learn and some not as fast, but the longer they wield their powers the more powerful they become. In our dear Rhea's case she is learning and adapting quite quickly despite being as inexperienced as she is. That may be because she is in my presence_ , _and well_ _I believe you can fill in the rest.'_ Ozpin explains for me. Thank god he is here or else things would be much harder to understand.

" _So being around me can make her stronger hm? That's good for now but how does that affect the other Maidens?"_ I ask as Rhea plays around with her new whip.

' _Only newly born Maidens are affected by this but it doesn't last a long time, by my estimations I give her approximately one month left before her learning and adapting capabilities begin to diminish, at that point there it will be like training any other huntress unless it is in her nature to be a quick learner, only this one would have a very powerful magical power.'_

" _Huh, well that's convenient."_

"Alright are you done playing around?" I ask as Ozpin and I finish our conversation.

"Oh! Yeah sorry, I tend to lose track of what I'm doing a lot. Before we begin round two what should I call you? I don't remember your name." Rhea asks, unashamed about forgetting my name despite me protecting her.

"Wow thanks for the show of gratitude. You can just call me by my name, which is Hector Rivers by the way, never RJ, and never say Mister beforehand. I'm barely five years older then you anyway."

"Okay, RJ then, it rolls of the tongue easier." Rhea says, completely ignoring my request.

' _Haha.'_

" _Shut up."_

"Oh gosh fine, I guess I deserve that after kneeing you in the- Woah!" I get cut off as Rhea uses her whip to try and whip me in the face, I barely dodge it by a hair after I pull off a matrix dodge.

"I'm getting bored of talking, you do that too much." Rhea confidently fires at me with a cocky smirk on her face.

"Oh you little cun-"

' _Language.'_

" _SHUT UP."_

"Fine, lets play dirty then." To her surprise the next time she tries to crack my face with the whip I grab it with my bare hand, ignoring the sizzling sound my hand is making as it comes into contact with the solid fire. My aura is doing a great job at protecting me anyway. Rhea tries to pull it away but I am too strong for her. I gently tug it back and Rhea almost falls on her face, scraping her knee against the ground, once I notice the bleeding I immediately stop my aggression and slide to her side.

"You know it would have been great to know that you didn't have your aura unlocked." I say as I help her to a log in the shade of the woods, carrying her bridal style because that's just how anime worlds work.

' _To be fair you should have realized that when she actually felt pain after you kneed her in the stomach.'_

"To be fair you should have realized that already after you kneed me in the gut." Rhea and Ozpin state almost in perfect unison.

"Alright, nobody's fault." I say as I set her down on the log. I sit next to her and rub my face with my hand at this setback. "Uh Oz what should I do about this?" I honestly have no idea how to help with aura unlocking, I just got mine randomly while fighting beowolves so I don't know how to even begin to explain it.

' _Unlock it.'_

"What? Oz how would I unlock her aura anyway? In case you forgot she is also a Maiden." After I say this Rhea perks up, her wolf ears also give off the emotion of curiosity as the stand up atop her head.

' _I know you can, I am well aware of her Maiden status but the Maidens have to unlock their auras the same way any normal Human or Faunus do, all you must do is place a hand on her temple and reach her aura with your own, chanting a chime while doing so will make it easier but it has to be completely unique.'_

"You say that like it's an easy thing to do. Wait how was she able to chuck fireballs at me without aura?"

' _She wasn't using her aura as a source of power, she was using magic, and it will be easy, once you do it once. Give it a try, it is nearly impossible to fail. But remember that you will have an emotional link once it is finished.'_

"Alright fine, well Rhea Oz convinced me to give it a go." I say as I stand up and kneel down in front of her.

"YES!" Rhea excitedly screeches, before realizing what she just did and slapping her hands against her mouth to hide her excitement, also going red from embarrassment.

"Ow my ears, okay just sit still and let me concentrate." I instruct as I gently place a hand on her right temple. Rhea nods once to give me the go ahead, I focus my aura into my hand and try to do what Ozpin instructed earlier, It actually wasn't hard to find her aura and now I just have to pull it out so to speak. But I can't even make it budge, I begin to sweat as I keep trying to pull it out and my eye clenches shut, Rhea goes through the same thing as I am trying to force her aura out.

' _You're forgetting one of the steps Hector.'_ Ozpin points out.

I very well remember what I am not doing, I just decided not to do it, but it seems like I have to come of with something to get this to work properly. So off the top of my head I think of a chant. "Through this… I become your guardian… Through this… I use my own power to unlock yours…" As I chant me and Rhea both relax as her aura deep within begins to allow itself the be brought out. As the seconds pass I manage to come up with more. "It is through trust do we uh… become closer with one another." I continue hesitantly, now it's time for the final part. "Lastly, I offer my shoulder to you, and promise to be there for you for anything."

After that last probably cringey part a flash amber colored aura nearly blinds me through my closed eye. After a moment I reopen my eye to see Rhea hovering just a few inches off the ground, the color of a Maiden's aura flowing around her body, the minor injury on her knee healed almost instantly. After a few moments she plops down on the ground with a soft thump, and looks at me with glistening eyes. She is excited, and I can feel that radiating off of her.

"I've never felt this relaxed and safe before." Rhea says as she examines her hands feeling out her newly unlocked aura.

I stay sitting on the ground, leaning my back up against a tree, panting and sweating a lot. Rhea notices this and rushes to my side, sensing my discomfort.

"Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine i'm fine, that just took a lot out of me." I say between pants. I guess unlocking the aura of the Fall Maiden can be pretty draining.

"Should we cut this session short then?" Rhea asks as she sits down next to me, bringing her knees up to her chin and rests her head on them.

"Yeah, don't get used to it though. But I guess this give me a chance to tell you about the rest of the Maidens now." I bring up, leaning forward.

"Are there others?" Rhea asks right away, I nod to say yes but I end up explaining anyway.

"Yeah, there's a Maiden for every season, you're the Fall Maiden, though I'm sure you already know that. Then there's the Summer, Winter, and Spring. I met Spring before but not the others so I don't know much about them, and Fall should be self explanatory."

"You fought them right? At Haven?" Rhea asks, surprising me at how she knew that already, the whole "public" story was just me facing off against impossible odds and winning.

"Yeah, the previous Fall and the current Spring Maiden." I reveal hesitantly, slowly getting nervous as I know what her next question is going to be.

"The… previous Fall Maiden. What was she like?"

"I… am going to be honest with you. She was not a good person, remember the Fall of Beacon?"

Rhea's eyes widen as she puts two and two together, but has to confirm if her thoughts are what actually happened. "She was the one responsible for that?!" Rhea asks as she begins to get teary eyed. Horrified at the thought of her predecessor causing so much pain to the world.

I hesitate to answer, but I know I have to if she is going to learn the truth about what is going on in the world. "Yes, she ended many lives, both huntsman and huntsman in training alike, she also killed the headmaster, which was the main cause of him transferring his soul into my body."

Rhea begins to cry at this point, tears stream from her face as her lip quivers. "RJ… How did I get these powers?" She almost doesn't want to know the answer to that.

Even more hesitation fills my mind as I try to figure out a good way to reveal this. Ozpin remains silence to give us some space in the best way he can in his current situation. He is surprised that I am going to tell her this so early but with all the bonding we've done today I figured that I might as well get it out of the way before a whole arc gets made out of it.

"She was at Haven, trying to steal The Relic of Knowledge, I'll explain more about that another time. I had to stop her, all of my friends were in deep trouble at the time, and I was the only one standing, I used my semblance to the maximum in an attempt to take her down. I almost won but it wasn't enough since my body gave out, at the time I wasn't nearly as accustomed to the pain and heat that my body gives off while I'm using it, hell even my clothes burnt off. About ten minutes later one of my buddies Jaune, healed me, I got back up and took care of the weaker enemies up top before I went below ground. I skipped a lot so let me explain, after I was knocked out the Spring Maiden went down into the Vault, and tried to steal it for herself, Cinder went down there and spotted this, and she killed who she thought was the Spring Maiden at the time, who was really just a decoy, back to present I jumped down there and saw her pinning Spring up against a gate, draining her of her power with her Grimm arm." Rhea only gets worse after hearing this, but doesn't make any motion to stop me. "I… cut off her arm. At that point the fight was won before it even started, I grabbed her by the throat and electrocuted her with my Gauntlets and then threw her off the bridge. She fell to her death. After that I fought Spring and I don't know If I would've won that or not but in the end it was a general victory. That's all there is to it." I end the story, not able to look at her after revealing to her what actually happened that day.

To my surprise Rhea actually places her hand in mine to get my attention, I look to her instinctively.

"That's why I was so afraid when I first met you, besides that one lady that I never got a good look of in my visions you were the only other person that she was afraid of." Rhea says through her tears. "Don't worry about how this affects you and I. I understand how you must have felt, she caused so much pain and deserved what happened to her." Rhea says as she wipes the tears from her eyes and squeezes my hand.

"Oh, well that makes everything much easier." I say as I wipe my eye of a single tear that may or may not have gotten out.

"Wait were you crying?"

"No! It was my allergies combined with the emotion of sadness... Okay shut up yes it was a tear, I could feel how sad you got and it made me sad." I say as I fully turn to look at her with my slightly bloodshot eye.

"Hmph, you are such a softie." Rhea says as she punches my shoulder playfully.

"Well how was I supposed to know that you would take that so incredibly well?"

"Fair point."

* * *

The rest of the day passed without us realizing it, we went back into the house and found the others face down on every couch panting and coated in sweat. After making fun of them for it and high fiving Tai we go upstairs, shower (not together please) and move back into the room where me and Rhea slept in the night before.

"Do you still need me here to protect you while you sleep or are we good?" I playfully ask as I lean on the door frame.

"Is there anywhere else you can sleep?" Rhea asks as she plops down on her bed in her onesie pajamas that Ruby had for some reason when she was younger. God if I havent lost my scroll a while back I would have take a picture of her in it.

"Well there's the couch that the others are sweating all over and-" I cut myself off as a red and black portal cuts it's way through the air. " _What the? Already?"_

"Rhea stay here." I demand as I shut the door. Rhea could sense my seriousness and determination so she listens without any rebelling. But just in case fighting begins to happen she is ready to blast the door open without a second thought.

"Well… you're here early." I greet as Raven slowly steps out of the portal.

* * *

 **AN- ANNND Cliffhanger! I just could not help myself I am so so sorry, I was way past the limit of words I had planned for myself and had to end it before I wrote another ten thousand words. I enjoyed writing Hector and Rhea together, I'm trying to go for like a big brother/little sister kind of relationship for these two, hopefully I'll get better at it in the future. Next chapter is for RWBY and Mercury since I gave them a very small portion of last chapter and skipped over a lot of things. I'm going to try to write out what's going on between all three adventures next chapter, covering RWBY, RNJRR (Third R is for Rhea), and Ilia, in smaller portions of course, and see how that works. Because I just know you guys are going to be on the edge of your seats to see what's going on with RNJRR after Ravens arrival, but mainly it's going to be RWBY, Mercury and Ilia.**

 **Raven is early? What could this mean for RNJR and Rhea? Find out next time in the next installment of RNJR and Rhea!**

 **I think you guys are going to be surprised with what I do with RNJR next chapter. Might be something you guys don't expect, unless you're smart and make a very accurate prediction.**

 **For those who are fans of Neo… just keep in touch for the next couple chapters.**

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you think! I'm open to anything you guys want to say, any ideas? Thoughts? Critique? I read every single review multiple times.**

 **And before I spoil anything, I'll see you guys next time! Whether in Team HAMR or Oh Gosh.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	26. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 25

**AN- As always, thank you to all of my reviewers from last chapter**

 **Astra- I am bad at picking up on jokes, please forgive me. Thank you for liking my RvB fanfic Idea, and don't worry about me burning myself out with so many stories at once, If I do give in to the temptation of starting it right away I have a plan for myself so I don't end up melting my brain. I was in the zone while I was writing out the explanations, and since magic can work in ways that none of us can imagine, I decided to give Rhea a little buff so that she won't be this weak and defenceless girl that hangs around and is protected by Hector, so she is going to learn how to control her powers fast, but that doesn't mean she is going to be taking on another Maiden on her own anytime soon. I found myself having to explain a lot of things last chapter so if you need a more thorough explanation about the magic let me know. Lastly, don't worry about not reviewing for all that time! You've been reading since chapter two?! Those were some dark times let me tell ya, I wasn't very serious about this story at the time but since you liked it enough to keep reading actually brought a big smile on my face. Thank you for reviewing and thank you for enjoying my story.**

 **Bwburke94- Good job on picking that up, you'll see what I do with that in the future of this story.**

 **Zeldawolffang- Thanks man, every review from you is short and sweet, I look forward to your next review. I'm glad you enjoy what i'm going for with them.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Glad you like what they have going on! I hope to meet your expectations with the Fall Maiden that you came up with for me. I can't wait to get to the Summer Maiden, she's going to be fun to write ;). I had to give them something to do for this chapter so I gave them the task of learning how to throw a proper punch from one of the best hand to hand hunters in all the kingdoms. You'll see what Raven has in store for our hero in this chapter, its a bit of a mixed batch of emotions. Annnd that last part was covered in the Pm I sent you. I look forward to your next review! And as always, thank you.**

 **Alright so what I have planned for this chapter is to feature all three adventures that are going on right now, starting off with RWBBY, (Thank you Tiger) then Ilia, and last but certainly not least, RNJRR and Tai and what Raven has planned for Hector. This is going to be another long one, so make sure you got nothing to do for the next 30min to an hour or maybe longer I don't know, gauging how long it would take to read is something I'm not good at. Definitely didn't try to mislead you at all...**

 **Now let's get on with the story!**

* * *

Chapter 25- Revelations

 **Solitas, RWBBY**

"Ugh, I feel like we've been walking forever!" Ruby complains for the umpteenth time, to her credit they have been stuck in the mountainous and forested lands of Solitas, with the expected arrival in Atlas to be at least another two weeks or so, unless they're fast, they might be able to make it in a week.

"How do you think I feel? I've been leading you girls for a while now and I always have to put up with all your whining, complaining and my personal favorite, the 'You wouldnt understand girl things' moments." Mercury jokingly fires back, he's been getting more comfortable around the girls over the time that he has been with them, and during that time he has been giving Ruby bits and pieces about what he knows about the silver eyed warriors, since Ruby can't take the full explanation at once without getting a headache thinking about it.

"Honestly I just thought you found it amusing." Blake remarks.

"Ugh, don't you dare accuse me of something like that again." Mercury responds with a little playful disgust in his voice.

"I would prefer it if we moved off from this topic on back onto Ruby's powers. I'm interested to learn more about them." Blake says, wanting to get back on the oh so mysterious topic of the Silver eyed warriors.

"Yeah, you said you were going to explain it but you've only given us bits and pieces so far." Yang remarks.

"Well sorry that the one that needs to know that information the most can't stay awake long enough to learn about it." Mercury counters, turning around to look at Ruby while doing so and walking backwards.

"Hey! It's hard to listen to and after a while it starts to hurt my head." Ruby defends, pouting from being called out on her inability to stay awake during lectures.

"It's going to be a little difficult to use your eye powers without knowing how to use them yourself you know." Mercury points out, pointing to his own eyes for emphasis.

"Just tell us all about it now so we all know, all this dancing around it is annoying me." Weiss speaks up as she crosses her arms.

"I might as well start in the beginning then to prevent any confusion, or I can just answer any questions any of you have and we can go off from there." Mercury says as he turns back around.

"What happened to all the other Silver eyed warriors? Is Ruby really the only one left?" Yang asks right away, getting the question that everyone has been wondering about since they learned about the Silver eyed warriors out of the way first.

Mercury thinks about how he should respond to this, obviously most of them were wiped out but if any of them were as powerful as Ruby and could control it then how _were_ they driven to near extinction. The answer they get is not going to be pleasant. "The Silver eyed power works on Grimm, and Magical beings such as the Maidens although not nearly as lethal. But what they _don't_ work nearly as effective on is normal people." Mercury reveals, everyone listens intently and gesture him to continue. "During and after the Great War, they were hunted down, by Grimm, humans, and Faunus alike. Those that were inexperienced or haven't unlocked their power yet were wiped out fast in just the first three years, and those who were experienced veterans made it a lot tougher to put them down. Some of them ran out of stamina and were killed by Grimm, some of them turned themselves in thinking that it might save their life, and some of them just disappeared."

"But why?" Ruby asks.

"Simple, people are afraid of things they don't understand, if they actually tried to understand what made the Silver eyes tick they might not have nearly wiped them out, we might not even have the Salem problem if that was the case." Mercury explains.

"How many are left?" Blake asks.

"The only ones that I know for sure are still alive are Ruby, and one other unnamed person that was MIGHT still be alive." Mercury answers while hanging his head slowly, he knows that Ruby is probably not taking this news well, he never got this far with her before.

"So I am not the only one left, and even then some could still be around." Ruby says after a sigh of relief, which surprises Mercury somewhat.

"You always look to the best side of things don't you?" Mercury remarks.

"I thought you'd learn that after she saved you from being killed by us." Yang remarks.

"Haha, guess I should've. Anyway anything else?" Mercury asks back around

"How exactly do you even start to control this?" Ruby asks the second question, about time she actually gets interested in learning more about her eyes.

"I was waiting for you to ask that, honestly though I am not the right person to ask that, it's something you need to learn yourself or be taught by another silver eyed warrior." Mercury explains honestly.

"But… what if I _am_ the only one left?"

"Then you better practice." Mercury answers without looking at her.

"What happened to her mom?" Yang asks out of the blue, stopping everyone in their tracks. Mercury was afraid that they were going to ask this. He asked Cinder one time about her fate and she simply answered "She was dealt with, and that is all you need to know." But he knows that there has to be more to that story. "Summer right? I uh, don't really know a lot about what happened to her. All I know is that she attacked Salem 16 some years back and obviously lost, but her fate is something I don't know so I can't confirm that she is alive or dead." Mercury answers carefully.

"That's around the time she disappeared..." Ruby sadly points out.

"Thanks… for telling us that." Yang says as she wipes away unshed tears.

"There's a chance that she is still alive! I mean nothing is confirmed yet!" Ruby exclaims happily, remaining optimistic as she has always been despite any situation.

"Ruby…" Yang mutters, she thinks that if Summer was indeed still alive, then she would have come back already, but she keeps that to herself since hope is one of the strongest motivators for her little sister.

Mercury smiles at the young leaders optimism. "Possibly, but too much hope can make you delusional, be careful with it." Mercury lies to himself. Personally he believes that Summer was slain that day but he doesn't have the heart to tell his young friend what he believes.

"Hope is what keeps us all going, without it we wouldn't be fighting to save the world." Ruby says, bringing a smile to everyone's faces.

"Heh, well since that is out of the way now anything else? We got time for one more until we hit the last village before Atlas, then we have to plan for the case that there are Atlas soldiers there."

"What kind of abilities can Ruby attain?" Weiss asks the final question before anyone else can think of one.

"Well as we have all seen before, she can basically kill any Grimm just by looking at them, they fade away into useless dust, as for the bigger, stronger and tougher Grimm it takes a more experienced Silver eyed warrior to kill them with their eyes, that's why the dragon that was released back at the Fall of Beacon was frozen instead of killed."

"So that thing is still alive?" Blake asks, she knows what that thing is capable of and would much rather prefer it to be dead.

"Unfortunately for us, yes. One day it is going to break out of its stone prison and wreak havoc on the whole continent if we don't get back to deal with it in time. But back on topic before everyone loses hope, another one of her abilities is to combat Magical beings, like I said earlier, the Maidens, it all depends on how strong you are, in your case you were able to basically tear apart Cinder but I assure you that the other Maidens will be much more difficult to take down and don't even get me started on Salem."

"Can you elaborate on that?" Weiss asks, slightly confused from what she had just listened to.

"Well to put it simply, the Fall Maiden is the weakest of the Maidens." Mercury reveals.

"WHAT?!" RWBY all exclaim in unison and in disbelief, after everything that happened with Cinder she was the weakest the whole time?

"I thought you all knew that already…" Mercury says as he rubs his ears.

"Fall is the weakest? Then whos the strongest?" They all ask in near perfect unison again.

"Geez you guys are disturbingly good at doing that… The order goes like this: Fall, Winter, Spring, and then Summer. The Summer Maiden is the most powerful Maiden and the rest should be self explanatory." Mercury explains. "You need to be at the very least equal to them in terms of magical essence to do any real damage to them, and Salem was able to basically bully Cinder around so use that for comparison."

"Wow... so my mom is the second strongest person in the world. And Hector fought her and might've won? Damn Ruby you sure know how to pick em." Yang teases, Ruby turns into a shade of red at the unexpected tease that came out of nowhere

"Habbashta getting off topic, so I have magic in me?" Ruby asks fast, a mixture of eagerness to get out of being teased my her team once again and the excitement of knowing that she has magical power within her.

"Yes you do. All the Silver eyed warriors have some magic in them, though obviously not nearly as much as the Maidens but its like a muscle, the more you exercise it the more it will grow and get stronger. In your case you seem to have gotten lucky and was born with a lot more magical power then any other Silver eyed warrior in history, which is why Salem hasn't risked coming after you herself." Mercury continues, saving her from further teasing.

"Eeeee." Ruby adorably squeals in excitement after the revelation that she is indeed a magical being.

"And finally there's the people. Let's say I was still a bad guy, if you used your powers on me it would break my aura instantly, render my semblance useless, and if your strong enough, knock me out with just a look." Mercury explains the final part of the earlier question. "But you need to train for years to get to that level."

"Oooo, I could use that for so many things." Ruby whispers to herself mischievously and obviously. Amusing all of her teammates.

"And that's all I know about that, there's probably a lot that I don't know that you have to figure out yourself, so be sure to train yourself hard once you get the time to do so." Mercury finishes, taking a sip of water to quench his thirst after having to explain so much.

"How did you know all that again?" Yang wonders.

"Emerald wouldn't shut up about it when she saw Ruby's eyes for the first time, and after what happened to Cinder at Beacon she went crazy over any information about the Silver eyes and made us do a bunch of research on them." Mercury answers.

"Oh… right."

"So what are we going to do about that village?" Mercury speaks up again after a short time.

"We could always just throw Weiss at them, there's no way they would dare question a Schnee." Yang jokingly suggests, earning an eye roll from her white haired teammate.

"Ha ha." Weiss sarcastically laughs. "I doubt that, my father is certainly very angry with me, and there might be some bounty to bring me back to him by any means necessary." Weiss predicts.

"And I wouldn't put it past him to do the same for us, since we are your team and all, he might want to bring us in for questioning on your whereabouts." Blake adds.

"Great, so there's a bounty on Weiss, and none of us can do anything about it without getting violent with the soldiers, which is fine by me but if we're going to get help from them to find the Winter Maiden we should be on their good side." Yang adds, after she finishes saying that all of RWBY look to Mercury, who is still drinking water, once he realizes that he is being silently watched he awkwardly puts the water bottle back in its pouch.

"What?"

* * *

"I hate this idea." Mercury says through his radio attached to his ear as he approaches the gate. Wearing the old hood he wore when he ran into RWBY all that time ago.

"It's the only way, you're the only one that can convince them to open the gate, and you're not officially a member of our team." Ruby says through the radio. RWBY is nearby in the shrubs and out of sight. The plan is to have Mercury fake an injury so that the soldiers would open the gate to go out and help them, and with the distraction Ruby is going to one by one dash through the gate with each of her teammates. She is fast enough to not be seen by the naked eye unless that eye happens to be trained and experienced, and most likely the fastest thing any of these guards have seen might be a Beowolf.

"I am a horrible actor Ruby." Mercury argues.

"Oh stop being such a baby." Yang's voice rings out through the earpiece. "All you have to do is lie, should be natural for you."

"Thanks for the compliment." Mercury responds sarcastically.

"You got this Merc!" Ruby cheers while whispering.

"Why are you whispering?" Weiss asks.

"Because we're sneaking."

"They cant hear us from this far Ruby." Blake points out.

"That's what they want you to think."

Mercury rolls his eyes at the interaction and turns off the earpiece to prevent any more distractions as he approaches the gate, he fakes a limp and removes his hood as he approaches.. As expected the soldiers point their weapons at him and ask him his business. "Who are you and state your business." The first soldier demands.

Mercury is terrible at acting so he does the next best thing that he can come up with, he rolls his eyes to the back of his head and falls forward, landing on the ground with a thump. The soldiers look to each other hesitantly before ordering for the gates to be opened.

"Well that wasn't the plan but it worked like a charm." Yang mutters, impressed with Mercury's improvisation. She quiets down as Ruby wraps her arms around her, preparing to dash through the gates in a flurry of rose petals.

The gates open up to reveal to Atlas soldiers, clad in full Atlesian mechanical armour, so much so that you can't even see their face. Even though Mercury is appearing as an unarmed and wounded man who just passed out in front of them, they still point their guns at them, just in case he tries anything. "Sir, are you able to stand?" The first soldier asks.

' _Idiots, I just passed out in front of you and you ask me if I am able to stand?'_ Mercury thinks to himself without moving.

The soldiers look to each other again as they hear no response, then lower their weapons a bit and begin to slowly approach the "unconscious" man. Unbeknownst to them the moment they leave the vicinity of the gates, a red and yellow blur zooms right past them and into the village, then a moment later the red blue returns and zooms right back out. As the soldiers get close enough to Mercury to kneel down and flip him over, a red blur dashes through the gates again, this time with a black swirl to it, before once again dashing back out. The guards flip Mercury over onto his back, and Mercury is doing his best to hold his breath so that they would get him emergency medical attention, that's what he expects at least.

"What do we do with this guy? He's not breathing and we have our orders." The second soldier says next.

"We do what we are told, no one is allowed in our out and all possible immigrants must be eliminated." The first soldier points out.

' _WHAT?!'_ Mercury thinks to himself.

"What's the point of wasting ammo on this guy though? I'll just use my blade here." As he says that the same red blur for the last time dashes through the gate, with a swirl of white this time, and this time it does not come back. "I've been waiting to give this thing a whirl."

Mercury realizes that he is on his own on this one, and that the others probably wouldn't like it if he gave these guards what they truly deserved. There's not doubt in his mind that these guards must have killed many people who were just looking for help just like he is pretending to be, he cracks open his eyes just enough so that it isn't noticeable to see one of the guards slowly place the blade on his neck. He takes that opportunity to quickly grab the man's wrist and twist the blade out of his grip, the other soldier jumps back and points his weapon at him but with a quick little breakdance move, Mercury kicks a concussive blast of smoke right into the man's head, knocking him out instantly. With him knocked out and the second soldier at his mercy he decides to do a little interrogation.

"So, how do you get to Atlas from here?" Mercury asks as he slowly twists the man's wrist, one step away from breaking it to beyond repair.

"Screw you asshole!" The soldier rebelliously bites back.

Mercury rolls his eye and breaks that wrist, holding a hand to his mouth to prevent him from screaming. Then he grabs the knife with his free hand and twirls it around skillfully, its been a while since he has worked with knives, but he can make due. "Alright let me ask this again, but since you decided to be stupid I am going to ask two questions now: How do you get to Atlas from here, and why are you guys killing people for no reason?"

"Th-there's a Bullhead pad around the military base in the village." The man whimpers as the knife gets closer to his eye.

"Annnnd?" Mercury asks as he twirls the knife in his hand.

"We have orders from Jacques Schnee himself to not let anyone in by any means necessary so that we could keep our food supply at a good level." The man quickly answers.

"Good man." Mercury says as he slaps his face gently a couple of times, he contemplates just ending him right there since well, because dead rats don't squeak. But if he is trying to become a better person like his mother would want him to be, he can't take someones life just because they're annoying, even if they deserve it. So he uses the butt end of the knife and knocks him out with it,

"Huh, this is a good knife, I think I'll keep it." Mercury says as he sheathes the knife in his boot. Luckily it seems like the other soldiers manning the gate seemed to be distracted by something, so he wasn't spotted by anyone. But now he is faced with a new problem: How is he going to get through the gate without being spotted? He turns his earpiece back on, even though he still wonders where the hell the girls got these from in the first place, and speaks into it. "Alright the guards are sleeping soundly, how am I going to get in now?"

His answer is a hand on the back of his neck to prevent whiplash, and in the blink of an eye dashes through in a red and gray blur into the village and into the same hiding spot the rest of RWBY are in. which is in some abandoned house with no roof to it.

"Oh gosh I feel sick." Mercury says before gagging, luckily he managed to hold it down.

"Sorry, but I had to do it before they realized that you were standing in the open." Ruby says.

"So what's the next step? We saw you interrogating that guy." Blake mentions.

"Yeah, good job on not killing them." Ruby adds, high fiving Mercury.

"Well my charm does surpass my own looks at times." Mercury boasts.

"Your charm is as good as how you fight." Yang insults with a victorious smirk.

"Oof, that one stung. Alright well getting back on topic before I am burned even more, the guy told me that there is some military base nearby, my plan is to get there and "convince" one of the pilots to take us to Atlas. From there is all you girls because I won't know what to do from there." Mercury explains as he sits in a half broken chair that somehow holds his weight.

"We're going to find General Ironwood, we've told you this multiple times now." Blake points out.

"Yeah, I just don't get the part where he doesn't try to arrest me on sight."

"We'll vouch for you, you saved our lives that day with all the Grimm, and trusted us enough to tell us about your past. So we're going to trust you to trust us that we'll make sure nothing happens to you." Blake continues.

"Sheesh, try saying that five times fast." Mercury jokingly responds.

"This isn't a joke, I would appreciate it if you didn't always make a joke out of serious matters. Especially when we are slowly letting you in on our trust." Weiss bitterly says.

"You should be used to that part of me by now. Of course I'm going with you guys, where else can I go? Seriously Ice Queen, you gotta get a better sense of humor." Mercury says in a more serious tone.

"Hey! That nickname will not be brought back!"

"It never left Weiss, but if it makes you feel better you can be _our_ Ice Queen." Ruby says as she hugs Weiss. Weiss is in an awkward position as her arms are trapped against her sides, unable to move to push the younger girl off. The others chuckle, amused with the sight.

"Alrighty then, let's go "convince" a pilot." And with that, Team RWBY and Mercury went on to complete the final step to reach Atlas. They faced many hardships along the way, met a new and unexpected friend, and did some things they would have rather lived on without having to do. Little do they know what lies ahead for them…

* * *

 **Sanus, Ilia**

Weeks after the run in Ilia had with the Grimm-wurm in the hot deserts of Sanus, she managed to finally make it to the village she was aiming to get to for quite some time. She is rather curious about the lightning warrior tale that has been going around here for apparently several years. She has nothing to do until she feels good enough to travel again, so she might as well learn more about this continents history and legends. She walks around the village until she eventually overhears some people talking about it. Not being very sociable, she simply sits at a table nearby with her scroll out but focus' her hearing on the conversation between two older Faunus men near her.

"Did you hear that the lighting warrior made another appearance the other day?"

"Yeah, he went after that massive Grimm-wurm again, he always kicks it's ass why doesn't he just kill it already?"

"You try killing something that big, everytime he gets close to ending it the thing just burrows underground for a few weeks and then comes back up to attack a village or any poor caravan stuck in the middle of the desert."

"How come this guy has never made an appearance though? He only comes when something happens."

"Don't ask me that dude, I don't know what goes through that guys head, no one has ever seen his face."

"Then how do we know that he is a dude?"

"I don't know man, that's just what I heard from the others."

The men got up and walked away before Ilia could listen to the rest of the conversation.

"'Lightning warrior' huh, if I haven't seen it for myself then I wouldn't believe in it." Ilia says as she notices the sun going down. "I should rest as much as I can now and then travel during the night, maybe I can find any undercover White Fang agents…" Ilia whispers to herself. Since Sanus is much more accepting of Faunus then anywhere in the world so she doesn't have to hide her Faunus features. Not like she would have anyway, ever since Haven the world has actually been more sympathetic to Faunus, and not categorizing them all as being bad and evil because of the White Fang. Which is great, but also bad since the White Fang can blend in with the Fanus populace. If only Ilia can get to Adam, dispose of him and find new leadership for the White Fang or disperse it all entirely. All the White Fang is achieving right now is nothing but terrorism in the eyes of the world, and are quickly losing followers. Although she is considering letting him be arrested and dealt with the way Blake would, and letting him rot in a cell the rest of his life. But because of all of his past crimes, killing an indiscernible amount of humans and Faunus who didn't see the world his way, and what he did at Beacon and Haven, and finally manipulating her and hundreds if not thousands of Faunus into seeing the world his way, including herself. If she gets the chance she will gladly take his life, but in a one on one fight she will without a doubt lose, she needs to catch him off is guard and disarm him, his semblance would be useless without that specific type of blade unless he uses he body do absorb and and exert the kinetic force, which can be extremely dangerous on his body but she wouldn't put it past him to attempt.

Unfortunately she heard no news about any White Fang activity in Sanus, which is odd to her. She is certain that this continent would be the last on the world where the White Fang MIGHT be able to have some pull. But so far, there's been nothing on them, it's like they never existed in the first place.

"I have one place left to check, Shade is my next destination, if there's nothing there… I have to go back to Haven." Ilia says to herself, feeling shame. If this whole journey was for nothing, then what was the point of leaving for so long in the first place? Even if she decided to turn back now it would still take months to get back to Haven, and that's her not knowing that the group isn't even there anymore. Ilia slumps her head against the table in disappointment as she thinks that she has wasted all this time for nothing. That is until she thinks about the supposed 'Lightning warrior' going around. "Maybe… no that'd be way too lucky." Ilia shrugs off the thought before it can manifest into an idea.

As day turned to night, Ilia began to travel again after taking a well needed nap. With a new goal to get to Shade academy and speak to the Headmaster about any possible White Fang activity. Also while keeping an eye out for a possible ally that she knows would be great in the secret war I told her about. But before she can get too far out of earshot from the village that just let her stay there a couple days, hears screaming and rumbling in the distance. Instinctively she turns around and takes off her hood so that she could see and hear better. What she sees makes her heart skip a beat, the same massive fin assumingly belonging to the same massive Grimm-wurm she saw back then, and to make things worse it even seems a bit larger than it was before charging right toward the village. She doesn't hesitate to make a 180 degree turn and head back, running as fast as she can to try to save as many people as she can. Her Faunus features change color to Dark yellow to represent determination and bravery. She makes it back fast to see the village all in panic and havoc, looking for anywhere for shelter or anything to fight it back with. But this village is massively underprepared for a Grimm-wurm this ancient and large. Ilia herself hesitates as she nears the village, to take out something this large she is going to have to be perfect, fast, and agile. One mistake and she would get impaled or crushed or eaten. She speaks a little prayer to herself and heads into battle. But before she can get close enough to attack the monster, a loud crackling sound of a lighting strike nearly deafens everyone who is close by. Ilia has to cover her ears as more lighting strikes are delivered to the Grimm-wurms body, pieces of the creatures armour falls off and Ilia has to roll out of the way of the incoming debris and into a half destroyed building so that she doesn't end up as collateral damage. To her surprise the being made of lighting lands down in front of her, to reveal itself to not be a man, but a young woman, maybe around her early to mid twenties. She wears a plain white shirt underneath a Red cut jacket, Black shorts with a Black belt with a yellow buckle, and Black fingerless gloves. She also has tan skin and she has Black hair, arranged in a pixie style haircut with yellow highlights.

"It's been fun toying with you these past couple of months, but you're going too far with this one bud, sorry but it's time for me to put you down." The woman taunts, as she speaks, Blue and Yellow lighting spark off of her, tracing along the sand all around her. From Ilia's angle she can also see her snake like eyes flaming blue, which conveniently matches her Blue eye color. Lastly, she is a snake Faunus with the scaled tail she keeps wrapped around her waist. Similar to Ilia, she has scales on her face and arms that cover a portion of her skin, but more triangular and packed together that match her skin color.

The Grimm-wurm responds by attempting to flatten the woman with it's weight. Which the woman easily dodges by side stepping, ending up in the same half destroyed house as Ilia. "What are you doing here? Can't you see the big ass worm that I'm fighting?" The woman questions Ilia, who is too stunned by her appearance to respond properly.

"I uh…" Ilia stutters.

"Just stay down!" The Faunus shouts, kicking Ilia out of the broken building with more force than necessary. As Ilia is kicked out of the house she can see a massive long tongue spike belonging to the Grimm-wurm stab right through the roof of that building, narrowly missing the Snake Faunus by a mere foot. She jumps up and uses her lightning to fly into the air at breakneck speeds. As she flys Ilia can see a Blue trail behind her that fades away after a moment.

" _She looks like a shooting star… Maybe she is what I think she is."_ Ilia thinks to herself as she recovers from being winded from the powerful kick that was delivered to her chest.

"Oh you little shit!" The Lighting Warrior yells at the Grimm as it destroys another building, luckily it was unoccupied. "I was going to sleep in that after I was done killing you!"

"This… is a Maiden?" Ilia says to herself, unimpressed with the personality of the Maiden she had encountered.

Her thoughts are cut off as a bright Blue light and a loud crackling sound fills her ears, she looks toward the source of the light and sees the Maiden charging up some sort of final attack. The Maidens flaming eyes flare up even further, seems like every Maiden has some beam like attack, each with a different element. "I came up with this move just for you buddy! I hope you ENJOY IT!" The Maiden screams as a small but precise and powerful beam of electricity is fired out of the palm of her hand. The attack is so devastating that it pierces right through the Massive Grimm-wurms head, and out the other side. "HAAAAAA!" She continues to feed her magic into the beam for a short time that feels like minutes for her, until the Grimm-wurm explodes in a Black cloud of blood and pieces of armour. The now headless Grimm stands up stiff as it begins to slowly dissipate away. The Maiden wipes away sweat from her brow and hovers back toward the ground. "And with that, I bid the thing that gave me fun for an acceptable amount of time, a shallow grave. At least for big ass worm standards." The area where the other end of the beam hit melted the sand into a glass crater, with blobs and splotches of glass all around sais crater.

The Maiden tauntingly salutes the dissipating corpse of Grimm-wurm and prepares to fly off, but before she can even make to get off the ground a voice calls out to her.

"Are you a Maiden?!" Ilia blurts out to get her attention. The Maiden stops as she enters her jumping stance and widens her eyes. The tale of the Maidens is supposed to be a children's story to the world. Yet this random girl just called her out on it? Luckily there's not anyone else around because they either skipped town or is still in hiding.

"How the hell do you know about us hm?" The Maiden asks as she dashes toward Ilia in less then a blink of an eye and grabs her by her cloak, lifting her up to eye level. Ilia nearly jumps out of her skin when she in less than a blink of an eye dashed and grabbed her by her cloak.

"Lucky guess?" Ilia answers, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Cut the shit Chameleon, no one just knows about the Maidens because they choose to believe in children's stories."

"A friend told me about them." Ilia mentions, The Maiden arches her eyebrow at the mention of this friend, and flicks her chin toward Ilia to gesture her to continue.

"He's the one who saved Haven, you might have heard of him." Ilia reveals.

"Since when was Haven being attacked?"

"You didn't know?!"

"Well excuse me that I don't watch the news Chameleon, also after since the CCT tower fell we haven't exactly had any wifi over here."

"My name is Ilia." Ilia corrects bitterly, getting irritated with the newly found Maiden.

"And you must have mistaken me for someone who gives a shit. Just get to the point already before I leave you in the middle of the desert." The Maiden bites back, putting down the younger girl and beginning to spark again as she grows impatient.

"Wait..! Listen, I think he is trying to gather the Maidens, I don't know what for, but I know that he is going to want to gather the Maidens for something. Or at least he implied it..." Ilia explains.

"And how exactly does this 'guy who saved Haven' expect to recruit me for this suicide mission?" The Maiden asks as she crosses her arms.

"I uh, don't really know, I just kind of ran into you by coincidence." Ilia answers honestly, making the Faunus Maiden laugh hysterically.

"Alright alright listen, since you somehow survived through all that I'll throw you a bone, tell this guy the next time you see him to come find me himself, if he can beat me in a fight then I'll join whatever mission he has planned, but if I win… I'll figure it out when I do." The Maiden offers as she begins to levitate.

"But, I have no idea where he could be right now! And I don't have a name for him to go off of." Ilia points out.

"Well you found me pretty easily right? Shouldn't be too hard for someone actually trying to find me, it's not like I am hiding anyway. And my name isn't important, to you at least. See ya Chameleon! Thanks for making me laugh!" And with that, the Maiden begins to fly off at a rather slow speed, slowly getting faster.

As she flies off Ilia realizes that she should've asked her about the White Fang, but doesn't bother to call out to her since she is already just a blue shine in the night sky, mixing in with all the stars.

"For some reason, even though I know I'm going to meet her again, I really hope I don't." Ilia mutters to herself as she puts her hood back on.

* * *

 **Vale, RNJRR**

"Well you're here early." I say as Raven steps out of the portal quietly, but this time without her mask on. The spots under her eyes are dark and she looks like she hasn't been sleeping for days, or at least not well. Furthermore it looks like she got a little older, which is weird because she looked normal just a few days ago.

"The plan has gone through some unexpected changes, I need you to come with me now." Raven says, getting straight to the point.

"I don't know if you noticed, but I have a Maiden to take care of at the moment." I point out, pointing toward the door with my thumb.

"I am well aware that you found the Fall Maiden, pretty fast I might add, Im impressed. But we had a deal, and you will come with me. I am not exactly kind to those who break deals with me." Raven warns, her eyes gaining their Red Maiden flame.

I am not exactly content with fighting Raven in Tai's house, because if we did then most likely the collateral damage would not be very pleasant to look at afterwards. "Alright calm down, could you at least tell me what I am walking into before I start regretting my decision?" I say as I raise my hands in surrender.

Raven's eyes go back to normal and she steps aside, leaning against the wall and giving me a path to the portal. "Fine, since you've been cooperative so far, I'll fill you in, I am launching an attack on one of Salem's fortresses in the Grimmlands, call it revenge for what she did to my tribe."

"Woah, what?!" I exclaim, catching the attention of the rest of my team downstairs.

"You alright Hector?" Tai calls out to me, going up the stairs until I am in sight, I get worried that Raven would get spotted so I meet him before he gets to the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, Im fine, It was a… spider." I say, using the first thing that came to mind. Although my face goes Red from using such a lame excuse. I don't really want them knowing that Raven came here much earlier then expected to take me away for some suicide mission, for obvious reasons of course.

"Dude, you're one of the strongest people on the planet, and you're afraid of… spiders?" Tai says slowly, and with a hint of disappointment.

"It got the jump on me man, just go back downstairs, I have some more things to discuss with Rhea and this conversation never happened." I say desperately, hoping that he doesn't catch on to my lie.

"Oookay, whatever you say bud. Your team is going to be heading to bed soon, I assume you're going to be staying with Rhea again?"

"Probably." I say with a shrug as I turn around and head back up the last couple of steps. "G'night." When I get back to the spot Raven has been chilling in, she looks at me with an amused look in her eyes.

"Spiders? Really?"

"Oh shut up, listen get in the room here and we'll talk more about this." I say as I enter Rhea's bedroom, not giving Raven enough time to protest. Reluctantly following me in and shutting the door. Making sure the portal is closed so no one accidentally walks into it for some reason or another.

"RJ? Who is this lady?" Rhea asks, getting out of the bed and standing by my side.

"This, is the Spring Maiden." I introduce Raven to her. Raven doesn't even look at her and keeps her eyes locked on me.

"Really? You didn't tell me you were friends with her." Rhea points out.

"I think friends stretching it a little, but I think we're getting there." I say with a playful smile directed toward Raven, who responds by just glaring at me in her usual way.

"Enough jokes, are you coming or not?" Raven asks, leaning against the wall again and keeping her voice down so that she is not heard through the walls.

"Raven, listen. Let's say I do come with you, and we manage to wipe out this fortress you're blindly going after, well first thing is that I don't exactly trust you with bringing us _both_ back. Second thing is what if Salem comes to attack us herself? She was basically able to bully Cinder around and she was the Fall Maiden. Lets just say that you and I are equals, and are a bit stronger then Cinder was at this point, but this plan could still easily go south very fast if we're not careful."

"Which is why I need you so we can hit her fast and hard. With my semblance we can be in and out before anyone knows we're there." Raven persists.

"Yeah good plan, except you're missing the part where-"

"I remember you." Rhea's voice grabs both our attention. Already? Damn how much has Ozpin left out?

"Do you now?" Raven inquires, shifting her gaze to the shorter girl next to me.

"Yeah, I remember a fight, but not much besides that." Rhea says, her wolf ears twitch.

Raven shifts her gaze back to me, to persist in trying to convince me to come. "You don't understand, I need to strike back, what do I have left to lose?"

At this point I know that Raven is not thinking straight, she's delusional. Attacking Salem's forces directly is a bad idea, a VERY bad idea. Anything could go wrong, we can take out hundreds, maybe even thousands of Grimm if we worked together, but everyone gets tired eventually, judging from the twenty minute fight we had back at Haven I can make the assumption that we might be able to last _maybe_ a good bit longer but eventually everyone gets tired, no matter how determined they are to win against the impossible odds. I have to try to convince her, and get her to tell me her reasons for this.

"Raven, you're smart, we both know this, why do this? What do you get out of this?"

"My reasons don't matter to you!" Raven nearly screams at me. "I don't have much time before-" She cuts herself off and slices a portal open, intentionally not letting me see her face anymore. "I can tell your decision is made, I won't waste my time here." Before she can go I grab her wrist, making her look back at me with angry flaming eyes. I stare back with equal the amount of determination, and a thin line of aura covers my body, signaling to her that if she starts something, I'd be ready to end it myself.

"Finish what you were going to say." I demand, after a few moments her facade falters, her eyes quiver and lose their flame, she whips her hand back which causes me to lose my grip and closes her portal.

"I don't have much time before… I die." Raven finishes her earlier sentence.

My eyes widen in shock at the news. "What? What do you mean? You look perfectly fine to me."

"Ozpin didn't tell you about that little piece of information hm? All Maidens die at the age of Fifty, whether its our bodies being too old, or the magic involved, I don't really know. But I've done my research." Raven explains, to my surprise it looks like she has tears welling up, but from my angle I can't confirm anything. I put wrap my fingers around my chin and use my other arm to support my elbow, what I am feeling is a mixture of something I can't describe at the moment.

 _I almost don't want to ask this question, but I know I have to_. "Raven... how old are you?" I ask hesitantly, even though I am sure I already know what the answer is going to be.

Raven looks at me, with red eyes and a sad look on her face, but despite all that she shrugs and smirks at me. "Fifty, my birthday is today actually." She answers.

The magic within the Maidens give them one more unmentioned gift: Allowing them to keep their youthful physical looks for an extended period of time until they reach the age of Fifty. That explains how Raven just looks like an older Yang with different color eyes and hair. Also explains how Qrow showed signs of aging while she didn't show almost any.

I rub my face with my whole hand before running it through my hair and turning around to face the window after hearing this bombshell. I glance to Rhea who is just as distraught as I am at the moment, although hers must be having it worse because she just found out that she is destined to die early, which only makes it worse for me. Then I think about the one person who has had an infinite amount of chances to tell me this, and I feel angry.

"Ozpin," I call to him, using his whole name for the first time in a long time. "Why didn't you tell me this?" I ask, trying my best to repress my seething anger.

' _It… was not necessary.'_

"Cut the shit Ozpin! Are you serious? You know I was wondering why I couldn't access all of your memories, YOU blocked them out from me didn't you?"

' _Hector, please listen-'_

"No, I've listened to you enough." I block out the rest of his pleads with my own thoughts and aura. A little trick he told me about while we were training, he said to only use it when absolutely necessary but right now I just don't want to hear his voice.

"You see why I never trusted him now?" Raven asks me, stepping up to me and making me face her. "He is not trustworthy, and I feel bad for you for having to be stuck with him the rest of your life."

"Heh, yeah guess you're right on that one, but that's not what we're not about to change the subject right now." I point out, and fully turning my body to face her. I can't afford to let her manipulate me with how I am feeling, I need to stay on track and prioritize convincing Raven not to go off and kill herself for no reason, and start a whole quest to find the new Spring Maiden afterwards. Whether I succeed or fail is when I will shift my focus to helping Rhea get through this. "Raven, I can't say I can sympathize with how you feel, but whatever you're going to do against Salem, isn't going to work."

"Then what else is there to do?!" Raven asks, she is at her breaking point, one wrong sentence or move could mean her breaking.

"I don't know, reconcile with your daughter? Her father? Your brother? Make things right. Fuck Raven you've put me in a tough spot with this shit." I ramble on a list that I just thought up off the top of my head.

"It's too late for that-"

"It's _never_ too late to at least try." I cut her off. I stand back up from my chair and slowly approach Raven.

Raven finally loses her composure, and the tears begin to fall. She clenches her fist as she gets angry with herself for losing her composure and letting me see such a weak side of her. I hesitantly and slowly place a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, to my surprise she doesn't whip her shoulder away or cut my hand off.

"How long…" I ask an unfinished question.

Raven understands my unasked question and looks me in the eyes. "Honestly, I don't even know, could be months, weeks, or days… maybe even hours. But one thing for sure is that I am not going to last much longer." Raven says with a sad laugh, wiping her tears away as she regains her composure.

"Jesus." I say with my voice barely above a whisper. " Alright… well, where do we go from here? Is this the last time I am going to see you?" I ask with concern in my voice.

Raven laughs uncharacteristically, which makes me worried for a second but I understand that all kinds of emotions are going through her head at the moment. "You know, you're not that bad, I'll let you have the honor of calling me your friend." Raven says with a small smirk. It doesn't last long as it fades away when she thinks on the choices she has, either go on a suicide mission to attack Salem which she knows will fail, reconcile with her family and finally do something good with her life, or just die alone and far away from anyone, letting the Spring Magical power jump to a random person depending who she is thinking about, and she isn't exactly fond of any of those choices, despite the only true choice leading to a happier death then the others. She sighs and leans against the wall. "I only have one logical choice so I guess I choose the most logical one one."

"Oh shit."

"What? That's what you wanted right?"

"No, I just didn't think you were actually do that and I was going to have to knock you out and drag you all the way to Atlas."

"Yang is in Atlas? Well I assume since you found the Fall Maiden you're going to want to head to Atlas next and meet up with them. I… can help with that, I guess." Raven remarks.

"Yes but you have one more thing to do before we do that. I'm sure you know what I am referring to, and while you do that," I look to Rhea who moved to the window, her hood up and radiating an aura of sadness that is too much for me to ignore. "I got something else to do."

"I was afraid that you were going to say that…" Raven mutters as she facepalms, she's never been good with dealing with family, in the right ways of course. Before I can say anything else she transforms into a bird and flies out the window, before landing and transforming back into her human form just before she hits the ground in front of the porch, leaving me to think how the hell nobody heard us, and how the hell that all ended up so well in the end. Now with that whole situation out of the way I shift my focus to Rhea, who has been silently thinking to herself, and blocking out the conversation I was having with Raven. I approach her and kneel down beside her.

"I uh, suck with comforting so I hope I do well." I warn as I place a hand on her shoulder.

Rhea looks to me with more tears with her flaming Amber colored eyes. "Is it true?" She asks sadly.

I look down, already fearing what the truth will do to her. "Last time I saw her was a couple days ago, she looked to be around her mid thirties maybe, now she looking her age. Your body doesn't just age overnight."

Rhea nods and takes a deep raspy breath, attempting to calm herself down. "So I have until Fifty then… yet another thing I hate about these powers."

"Yeah, well look at the bright side, we learned that you can use your powers for good things instead of violence. Make the most of the time you have left, also that's about 36 years in the future, so you don't have to worry about that right now." I explain honestly, making her feel better even if its marginal. "I can promise you one thing though, I'll try to find a way to get rid of the curse." I promise, I slowly wrap one arm around her shoulder as if I am sealing the deal.

"How though?"

"I've learned that magic can work in weird ways, maybe Ozpin can fix his own mess." I answer with a shrug, truthfully I have no idea, but Ozpin owes me this so I'm going to find a way one way or another.

Rhea leans into me, resting her head on my shoulder and she feels herself relax. Wow what a single day can hold that can make two strangers become best friends. She lets out the rest of her sadness as her Maiden flames fade away. I don't really know what to do from here so I just stay in that position while rubbing her shoulder. After this whole Maiden mess is over with that is going to be my next goal. Minutes later I realize that Rhea has actually fallen asleep against me, I carefully lift her up and gently place her on the bed. I stand up and stare out the window, resting my hands on the window sill. My mind wanders from what the future holds, how i'm going to deal with Ozpin now that I don't fully trust him, and how the hell I am going to explain to RWBY how I lost my eye and gained a few more scars. And then there's the whole Raven and Rhea thing and geez I have a headache now.

"Jesus Remnant, just give me a break already." I say as I slump back down in my chair, thinking on what lies ahead.

* * *

 **AN- Oh boy, I bet that shocked most of you guys. This chapter was certainly fun to write but as you can guess I got a little glassy eyed when I got to Raven revealing the death timer that all the Maidens have. But it was fun to write the new Maiden that was so generously thought up by Tigervolcano, I hope she met your expectations! Anyway, Ilia and the new Maiden is going to be in the background for now until our heroes get to Vacuo, so look toward to that upcoming fight. Of course I am going to write small snidbits of what Ilia is up to but nothing too long. So Finally after about ten chapters we MIGHT be starting the Atlas arc soon. Oh boy, I wonder how the two groups will react when they see each other. Especially the two with red auras… Of course I already know what is going to happen but I'll just leave the rest to all of your imaginations.**

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you think! I've… read… all of them.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	27. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 26

**AN- Of course, Reviewers first**

 **Zeldawolffang- It made me sad to, don't worry. Thanks for the review.**

 **Bwburke94- You'll just have to wait and see what I have in store, thanks for another review.**

 **Astra- Indeed it was, I got to start making them shorter so I don't end up writing until 3am. During RWBBY's adventure they have had months to at least get used to Mercury, so I figured it was about time to get them to start warming up to him, of course not without getting a few quips at him every now and again. Lastly about the RWBBY topic, you'll have to see what I do with this maybe dead or alive silver eyed warrior. Next thing, oh yeah, Ilia is about to have a wallop of a revelation when she makes it to Shade, and the Summer Maiden I figured I would have her "hiding" from Salem in her own unique way. Oasis may be a bit too much for this RWBYverse but perhaps it can be an option if I feel like it. I do love Borderlands 2. I see your point and yes you'd be right, Hector will realize that soon and start talking to him again, they are in the same body after all, makes no sense to not at least be on good terms with each other. I'm glad you understood what I was going for with the age limit of the Maidens, and shit i'm writing this before the chapter and I am already getting sad with what I am about to write, but all bad things come with a silver lining, I think that's how that saying goes anyway. Lastly don't worry about leaving long reviews, I actually like reading them it's not a bother at all. It's a great way for me to understand what my followers are thinking about the story. See ya next time!**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Glad you enjoyed the silver eye abilities that I came up with… mostly. About the Maiden power list I will explain that even more after I'm done with the responses. And the Schnee's that are working with Salem are… both of what you said shhh. I'm glad you enjoyed the way I wrote the Summer Maiden, the way you described her just gave me that idea and oh boy if you thought her interacting with Ilia was funny just wait until she meets Hector. I feel bad for them all to, you're not alone. I was debating on whether or not to go with it but I ended up going for it and so far it works out. You know how long it took me to come up with an age that would make sense? Geez man and I had to do like an hour of research to see if Raven being 50 would make sense, either way I decided it to be 50 and if I end up being way off her age… oh well my story. About how the Maiden status kills them at that age; it's kind of both of what you said, its a mixture of the body slowly being poisoned by the magic and the rapid aging being a side effect of it. And you would be very right to assume a conversation between Hector and Ozpin later on, maybe this chapter or the next, haven't decided yet but you'll find out when you read this chapter. And so do I for that last part. Thanks for the review!**

 **Okay, now that all that is out of the way, let me explain the Maiden power list myself to help those who may have had trouble understanding the Maiden powers and which one is stronger than the other. Again, the order I decided to use was Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer. So Summer is the strongest, while Fall is the weakest, you get the rest. What I meant and should have wrote in last chapter is that Summer has the most Potential and gets stronger the fastest, while for example Cinder had to train A LOT to get arguably as strong as Raven. But let's just keep it simple, they all have the potential to surpass one another, but some of them can get stronger faster and overall can just have a more powerful maximum power.**

 **If that was still confusing then please go ahead and do it in your own head or let me know any way to make it easier to understand and make sense.**

 **Jesus, I suck at explaining some things…**

 **Finally, the last thing I want to cover is Raven and Tai's inevitable chat that you guys just knew was going to come this chapter, I just want to let you guys know, that I am VERY inexperienced in writing romantic relationship stuff, I understand the way younger people are but full blown adults is another story, so just bear with me for now. So pretty much Raven might be OOC this chapter and probably for the rest of the story if you see her that way, I'll try to make her not THAT OOC but some things need to be done in order for this story to continue in the way I want it to.**

 **Now to get on with the story!**

* * *

Chapter 26- Revelations

 **Solitas, RWBBY**

"What happened to stealing a Bullhead?" Mercury asks as he puts on Atlas armour.

"Because we don't want to attract attention to ourselves until we get to Atlas." Blake answers as she lets Yang put handcuffs on her.

"And why are we using me to fool people again?" Mercury asks, the new wonderful plan that RWBY came up with was to dress Mercury in one of the Atlas soldiers armour, and have him "Escort" the captured members of RWBY to Atlas to be given judgement. Also once again Mercury didn't really seem to have a chance in the matter.

"Because you're the only guy here and the armour for that guy is too big for anyone else." Yang answers. Conveniently the guards that Mercury knocked out earlier had an abundant amount of handcuffs on, even though they were aiming to kill anyone trying to get in. So Ruby used her semblance to dash back outside to grab the bodies and bring them back, the guards are now gagged and tied up together, but at least they are still knocked out.

"These handcuffs are tight." Ruby complains.

"If they weren't tight they wouldn't do their job. Besides I know all of you are all probably strong enough to break them if you use your aura. Well Besides Ice Queen of course." Mercury points out as he puts on a full head helmet to cover his face.

"Hey! Why specifically me?" Weiss whines.

"For that exact reaction. Now c'mon you're supposed to be my prisoners." Mercury lines them up in a single file line and picks up the weapon that one of the soldiers were using, which is some futuristic assault rifle with a complicated name. He places Weiss at the front so people know exactly what he is doing, and the rest behind her in the order of Ruby, Blake, then Yang at the back. The coverup story for this is that Weiss turned herself in and deeply regrets running away, her team tried to convince her otherwise but were ultimately brought down with her once they made it to Atlas. If they're stupid they'll believe it, and lets be honest here, they're stupid. They leave the building and walk toward the military in the opposite direction of the gate which is still open for some reason, to make it look like they have just entered the village. As they walk they get looks from the citizens and guards, in disbelief that Atlas somehow managed to apprehend all of team RWBY. Last they heard of them they were in the front lines for the defense of Haven academy, and now their prisoners of Atlas. Eventually they make it to the entrance of the military base, and without even asking the gate opens itself to them, and there is even a Bullhead prepped and ready to go. Guess word got around fast.

"How did you get them?" One of the newly recruited soldiers ask as he runs up to the disguised Mercury.

"I didn't, they just didn't fight back." Mercury says through the helmet Microphone, which changes his voice to something more Atlas and adult like.

"Damn, guess you got lucky then."

"Guess I did, not get out of the way. I gotta bring this precious cargo up to Atlas, and I'm on a tight schedule." Mercury says as he brushes past him, not bothering to wait for a response. This time his acting is pretty good, since more veteran soldiers are very rude to new soldiers like that, it was either that or Mercury kicking him out of the way. When he made it to the helipad he was stopped by what looks to be a general of some kind. " _Dammit, so close."_ Mercury thinks to himself as he stands up straight to look like he is actually a soldier.

"I didn't receive any word of the infamous team RWBY being brought into justice through this base. Explain yourself." The officer demands.

"I uh…" Mercury looks around for any signs of support from the girls behind him, who just widen their eyes in response, letting him know that they have nothing. Mercury sighs inside his helmet as he prepares to lash out at the officer, he gives a nod to RWBY and looks back toward the officer, until something stops him of course.

"That is enough officer." A authoritative woman's voice calls out from behind the officer.

Right away the officer that stopped Mercury stands up straight and salutes the voice, "Specialist Schnee! Of course, my apologies." Mercury can hear his own heart pounding as he recognizes the voice right away, and is thankful for the helmet he is wearing so that he is not recognized, he had a small run in with her when he and Emerald were in Atlas around the time he fought his father, they were supposed to gather information on the security of Atlas' network for the virus they put in Beacon, and at the time Mercury wasn't as gentle with his human enemies as he is today, so as any huntress should, Winter drove them off. Luckily they got away from any searching party but he can't be sure if Winter would still recognize him or not.

Weiss widens her eyes as the last person she expected to see reveals herself as she walks out of the Bullhead, her own sister. "Winter!" Weiss exclaims happily.

Winter narrows her eyes at Weiss, showing her that this is not a friendly family reunion, the last time they saw each other was right before the fall of Beacon after all. "Weiss, we have much to discuss during the flight." Winter says as she returns to the inside of the Bullhead, not looking back to see Beacon's best team following her in.

Mercury tries to follow but is stopped by the officer. "Not you idiot, we're supposed to stay in the village." Mercury can't refuse this order since he is under the guise of an Atlas soldier, so he has no choice but to let RWBY go on without him. Yang looks back and notices Mercury being stopped, they meet eyes and Mercury nods at her, letting her know that he'll be fine and he'll find his own way to Atlas. Yang nods back and turns back around before she gets caught.

" _Well shit."_ Is Mercury's last thought as he turns around and heads toward an area that the Officer pointed to.

Back with RWBY, the Bullhead as just closed up and they are preparing to lift off, surprisingly, there isn't even a human pilot, the ship is being driven by an AI. So unless Mercury knew how to hack they would have had no way to get to Atlas by Bullhead, and would have just wasted their time, or worse, gotten trapped in the Bullhead. Winter looks back to the girls and her stern look softens, letting her Specialist persona fade away. "You can take off the cuffs now, I know they're not electronically locked." Winter says.

Everyone in RWBY besides Weiss is surprised by her perceptiveness, although it should've been obvious to everyone in the village and Military base since the small red light was off and the green one was on, signaling that the cuffs were unlocked the whole time. "It's good to see you again Winter." Weiss greets with a smile as she lets the handcuffs fall to the floor, followed by everyone else's.

"What are you girls all doing here?" Winter asks, getting straight to the point.

"We… have a mission we need to complete." Weiss vaguely answers. Very

"The specifics." Winter demands, returning to her usual stern personality.

"We… can't really do that, we were told to keep it to ourselves." Ruby hesitantly speaks up.

"It must have something to do with Ozpin then," Winter assumes. "I will inform you that I am already in the know."

"AHH FUCK." A new voice rings out through the Bullhead and a loud thud is heard. Everyone whips out their weapons and get ready to attack whoever just made that sound, only to widen and all drop their weapons at the same time when they see me rubbing a bump on my head and a Red and Black portal attached to the ceiling of the Bullhead. I weakly smile at them and wave with my free hand,

"I admit that I would have preferred to make a flashier entrance."

* * *

 **Earlier that day, RNJRR**

Right after the talk with Rhea and Raven last night, I had trouble falling asleep, all I could think about was how Ozpin could keep stuff from ME of all people, I mean, we're literally the same person and we've been this way for almost a year now. I understand in a way because of the whole 'The truth is not always safe' saying. But still, I feel betrayed. I finally fall asleep only for my mind to stay awake, and to return to a place I haven't been in for a while. The white plane of existence that I've spent countless hours training in around the time I first came to this world. And of course Ozpin is at his desk and me in the chair like he is about to lecture me for something I did wrong. Once I realize where I am I laugh and lean back in my chair.

' _Hello.'_

" _Oh so you're talking to me in my dreams now?"_

' _It would certainly be the best way to contact you after our best and only way of communication was blocked by your thoughts and aura.'_

" _Yeah, I knew that wasn't going to last long, I just thought it'd last more then literally a couple of hours."_

' _I understand that you are upset, but you of all people should know why I keep secrets. You do share some of my memories after all.'_

" _Yeah, I do remember what Leo's mahogany desk looks like."_

' _Amusing.'_

" _Very."_

' _So, what can I do to repair our relationship?'_ Ozpin asks as he holds his hands out on his desk.

" _You know young people, we hold grudges, but you're lucky I don't. But you must understand why I reacted that way, I don't take kindly to lies and/or omission of important information like that. I would've prefered that I be the one to reveal to Rhea that she's going to die before she lives her full life."_

' _Understandable, you seem to be very protective of her in a familial sort of way, in such a short time of knowing her I might add, is there a specific reason?'_

" _... She reminds me of someone back home."_ I answer hesitantly, looking down at my hands as I reminisce about my old almost forgotten life.

' _I can't see a lot from your old life, but I assume you mean your younger sibling.'_

" _Oh where'd you get that idea?"_

' _Sarcasm aside, I apologize for withholding information, as a remedy I will share anything you wish to know, all that is required of you is to ask a question.'_ Ozpin offers with his usual smirk.

" _What just like that? Anything?"_

' _Yes.'_

I lean forward in the chair and rest my elbows on my knees, I think about all the topics of questions I could ask: The Maidens, Summer, Salem, what this war is really all about, but one question gets stuck in my head when I think about it,

" _Who is Salem, spare no detail, and why does she want to control me so badly?"_

' _That was two…'_ Ozpin points out as his smirk fades away to it's usual thin line.

" _And I don't give a fuck."_ I respond as I lean back in my chair, resting my right elbow on the arm rest and letting my head rest on my fist as I wait for his answer and explanation.

' _Hm… I suppose I could make an exception after all you have done for me and my students. Very well, Salem wasn't always the Grimm queen that we know her as today. Back in the days of old where the Silver eyed warriors were still at large, heh, even I would be considered young at such a time. Salem was a woman who practiced the darker side of magic, while as you would assume, I used the brighter side of magic. Do you know the tale of the two God brothers?'_

" _I remember parts."_

' _Then let me keep it simple, the older brother created life on this planet, such as water, plants, and wildlife during the day. While the younger brother created death, such as drought, fire, and famine. Of course life tends to push back and deny death, so the younger brother decided it was time to go bigger, and deadlier. He then created the creatures of Grimm, and he gave them the innate desire to destroy everything and anything in their sight.'_

" _Then the older one got pissed, beat the shit out of him, and then they created something together, something that they could both be proud of, and that happened to be humanity."_

' _Correct, although we were not the only things they created together.'_

" _The Relics."_

' _Also correct, now since you seem to be caught up I'll get back to the story. The magic that Salem was studying was corrupt, and required the blood of Grimm.'_

" _But don't Grimm fade away when they die? Or kill themselves when captured?"_

' _Let's just say she found a way to keep them alive. The Gods caught wind of this and created me to stop her-'_

" _Woah woah woah what?! Didn't you say that you were just younger earlier?"_

' _I was born with the sole purpose to stop Salem,'_ Ozpin continues, ignoring my interruption. ' _But the dark magic she practiced changed her, turned her into a Grimm demigod of sort, the perfect balance between Grimm and human. All the Grimm she was experimenting with and all the Grimm in general began to see her as one of their own. While she had good intentions at first, they quickly became corrupted, and her new goal was to destroy all life on Remnant, just like the Grimm. Starting with the only ones who had the power to stop her, the Silver eyed warriors. Of course as everyone knows by now, I failed in stopping her, and was cursed with soul immortality until Salem's defeat. Which is why my soul changes bodies and forces the new body to hold two souls.'_

" _And the Maidens?"_

' _I gave the first four women their power so that they could help the people of Remnant, but not just because they simply helped an old man with his farm, in the long run I was planning to use them to help to defeat Salem, such as what we are going to do soon.'_

" _Wow, you really are a dick."_

' _As I have been told… as for your second question, I am not sure you want to hear the answer.'_ Ozpin warns, leaning back in his own chair.

" _Well we literally have all night, and I've basically seen everything there is to see so far… I hope."_ Oh you already know that I am wrong.

' _Have you ever wondered how you suddenly appeared in this world?'_ Ozpin begins with a question that I have been asking myself basically every day since I woke up here.

" _Do I really need to answer that?"_

' _Of course not, let me rephrase. Do you really think that you just_ _ **appeared**_ _here by mere chance?'_ This question catches me off guard, I always I just got lucky enough to be chosen to be sent to this world.

" _Stop answering in riddles Ozpin, you know I hate it when you do that. Just get to the point."_

' _I do not know for sure… but I believe that Salem played a large part in summoning you here.'_ Ozpin reveals. I cover half of my face with my hands as I think of the possibility, it all makes sense now that I think about some of the things she had said you me.

" _ **You will be mine… You really think I don't have telepathic abilities after all of my years?.. I'm not here for you this time…"**_

Now that I think about it, if Salem had the power to telepathically attack anyone from assumingly thousands of miles away, then it would have made sense for her to use that power to slay all of the major leaders of Remnant and cause major panic, and all the times that she said 'You will be mine' to me, I just thought it was just something her creepy-ass would say to someone she wants as her slave. I piece together other things she has said to me, and I hang my heads in a dreadful realization.

" _That could explain how I was so strong for no reason when I first got here… and how I was able to adjust to you so well and so quickly and… what am I Ozpin?"_

' _You're human of course. I already rid of all of the dark magic within you once I realized she summoned someone from a different world. Then when I realized that it was a person and I was still in my Astral state, I 'jumped' into your body so to speak. That Oscar boy we met yesterday was going to be my next host until you came along, I think you mentioned that before actually.'_

" _Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"_

' _I needed to be sure I could trust you at first, forgive me when I say this but when I first met you I was not that trusting of you, especially with all your knowledge of the Maidens and the fact that I could not see your memories at that time. And then when you brutally killed the previous Fall Maiden it caused even more distrust, we never were able to discuss what happened. The moment where I truly began to trust you for the first time finally was when the Relic of Knowledge selected you as it's owner, it only grew when you acted as a great leader and eliminated the powerful Grimm scorpion hybrid, not hesitating to remove a part of you that was Grimm. Lastly, as for why I waited so long to tell you, I found it… difficult to find an appropriate time, and a way to tell you that you were summoned here to destroy Remnant instead of save it.'_

" _Heh, guess you're right there. So the short version I just made up for myself is that I was somehow summoned here by dark magic, but before I could become evil you joined your soul with my body, and in doing so dispelling all that evil shit, and Salem does not like that very much and is trying to get me back. Did I miss anything?"_

' _Well, I did I think you would ask about your semblance.'_

" _Oh, right, that. Well, what about it?"_ At this point we basically scrapped that whole one question thing.

' _The 'Kaioken' as you call it, does indeed bolster your speed, strength, and every other positive attribute with the cost of major physical strain. But in doing so doesn't just drain your aura and cause immense pain, but it also uses magic. Neither Dark, or Light magic, not even the kind of magic that the Maidens or I use. It's a completely new type of magic that has completely stumped even me.'_

" _Oh, well I guess that explains how I can get so strong that I can stand up to Maidens."_

' _Yes, I suppose it does… you should make it a goal to learn what kind of magic you possess, so that you could at least understand it and possibly wield is as a weapon other then your 'Kaioken'.'_

" _Jesus Oz, how can you make my head hurt when I am inside my own head?"_

' _Are you well? I've noticed that your emotional state has plateaued, neither Positive nor negative. How are you taking this so well?'_

" _I'm sure this will hit me hard in the future, don't worry it's just how I am."_

' _Very well, I suppose it is time to wake up then.'_

" _Wait what-"_

* * *

 **The night before, Raven and Tai**

Raven had just flown out of my window, and landed just outside the front door, just as she did months ago right after the attack on Haven. She has never felt more nervous as she was then, but even that pales in comparison to how she feels right now as she slowly walks up those stairs. Luckily for her I made sure the rest of my team was asleep so there is nothing and no one to interrupt their conversation. She runs a hand through her Black and Gray hair and sighs as she is reminded of her condition. If she were to guess, she might have a couple weeks at best, maybe up to a month. In that time she plans to help us out however she can. Well, she plans to assist her family as much as she can, which is in turn, pretty much all of us. The only one that isn't with us is Qrow but the last I spoke with him he should be getting to Ruby and the others, maybe there by now. I would assume it'd take a long time to fly as a bird all the way across the world.

Back to Raven she does something that if you asked her to do a couple days ago she would have smacked and scolded you for it. She takes off the top half of her armour, leaving her in just her Black and Red undershirt with a deep V neck, and her several necklaces she no doubt wears for her tribe, and places her shoulder pads and the rest of her top armour on a chair outside, along with her Grimm mask. She keeps the bottom half of her armour on since well, she doesn't really have much down there. Without knocking she just walks through the door because that's just how she is.

"Who's there?" Tai asks right away as he hears the door opening, with his gauntlets on expecting an attacker similar to the Grimm hybrids he ran into before. He jumps into view but before he can get ready to attack he instead goes wide eyed, and his arms go limp at his sides. " _Oh._ "

"Hey Tai." Raven greets softly, holding a hand on her hilt non threateningly.

"What are you… doing here?" Tai slowly and hesitantly asks, still wide eyed at seeing his estranged wife when the last time he saw her he was sure that he would never see her again.

"We need to talk." Raven declares as she brushes past him and into the living area. Leaving the still dumbfounded Tai with a hanging jaw to follow her with his gaze, that's when he notices something.

"You look older." He points out. Causing Raven to stop in her tracks and turn her head slightly to look at him through the corner of her eye.

"Yeah… that has something to do with why I am here." Raven responds, turning back around and surprising Tai again by sitting on one of the couchs, sitting with one leg over the other.

"So… why _are_ you here? I would assume it's a final goodbye or you're here for Hector." Tai asks as he sits across from her.

"I'm actually here for you this time." Raven answers. Making Tai widen his eyes once again, and making him silently say wow to himself.

"Wow, you are certainly full of surprises today." Tai mutters as he leans back in his chair, honestly speechless on what to say in this current situation.

"I am the Spring Maiden," Raven starts off with, letting her eyes flame for a moment to verify the truth. Tai remains unfazed by this of course since he already knew.

"I know, you're the one who filled me in on everything that happened at Haven." he points out.

"I know, that's just what I am starting this off with. Do you know how long Maiden's live Tai?" Raven asks, switching leg positions and crossing her arms when she leans back into the soft couch.

"Just as long as any of us right?" Tai assumes.

Raven shakes her head no.

"Longer?"

Again, Raven shakes her head no, this time not as much, showing that she is not happy with the answer.

"Don't tell me…" Tai mutters, understanding her silent message right away. He forces himself to look into Raven's Red eyes. "Shorter..?" The silence hangs in the air for several moments that feels like hours, until this time. Raven shuts her eyes closed, takes a deep breath, and nods.

"Oh, Raven… I'm so sorry." Tai asks as he realizes the true meaning of her being here. He thinks about how Yang is going to handle this. "Does Yang know?"

"I haven't gone to see her yet, but she will... One way or another."

"I thought you'd want to spend your final days with your tribe…" Tai honestly points out. "But I'm glad you had a change of heart." He adds, he leans forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "Is that what the whole graying hairing hair thing is?" Tai jokes, covering the fact that he has tears threatening to escape his eyes with humor.

Raven isn't dumb, she has known this man long enough to know when he is holding back tears, despite being gone from his life for over a decade and a half, "Why are you sad? It's not like I did anything for you." She asks, dodging the topic of having to reveal that her tribe has already been wiped out, and that the only Branwens still alive are herself and her brother.

"Well, technically, you _are_ still my lawful wife." Tai points out, wiping away a stray tear from his cheek.

Now it is Ravens turn to widen her eyes in surprise and disbelief. While it is true that they never _officially_ had a divorce. How could Tai be treating her this way?… so gently, so _nice_ , it's almost like he is still in love with her despite of everything she has done, leaving him and their daughter, and murder the Spring Maiden for power... "Stop." Raven demands, looking away from him as she once again feels tears begin to well up. "Stop, being so _fucking_ nice." She demands with a sad choking voice as she holds back her own tears. She thinks to herself that it is pathetic that she has been so soft for these past couple of days, everything that has built up inside of her, all the guilt, the stacked amount of depression that she didn't know she had, and countless other emotions she forgot she was capable of.

"You know it's in my nature, Summer always said so and even Qrow did a couple of times." Tai mentions.

Raven winces after hearing her deceased partners name. Which does not go unnoticed by her blonde husband. Finally after regaining her composure, she looks back into Tai's Lilac eyes. "Were you angry with me for leaving?" She hesitantly asks, even though she is well aware of

"Of course I was, who wouldn't be, but quickly that anger just turned into missing you." Tai answers, actually getting up and moving to sit next to Raven. Who doesn't make any move to stop him.

"I thought you were over me. You _did_ get with Summer barely a year after I left." Raven bitterly points out.

"About that… I uh, never really told _anyone_ this but uh…" Tai stutters, rubbing the back of his neck as he gets nervous, which peaks Raven's curiosity.

"Spit it out."

"I am a horrible person for feeling this way but, while I of course deeply cared for her and loved her, but you were still the one I loved, that is until Ruby was born and I had to shift gears, and well… you know the rest." Tai reveals shamefully, ' _Might as well get the truth out before I can't anymore.'_ he thought to himself before revealing this.

"I was going to come back…" Raven mentions, her eyes hidden under her hair as she says that.

"Huh?" Tai asks, caught off guard at what she had just said. He thought that she would be understandably angry with him, or just leave right then and there.

"I was going to come back. But when Qrow told me that you two were together… It drove me off to a point where I vowed never to return, except to do one thing for my daughter." Raven explains with a straight face.

"You were going to come back?" That same line is going through Tai's head over and over on a loop, and now it is his turn to feel guilty. "I wasn't patient enough."

"I don't blame you, I left without a word, and when Qrow asked me why I left I said "I'm not sorry for leaving, my tribe is more important than that idiots feelings.""

"Oh…" The area around the two former lovers is now thick with awkward silence, it has certainly been a roller coaster of emotions for the two so far and they have only been talking for a few minutes.

"It's not too late."

"For what?"

"To come back you moron, do I have to spell it out to you?"

"But… how are you..?" Raven is silenced when Tai softly grabs her hand, to which she surprisingly doesn't cut off just yet.

"Raven, I've had _seventeen_ years to think about you in every way I could think of, and I get it, your tribe is important to you, and they are your family-"

"The tribe is GONE Tai." Raven finally blurts out, the tears finally shedding from her eyes and traveling down her cheeks. Tai is massively taken aback from this sudden outburst of rare emotion coming from the woman before him.

"Gone? You mean…"

"They were wiped out, this happened soon after the Haven incident, after I came to visit you I portalled myself to where my tribe was to relocate, and all I found were _bodies_." Raven reveals, squeezing Tai's hand in the progress in an attempt to comfort herself.

She really has nothing left besides her actual family, and her one friend she has managed to make so far.

"Raven, no words can describe how sorry I am for you."

"Save it Tai, there's nothing you can do about it." Raven snaps as she whips her hand away to wipe her face and then crosses her arms in a way that almost looks like she is hugging herself.

"I mean, there are a lot of ways I could, if you let me is the first step to all of them." Tai points out, scooting closer to his former lover.

Raven chances a glance to Tai, who is looking at her with pleading eyes, the thought of letting him in again both terrifies her and fills her with happiness. Since, well, the last time she did that they got married.

"I missed you Raven, and no not in the shitty romance movie kind of way, and all this going on right now… Salem, the mission my girls got themselves wrapped into, all these Maidens and powers, and now this apparent death timer." Tai pauses to take a deep breath to regain his composure, but his hands are still shaking. "Everyday I wonder if my girls are still okay, they could be dead right now and I wouldn't even know, I don't know if I can take anymore loss, especially if it is you, I'm trying my best to keep it together but honestly, I think i'm beginning to lose it." Tai rambles as Raven listens intently. "But, as much as you think it is impossible, despite of everything you did, I don't think I ever stopped loving you." Tai confesses.

To his surprise, Raven actually begins laughing hysterically, covering her face with her hand as her face goes beet Red from her amusement, she hasn't been able to laugh like that in ages. It actually reminds Tai of the time he proposed to her, and she had to same reaction, but ultimately said yes.

"You are such a hopeless idiot, do you know that?" Raven asks between laughs, her sadness forgotten because of her amusement.

"Well I can't say that was the reaction I was expecting." Tai says as he joins her in a light laughter.

"Hah, you are the only one who can make me laugh like that." Raven says as she finally recovers.

"Well Im old but I still know a few tricks of my own." Tai says with pride, which earns him another light chuckle from Raven.

"I needed that laugh."

"So…" Tai drags out the word, making it obvious that he wants to know how she feels in the most Tai way possible.

"I… can't say that I don't." Raven basfully admits. "If I didn't then I wouldn't have came to visit you, and I wouldn't be here now."

"Yeah, I kind of assumed that, when I heard your portal open earlier I assumed it was for Hector-"

"You heard that?" Raven interrupts.

"You really don't think I don't know when I hear your portal open by now? Heh, the other kids thought it was the wind." Tai laughs.

"He was the one who convinced me to talk to you."

"I figured, I won't ask what you needed him for but Im glad he managed to convince you otherwise. He is one of those endearing rare types."

"I can agree to that." Raven agrees.

"Wait really? A compliment to a person? Damn you really have changed."

"Shut up."

"Alright, moving on from that topic. So what are we going to do about this? Assuming we're not going to keep dodging the topic that this very well might be the last time we see each other." Tai says as he stands up, with Ravens hand in his own.

Raven follows him up and he wraps his arms around her waist, something he hasn't been able to do in a very long time, and Raven doesn't stop him. "I don't know, I have to go see Yang and Qrow after this."

"I'll come." Taiyang declares right away, which doesn't surprise Raven in the slightest. "I've been sitting back while my daughters struggle to save the world, and I want to be there for you for the rest of the time you have left." As he says this Raven slumps her head into his shoulder.

"You're so hopeless… but thank you." Raven says, her voice being muffled by Tai's shirt.

Tai slowly brings one hand up to her face, adjusting it so that their noses are barely touching. No more words need to be shared between the two, they have already spoken about almost everything that has happened, and while it wasn't, they forgive each other. Slowly Tai leans in, hesitating to meet their lips, as if he is silently asking for permission to do something they haven't done together in ages. Raven surprises him one last time by closing the distance herself. The two former lovers become lovers once again with this kiss acting as a seal of sort. They pour all of their emotion, and their souls into this, and the kiss last's for what feels like hours. After the kiss is over, they break away for a breath, and stare each other in the eyes, telling each other that neither are finished yet...

Yeah we're just going to leave them alone for now...

* * *

 **The next morning, Present**

I snap my eyes open, to see Rhea actually in front of me with her hands on her shoulders shaking me. Once she notices that I am awake she sighs in relief.

"What happened to you?!" Rhea asks as she calms down.

I am perplexed by her sudden panicked state but once I realize that I am sweating buckets, and my hands are shaking I understand her worries. She does know the negative effects my semblance can have on my body so I assume that's why she is so worried.

"Sorry for worrying you," I apologize as I pat her head affectionately, which she doesn't stop me so I assume it feels good for her, especially with the Wolf ears. "I had a long ass conversation with Oz about important things that will be _way_ too difficult to explain on my own."

"You could warn me next time…"

"Yeah, while Im asleep I'll make sure to send you a telepathic message with the telepathic abilities that I don't have the next time I talk to Oz while I am asleep." I say sarcastically as I wipe my brows of sweat with my sleeve.

"Oh ha ha, go take a shower, you smell."

"Good morning to you to Rhea," I say as I pat her wolf ears and stand up to leave the room.

"What were you and the Headmaster talking about?" Rhea asks before she loses her chance.

"Don't call him that, and I'll tell you later." I answer without looking back, I shut the door before she can stop me.

Rhea pouts when I brush off her question. But she understands in a way since she overheard most of my last night's conversation with Raven.

" _AHH!"_ I yelp in surprise and fear out of nowhere.

Rhea runs out of the room to see what is wrong, expecting it to be danger, her eyes flame unintentionally as she runs out of the room to see… Me leaning against the wall with a hand over my heart and Raven standing just in front of me with an amused look on her face.

"What happened?" Rhea asks out of confusion, her flames dissipating away after realizing that I was just overreacting.

"What are you still doing here?" I ask as my heart beats in my throat.

"You idiot, after last night you thought I was going to leave?" Raven says in an amused tone.

"Well yeah! You're Raven, I thought that was like your thing, to show up randomly, and then leave." I say as if it is a regular thing.

"You do do that a lot." Tai agrees, we all turn our heads to see him standing beside Rhea with an amused look on his face while he suppresses laughter.

"Whuh- You mean- You two- Holy shit I knew this was going to happen." I proudly state as I instantly realize what the two lovebirds must have done after Raven left my room.

"What happened?!" Rhea asks again, this time raising her voice so that she is no longer ignored. She must keep her innocence!

"Love happened." I answer simply as I pat her head once again, I don't know why she doesn't stop me, but the hair on her ears are just so soft, in a very non creepy way of course.

"AWW~!" Rhea exclaims, holding her hands to her heart as her own face gains a red tint, followed by Tai and Ravens and the young girls awe.

"Both of you shut up, I'm going to wake up your team, and fill them in on our plans." Raven says as she turns around and quickly stomps away. How the rest of my team has not woken up by now is beyond me, Nora is understandable but what the hell are Jaune and Ren doing? Whatever I guess I can trust Raven now.

"Alright, well since that is over with I am going to go take a well needed shower." I say as I enter the bathroom. Later the shower is heard and I commence the process of cleaning myself with soap and water, after that I look at my face in the mirror say to myself, "Time to look young again." I shave my face of all the facial hair that has accumulated for the past several months. So now I actually look my age, maybe a bit younger, depends on opinions.

I throw my clothes back on, that were magically cleaned and stitched up over the past encounters with Grimm hybrids and bandits alike. And I basically look the same way I did when I first started this mission, minus the missing eye of course. I smile to myself and leave the room, only to be met once again by the little Faunus Maiden I kinda adopted.

"I heard you say that you were going to shave!" Rhea exclaims as she observes my face.

"Rhea… how long were you there?"

"Long enough, and I gotta say. I like the new look." She compliments.

"Well, thank you I guess." I say as I dry my hair with.

"Oh, and they are all waiting for you downstairs."

"EH!" You should have opened up with that!" I exclaim as I jump down the stairs, with Rhea trailing behind me.

"Okay what's going on now?" I say as I go down the last step.

"Oh you shaved." Jaune notes.

"I'm glad you could make it, I had to stop Nora from eating your breakfast again." Ren mentions as he is still currently holding Nora back from my plate of great looking food that Tai somehow made in mere minutes. Rhea gets a bowl of cereal, because she is young, but she is not complaining so no harm is done.

"Nora, remember the last time you ate my food?" I remind her of the time I punished her from eating my food by making her eat the most disgusting food/drink that Ren could make, she called it 'The drink of death' because apparently it tasted like death. According to her at least.

The mere thought of having to drink that again makes Nora shiver, and blurt out an incoherent amount of apologies. "Sorry! Never again!" is all that I can understand from that.

"Calm down, I won't do that again since you didn't do anything wrong just yet, good job Ren."

"Of course." Ren replies as he lets go of Nora.

"Alright, now what did you guys need me fooorororo." I stutter as my eye shine Blue and a mass of knowledge makes its way into my mind. "Damnit Knolly tell me when you're going to do that! Now my jaw hurts." I complain as I rub my jaw. I think the small warm sensation that I feel travel along the back of my head is some sort of apology.

"What was that?" Basically everyone asks besides Jaune, Ren and Nora.

"That was the Relic of Knowledge, that I have named Knowlly. Because it's cute, and now I know everything your plan involves. So when do we leave?"

"Soon." Raven answers for everyone, standing up to go put back on her armour.

"By the way I've made a new friend." I mention as I point toward her direction.

"We've noticed." Jaune points out as he takes another bite of his food.

"What he means is that we nearly attacked her when we first saw her, then Mr. Xiao Long stopped us before anything happened." Ren clarifies.

"She would have almost killed all of you and not feel bad about it, so I basically saved your lives." Tai says.

"Good job, all of you." I say before this continues. "How did I not wake up during this altercation?"

' _Because you were speaking to me.'_ Ozpin's astral form speaks as he appears behind me, the only one that can see him is me so no one freaks out.

"Oh yeah that. Nevermind I just remembered the last nine hours." I say as I glance a look at Ozpin.

' _How are you going to go through with your earlier plan now?'_ Ozpin asks me in the privacy of my head.

" _Yeah that whole idea is scrapped now, let's just focus on saving Atlas from destroying itself."_ I respond as I roll my shoulders, causing a few satisfying cracks.

' _Very well.'_ and with that Ozpin fades away back into my head.

"Soooo, when is Raven going to open the portal?" I ask as I take another big bite of the Omelette that was made for me.

"As soon as you're done eating." Raven says as she re-enters the room, now clad in her armour but without her Grimm helmet, she decided that there is no longer a need for it.

"What about my training?" Rhea asks me as she puts away her bowl.

"Every chance we get we'll squeeze in a session, for now just stick by my side at all times and use what you learned yesterday for the appropriate situation we are bound to get into." I answer seriously as I look at her.

"That being said, what had she manage to learn so far?" Ren asks, curious about the Fall Maidens progress.

"I can throw big white fireballs now!" Rhea happily exclaims.

"Yeah there's that and she can also heal injuries with magic." I add as I point to my now unscarred face.

"Oh I didn't even notice!" Nora exclaims as she gets up in my face to get a closer look at my missing eye.

"Nora, space please." I plead as I gently push her back and away from my face.

"I see that she wasn't able to restore your eye, but it is still nice to see no more scars on your face." Ren notes.

"I feel the same way, and OH MY GOD." I am pulled off of my seat and through a portal that was made on the floor. Everyone stops eating and looks at Raven, who in turn just shrugs,

"What? He was taking way too long. I will leave the portal open for a few minutes." Raven justifies her actions.

* * *

 **Solitas, Present.**

Back to the Bullhead I just so unceremoniously was thrown into, I stare at the five girls in front of me. RWBY with a mixture of happiness, shock and confusion. While Winter is just dumbfounded that this random guy just literally fell out of the sky, only that there is no sky inside this aircraft, she struggles to find the appropriate words for this situation, but since the others are not displeased with seeing me she keeps her mouth shut for now.

"Hector!" Ruby exclaims as she dashes right into my arms, wrapping me in a tight hug and nearly squeezing the life ot of me. She was the first to recover from the shock.

"Oof, my lungs." I complain as I hug her back. From over her shoulder I can see Yang smiling at the sight, Blake with her hands over her mouth, and Weiss silently giggling with a hand over her mouth.

"How did you manage to convince my mom to make a portal for you?"

"Did you complete your part already?"

"What happened to your eye?!"

Too many questions, asked at the same time in random orders, and I don't understand any of them. Before I can speak to respond, Rhea is the next to fall through the portal. Unlike me she landed on her feet.

"Well that answers your question Blake." I say as Ruby reluctantly releases me, kneeling down beside me.

" _She_ is the new Fall Maiden?"

Everyone stares at Rhea, and her shyness takes over as her face gets redder and she pulls up her hood because of all the attention. "H-hi." She shyly greets.

Everyone else leans in a waves back, and Yang voices everyone's current opinions. "She is SO cute!"

Rhea hides behind her hood and stands behind me, despite me being too low to the ground to cover her completely. Soon the rest of RNJRR all hop in next, and the next after them surprises everyone, Tai is the next to jump through the Bullhead.

"DAD!?" Yang and Ruby exclaim as they both run and jump into his arms. He chuckles as he happily hugs them back, holding Ruby a little extra tight since he hasn't seen her in so long.

RNJRR all sit back and smile at the family reunion, but it is cut short as the final person jumps through the portal, landing in the Bullhead with a thud. Yang widens her eyes as she sees who it is, as does everyone else from RWBY. Winter is just there in the back looking pretty, too much information to process at once, she just lets it happen, ignoring the alert that is telling her that there are too many people in the Bullhead.

"Mom…" Yang greets, in almost disbelief. She almost didn't recognize her because of her rapid aging.

Raven hugs her right arm, nervous right away in the presence of her daughter. "Hey, Yang." A awkward couple moments of silence fills the Bullhead as Mother and Daughter tensely reunite once again. Of course, I am the one to break it.

"Well this is awkward."

"I'll talk to you later." Yang says a little bitterly, before looking back to me. "You have a lot to explain."

"Oh gosh."

* * *

Mercury is bored to say the least, he has been stationed on the very post belonging to the same guy he stole this armour from, the fact that he hasn't been caught yet is beyond him. His thoughts are broken by the sudden cry of another soldier in the distance.

"Grimm!" He shouts as several soldiers rush to the gates to close and bar them down.

"Finally, some fun." Mercury mutters to himself as he turns off the safety on his rifle. As he gazes out into the distance, a wall of smoke is heading their way. So that tells him that the soldiers _assumed_ that it was Grimm. While everyone is mixed up between Chaos and confusion. Mercury hides behind a building and quickly throws off the smelly armour finally.

"That's not Grimm, it's an attack by humans." Mercury surmises, making sure his bionic legs are good to go for a fight.

A loud explosion makes him jump, he runs into the open, not caring anymore if he is seen or not, and sees that the barred gates have been blown off their hinges, he can see a pair of legs under one of the gates and winces at the bloody sight. Things get worse as dozens of Grimm Hybrids charge into the village, Mercury widens his eyes at the massive amount of hybrids, the Atlas soldiers do their best to fight back, killing a fairly large amount of them, but even the most advanced technology can be overran. Quickly it goes from a defense, to struggling to survive. Mercury joins the fight, kicking and punching the hybrids to death. Using the momentum from the force of his kicks to propel himself from target to target. Too his surprise, all the hybrids seem to change targets, and surround him. Before Mercury can stop them, he quickly finds himself to be surrounded by dozens of hybrids.

"Oh that is just uncalled for." Mercury says out loud, he smiles and welcomes the challenge, he's been against similar odds before and made it out, what can these things that die in one hit do to him.

"Oh, Merky, Merky, Merky… Have you missed me as terribly as I missed you?"

"No… that voice. It can't be." Mercury mutters out of shock his hands begin to tremble as he looks toward to source of the voice. To only widen his eyes even further and begin to make panicked breaths. He sees the one man that he thought deserved to be killed by him, the same white hair, the black eyes, that sadistic smile. It all points toward his thought to be dead father.

"Because I know I missed you." Marcus says as he begins to walk toward him, his entire look changing into one of murder and rage.

Mercury out of surprise and fear, takes a step back, until he no longer has control of his legs. Paralyzed with fear, all he can do is watch as Marcus silently walks in his direction, fist's clenched and a visible knife strapped to his belt. Before he can get too close though, a Crow lands between them, and this Crow transforms into a human right in front of him, revealing it to be none other then Qrow Branwen.

"Ah, I see the cavalry has arrived." Marcus says in a monotone voice.

Qrow looks back at Mercury, twirling his weapon right into its Scythe form. "Kid, I know you turned a new leaf and all, but now is not the time to feel fear." Qrow looks back at Marcus, preparing to defend or attack him.

Marcus doesn't change his lazy stance at all, and instead calls to the hybrids he came here with. "None of you interfere, this is my fight." Marcus seriously states, the Hybrids disperse and resume their attack on the Atlas forces and civilians around them. "Well then, Qrow Branwen, we can finally see who is the better fighter." Marcus says with a sadistic smile as he enters his own combat stance. Back when he was an Assassin for hire, he and Qrow got into several scuffles, but everytime it would be a draw and he would get away. Now, several years later, he gets the chance to finally find out who is the better fighter.

"I'll put you down for good this time Black." Qrow swears.

"Oh please, even the kid managed to do that better than you." Marcus fires back.

Mercury is still in shock, and trembling. He thought he'd be furious if he ever saw his father again, and today just proved him wrong oh so much. He then remembers what happened all those years ago, the years of brutal training sessions, the abuse, his… mother. He shakes his head and jumps back up to his feet, and gets into his own stance next to Qrow.

"I'm going to end you, once and for all." Mercury growls out as smoke begins to steam out of his boots.

"I won't underestimate you this time Merky, but this will definitely make things much more fun." Marcus states as he dashes into battle at speeds that Mercury can barely keep up with with his eyes. He only sees him again when Qrow meets him midway, clashing his Scythe with Marcus' bionic leg.

The battle between old rivals, and a deadly reunion between father and son, is beginning…

* * *

 **AN- WOO, finally, I get a break. A lot of things happened this chapter for sure, Marcus finally came back, I know you guys are looking toward the Mercury and Qrow vs Marcus fight that will be the main plot of next chapter. Prepare for blood! Raven and Tai had a moment... The reunion of RWBY and RNJR! And again, Poor Mercury.**

 **So many things happened this chapter, that I am just way too burned out to mention all in here. So that being said. Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter! It's a bit shorter than the others, even though this one is at 10k+ words… whatever. See you guys next time.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	28. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 27

**AN- Thank you to the reviewers of last chapter!**

 **Soda-fiedpsycho- The Ruby/Hector moments are coming, don't worry I promise, but thanks alot for the 9/10 plot comment!**

 **Justus80- I believe I covered you in a PM, but I'll put a little hint for everyone else. A new weapon, may or may not be in the works.**

 **Astra- Im glad Im not the only one who agrees with that, took so long for me to find a good age for the Maidens to pass at. They had to run out of luck some time, but yeah you know how some NPC's in video games are dumb as shit? I went for that here, but of course it can't last forever. As for your Off topic questions, I think that is something that could be done, this is a futuristic kingdom that both RNJRR and RWBY got caught up in, maybe I can have Hector make fun of the names of some things and get on Winters nerves. Alright now with RNJRR, you know how some teenagers tend to bottle things up? Well, Hector is no stranger to that and I'll leave it at that. The adult feelings I hope I did alright with, but thank you for enjoying it, call it practice for a future couple ;). Hector does have some magical properties yes, but he is not a girl… you'll see what I have planned for him. Knolly is definitely going to be making more noises now within Hectors head, and yes new characters are on the way, whether they are good or bad though… you'll have to find out. I could totally just make this chapter all Merc, Qrow, Marcus, and Ilia, or I could go for literally everyone. But if I do that, then it's going to be like a 15k word chapter and my eyes and hands need breaks for time to time, so you'll see what I do. Thank you for your support! I look forward to your next review!**

 **Zeldawolffang- Me neither Zelda, they're coming either this chapter or the next. Stay on the edge of your seat!**

 **Tigervolcano5000- I'll explain what Winter has been doing in the beginning of this chapter, and her reactions to everything that has been going on, so look forward to that. She knows about the Maidens, but not about Salem. Ironwood trusts her a good bit, just not THAT much. About Salem and Hector and the whole dark magic summoning thing, that will be fully explained in the future, once a certain something happens… Yeah, in my headcanon I believe that Ozpin was created to stop Salem, but Salem killed him, which brought upon his curse and first reincarnation, and thousands of years pass and here we are, also I didn't get to mention it last chapter, but the magic within Hector is the reason why Ozpin can't take control when he wants to anymore, so there's that. Whew, I'm glad that the Tai and Raven scene got positive feedback, I was honestly hoping I didn't butcher the whole thing. Now something that's going to be even harder to write is writing about the feelings of a daughter and her estranged mother and that whole emotional talk. Oh boy… I was going to wait longer to reunite RWBY and RNJR, but with the idea I just got for the Atlas arc requires all of our heros together. There Mercury and Qrow vs Marcus fight, if any of them emerge from that fight without a few scars even I'll be surprised. Thank you for another review!**

 **Now that all the reviews are out of the way, I have to ask you guys something that I have been holding back on for pretty much the whole story… Lemons, sex scenes, stuff like that. We all know that relationships lead to that kind of stuff. I implied Raven and Tai having make up sex, but I didn't actually write it out. It's not that I am uncomfortable with writing that kind of stuff, I just don't think i'd be good at it, so my question for you guys is do you want me to write lemons in the future of this story? If I do Im probably going to make a separate folder of one shots that show pretty much all of the sex scenes that can be canon or non canon to the story. Like Idk, Hector and Ruby for the first chapter, then for all you Yang, Weiss, and other female characters of RWBY fans, I can write out those non canon scenes in other chapters. Hell, I might even have him fuck some of the Maidens, (Not Rhea though, she is way too young in this story.) So yeah tell me what you think, In the actual story if I do decide to write out a Lemon, I'm only doing it once for this story, and all others will be in that one shot folder. Probably going to put a Poll up to for this topic as well.**

 **Now to the story!**

* * *

Chapter 27- Smoke and Feathers, along with some Ice

 **Solitas, Mercury and Qrow**

Qrow and Marcus have just clashed together, Qrow with his Scythe and Marcus with his bionic legs. The shockwave resulting from the collision almost knocks Mercury over, if it wasn't for his own bionic legs he would have fallen. A stone faced Qrow pulls his scythe up and flips Marcus, but he uses the momentum to flip in the air and land on his feet, with a crazed smile he dashes right back at his aggressor. At speeds Mercury can barely keep up with, he watches for an opportunity to help out Qrow against his father as they dash around the area in red and gray blurs, only visibly for a second at a time. But he can't help but think about how his father is managing to do this, he was at a point where he was almost killed by his own son, and now here he is taking out one of the best huntsman in the kingdoms as equals, but judging from the smile on his face Marcus looks like he is toying with Qrow. His judgment is proven correct as Marcus finally lands a crushing kick to the gut of Qrow, making him slide back along the ground while using the blade of his scythe to stop his momentum. Mercury chooses this moment to get involved and kicks off the air with hs smoke semblance to propel himself into the side of his father, he goes for a kick to his back but to his surprise Marcus jumps over the attack without looking, and slams down on his leg, pinning him to the ground. He looks down at Mercury and smiles sadistically.

"Oh Merky, did you really think that would work on me?" Marcus smirks as he is about to bring his fist into Mercury's face. But is promptly stopped by a shotgun blast that drives itself right into his unguarded side. Luckily for Marcus, his aura defended him from any damage, but sends him flying and tumbling along the ground. He pushes himself back up to look at Qrow, who has a small smirk on his face as he holds out his still smoking shotgun part of his weapon. Realizing that his scythe for an enemy this fast is mostly ineffective, he transforms back it into its swords form, and charges right back toward Marcus with a sword slash intending to cut him in half, and… it lands, slicing right through Marcus' head. Qrow widens his eyes in disbelief as he witnesses Marcus not even attempt to dodge the attack. However, Marcus' split head and body fades away into smoke and quickly flies to the blind spot of Qrow, before he can react, the smoke transforms back into Marcus as he prepares to land another crushing blow into Qrow's spine. Mercury sees this and blasts himself toward Marcus, tackling him and making his kick barely miss Qrow by a hair. The two Blacks wrestle with each other as they tumble along the ground once more, but despite Marcus' superior skills, Mercury is the one who ends up on top as he prepares to punch his face in.

"HAAAAA!" Mercury yells as his fist closes in.

However, once again, the blow fades right through Marcus' head. As Mercury gets disoriented by the blast of air getting blown right into his face. Marcus takes a blade out of his pocket and tries stabbing it into Mercury's side, but his sons aura deflects the blade, but not stopping pain from getting through to Mercury. He winced at the pain and that gave Marcus the opening he needed to blast more smoke into his body, launching him into the air while also gaining distance from both of his enemies. Qrow dashes through the smoke screen and powerfully slashes his blade blindly into the general area of Marcus. The shockwave of the attack disperses all of the smoke around them, but doesn't find it's mark. A few meters away and Marcus reforms his physical body, standing with his arms crossed and a cocky smirk on his face. He cracks his neck and rolls his shoulder as he taunts them,

"Is that all you got? Really? I expected more from the both of you." Marcus insults.

"That barely could be called a warmup." Qrow bites back as he gets back in his stance.

"How are you doing that with our semblance?!" Mercury asks angrily, the stab attack still hurting in his side.

"While you were running around with Cindy, I was training. I've gotta say son, you've actually gotten weaker than before, you're barely a challenge." Marcus says in a bored, scolding tone.

Mercury growls in response, and moves closer to Qrow and gets into his own stance, prepared to fire off or deflect any incoming projectiles.

"Kid, let me handle this guy." Qrow says, holding his sword out in front of him.

"What?! No way! He is mine." Mercury growls back in response, the look in his eyes reminding Qrow of what he used to be like.

"You're way out of your league kid, he's right about one thing, you don't stand a chance against him." Qrow points out, pushing Mercury back further with his blade.

"Like HELL I AM!" Mercury screams,blinded by rage as he jumps over Qrows blade and using his semblance to his maximum potential to launch five powerful smoke projectiles his way before using the last blast to launch himself toward his father. This is a killing move that he taught himself over the years as a assassin for Cinder and Roman. The five projectiles are meant to break the aura or at best damage or disorient his opponent, and his final kick to break their skull or deliver any kind of fatal blow required to finish off his opponent.

"Damnit kid!" Qrow yells as he rushes in to save him from his inevitable defeat.

Marcus, to Mercurys surprise, blocks or deflects all of his projectiles, and when Mercury comes in to attempt a fatal blow, Marcus surprises him once again by simply catching it with his arms. The shockwave of the attack makes Qrows hair and clothes whips from the force, but does not deter him to save he new ally. Mercury widens his eyes as Marcus' grip tightens around his ankle, actually denting the metal by how hard his grip was. Mercury winces as he feels phantom pain run up his steel leg, and spits up blood when he is slammed into the ground. Just after he hits the ground Qrow appears once again, and slashes horizontally at Marcus as he is in mid attack. Marcus doesn't have enough time to turn himself into smoke, and settles for blocking the attack the best he can with his arms. His Gray aura flares up from the force of the attack, and grunts when he is thrown back and skids across the ground on his feet.

"Just as I suspected. You can only turn to smoke as a defense and reposition tactic, but in mid attack you can't use it." Qrow surmises as he quickly dashes toward Marcus once again.

Marcus smirks at the cunningness of his old rival, and blocks the next attack with his legs, the blade cuts through the his pants to reveal his own bionic legs. That has been constantly upgrades through the years. Marcus throws a right punch to Qrows face, but mid punch surprises Qrow by turning into smoke mid punch, and in a blink in an eye, seemingly teleports to his unguarded side, and lands his punch. "It's not that I can't use it while Im attacking bird man." is all he says as the punch connects. Qrow recoils back but keeps his stance up and blade ready to guard. This isn't good for him, his opponent's semblance has multiple abilities to it. While all his does is give himself and everyone around him bad luck. He truly doesn't know if even himself and Mercury can beat him even if they work together. So he does the best think he can think of at that moment, pumps up to power of his bad luck to maximum, while it is essentially a double edged blade, ironically it is still up to luck to see which one will give the other an opening for an attack. All Qrow needs to do is break his aura, that way he won't be able use his semblance to attack and would be forced to retreat, he guesses that Marcus should be around 70-80 percent after the shotgun blast and slash he received from his weapon. But he is at 70 percent himself, so they are still evenly matched. His train of thought is cut off as the stand off between the two rivals is interrupted by Mercury. This time his attack is more coordinated as he gives a glance to Qrow as he dashes by, Qrow notices this just in time to react and charge Marcus from a different side, the plan is to divert his attention and attack him from different sides, under the assumption that he can't attack and defend at the same time. Their assumption is correct as Marcus' cocky expression turns into one of slight concern as he is forced to jump back to avoid Mercury's kick, just as he lands Qrow swings his sword at him, which he leans back just in time to avoid. But before he can think to attack, Mercury comes in from his side and swings his leg to his side, which Marcus is forced to block this time, which gives Qrow the opening he needs to stab his sword through his back. However, once again, the blade passes through smoke and nearly stabs Mercury through the chest. Luckily he got out of the way just in time for the blade to just cut a single hair of his head off.

"Damn it! We were so close!" Mercury frustratedly says.

"You did better this time."

Marcus is the one to be the aggressor this time, as he dashes toward the two from behind, but Qrow's bad luck finally kicks in, and his foot gets caught on a root sticking out of the ground by a nearby tree, making him almost fall to the ground, Qrow and Mercury think of the same thing, and fire off their ranged attacks at the same time, however Qrow's semblance kicks in once again, making his weapon jam. But Mercury's semblance does fire off, and manages to soot his father in the shoulder, but he is protected by his aura once more. But as he twirls his body from the momentum of the shot from his own son, he kicks two projectiles out of one leg toward the two. They duck under the shot and push off with their legs for more close quarter combat. But Marcus turns into smoke again and reforms above the two as the wildly miss their attacks, and uses gravity plus the momentum from his blast, to slam the two down into the ground, and then kicks them both away into a nearby building, easily breaking down the wall and creating a large dust cloud. After a couple of moments Marcus calls out to them,

"Oh come on guys, I know you wouldn't have died from something that simple, come back out and keep entertaining me!" Marcus shouts as he holds his arms out invitingly.

On the inside of the building, Mercury is crouched down while constantly emitting just enough smoke to make it look like the dust around them. "So got any other bright ideas?" Mercury asks his ally.

"Zip, this guy must have done some serious training to get this strong. Don't you two have the same semblance?" Qrow asks as he loads his gun.

"As much as I hate to admit it, yes. But not nearly as evolved as his version is… I have one thing left up my sleeve." Mercury says as he rips off the parts of his pants below the knee.

"Kid how is that going to help?" Qrow asks, confused.

"Trust me, this is something he won't expect." Mercury promises with a smile on his face.

"I hope so for our sake, I'll crank down the bad luck meter to give you the time you need, and I'll distract him." Qrow declares as he stands up and prepares to jump out.

"Wait!" Mercury whisper screams to regain his attention. "If you're too close you will get caught in it, it's impossible to miss so when you see it, dodge please, I don't need another reason for the girls to hate me."

"Sure kid." Qrow replies with a smirk on his face, kinda impressed with Mercury's newfound ability to care about what others think of him.

They nod to each other then Qrow dashes back out and clashes with the older Black once again.

"There you are! What happened to Junior?" Marcus asks through grit teeth as they fight.

"Out of commision." Qrow lies as he swings his sword as fast as his body allows him to.

"Already? I was hoping to kill you in front of him but I guess killing you will be good enough for now."

While Marcus is distracted Mercury begins charging up his semblance to its maximum destructive capability, what he is planning to do is create something similar to what he did to Yang in the Vytal tournament, but about 100 times deadlier. He lets the smoke rise up into the sky and blends it in with the grey clouds above them, he grits his teeth as he releases the most smoke he has ever let out before. After this attack, his aura will be nearly drained, and his heart will take a beating, but it will at the very least break his crazed father's aura. The huge downside to this attack is that he needs time to get it ready, if Qrow wasn't here he is sure Marcus would be having his way with him by now, which would probably involve a lot of torture.

Marcus and Qrow are now in a relatively even fight. Qrow decided it's finally time to go all out, and their speed can easily surpass the speed of Qrow and Tyrians fight that feels it was so long ago to Qrow now. Marcus barely has time to use his semblance to reposition himself, and when he does Qrow predicts his movements and either blocks or counters the attack. Marcus notes that the little trick he came up with isn't going to work anymore, and goes back to his old ways. Good ol fashioned punches and kicks without cheapshots. Marcus primarily uses his kicks when he fights just like his son, but his style his much more aggressive and punishing than his counterparts. He manages to break Qrow's guard and attempts to axe kick him right on the top of his head. Seeing that he can't avoid it, and can't really block it either, Qrow decides to do the unexpected, and headbutts the absolute fuck out of Marcus, disorienting him, and nearly breaking his nose.

"Move now!" Mercury screams as he launches his attack. Qrow doesn't hesitate to go into his bird form and fly off to Mercurys side right away. Marcus looks toward his son as he holds his face, and widens his eyes as he recognizes the move, it's his own move, except there is something different about it. Mercury performs an axe kick and all the hundreds if not possibly a thousand of smoke projectiles in the shape of spears and various other types of throwing weapons, all converge on Marcus while he is dazed. Marcus finds himself surrounded by the weapons made of smoke and sees no openings to get away from the attack, although he knows he can't anyway because this attack was developed to be impossible to dodge. He can't focus hard enough on transforming his body to smoke either, and even if he was able to he doesn't know what would happen if a smoke spear can damage him while he is in that form. So he does the best thing he can think of, and turtles up, getting low to the ground and uses his legs to block as much of his torso as he can. Just in time because the weapons all hit him from all sides at once, exploding in a dark gray cloud of mist. Mercury falls to his hands and knees after the attack while holding the left side of his chest. But despite the pain he laughs to himself, assuming that he has defeated his father once again.

"Hahaha, got the fucker again." Mercury mutters to himself between laughs.

Qrow however, has his sight locked on the smoke cloud, expecting Marcus to jump out any time now, soon the smoke dissipates away, and Marcus can be seen in a standing position, his red shirt now completely ripped in every which way, his pants ripped on his right leg and his left leg sparking a little bit. Blood trickles down his head as he stares at his son with both anger and crazed happiness.

"You little shit, almost killed me again! With my own move no less! If it wasn't for using my semblance at the last second I might have died!" Marcus shouts psychotically at his son.

"What?! There's no way Marcus survived that! I put everything into that final attack…" Mercury says as he begins to get a little emotional, believing that he failed to avenge his mother once again, and combined with the fact that all this time his father has been alive and kicking and getting stronger to the point that he doesn't stand a chance against him. His falls face first into the ground, unconscious after over exerting himself and his aura is down.

Qrow looks down at the unconscious Mercury and sighs. "Well, at least you managed to kill his aura, or at the very least put it down to critical levels." Qrow says as he transforms his weapon into it's shotgun form and fires it at Marcus with no hesitation.

Marcus barely has enough time to react in time and dodges the attack, and before Qrow can ready his gun again, he starts dashing toward him with an even more psychotic look on his face then before. Qrow gets ready to counter but suddenly he changes course to the downed Mercury, Qrow can't aim his weapon fast enough to stop him, and he doesn't this kid who is finally going down the right path for once to die yet, so he jumps in front of Marcus and takes the blow for him, causing him to cough up a bit of blood. As the foot is lodged in Qrows gut so hard that he drops his sword, he grabs Marcus' boot with one hand to keep him in place, and delivers a kick of his own to the side of Marcus' head. It hurts him, but it isn't enough to deter him from attacking again, Qrow barely saw his aura break with that last kick. Knowing that he still has a good amount of his aura, he allows himself to be kicked away. Marcus looks back down to where Mercury was but chuckles when he sees that he is no longer there. He looks over to where he kicked Qrow and sees that he has Mercury in one of his arms.

"I got to get this kid out of here, I can't fight to my fullest while constantly protecting him. Damn, I might have been able to get rid of this guy now if that wasn't the case." Qrow mutters to himself as he jumps to up to the buildings roof. Before he leaves he looks down at his long time rival as he laughs maniacally.

"Where are you going man?! I thought we had something going here!" Marcus taunts, he tried using his semblance to transform into smoke to chase after him, but with his lack of aura all he'd be doing is injuring himself further. As much as he wants revenge on his son for almost killing him, he can't do it if he is dead himself.

"Next time we're fighting one on one Black, I'll finish what we started today." Qrow promises.

"Next time we fight Qrow, there won't be anything left of you." Marcus promises, placing a fist on his chest as if he is saluting his rival. Funny enough Qrow does the same thing, the two promise each other to end each other the next time they fight, and only one of them will be able to keep their promise. No more words are shared as Qrow jumps from building to building and eventually out of sight of the black. Everyone has been taken a large amount of damage, Mercury more emotional than physical, Marcus physically but evidently not enough, and the biggest blow dealt to Qrow was the blast to his pride when he was forced to run away. He would never admit it to Marcus or even himself that he would have lost if the fight continued the way it did, he doesn't know about Marcus but he knows that age is finally catching up with him judging by his slower than usual movements. Qrow himself is also hating himself for leaving these Atlas people behind, sure they are not the most pleasant people to be around but no one but a few select people actually deserves the kind of death that they are getting. Qrow swallows down his emotions and pride and gets away from all the chaos, now all he has to do is find a way to Atlas…

* * *

 **Sanus, Ilia**

 **Three days after her encounter with the Summer Maiden**

 **An update on Ilias whereabouts**

After her run in with the Maiden, Ilia has achieved a new goal beside the one she left Haven with. When she gets to Vacuo and later Shade, she will speak to the headmaster about the White Fang activity first, and then the about the Maiden that she ran into. Right now she is near the kingdom of Vacuo, in the village just before Vacuo itself. This is her last stop before Vacuo, and she stocks up on food and water as much as her pack can hold, and departs, not bothering to converse with any of the villages inhabitants despite some of them trying to speak to her. She has been thinking a lot about the Maidens recently after her encounter with one, and resulting from that a bit of an existential crisis, all this time the worlds biggest problems were the White Fangs terrorism and Grimm. But the whole time there was a war that no one even knew about that could decide the fate of Remnant itself, and it has discouraged her from looking for Adam. The White Fang isn't even being talked about in this part of the world on top of that, she is thinking that she is just wasting time over here, but if that is the case she might as well get at least some information on the Maiden that is hiding in plain sight. Her thoughts everywhere, and a many hours later, she can see the kingdom of Vacuo in the horizon. It's high walls higher and thicker than any other defensive walls in all of the kingdoms, and still has buildings that can be seen peeking over the walls.

"Finally." Ilia says as she exhales with a smile.

* * *

 **Solitas, Literally everyone else.**

"Oh gosh." I say as Yang points to me and tells me to explain what is going on, they did not expect me to find the Fall Maiden so quickly and then get over here before they even get to Atlas. After Ruby is finished reuniting with her father, she turns her attention back to me and my team, tears of joy threatening to spill from her eyes. She has been worried ever since Mercury told them all that a enhanced Tyrian was going after me. But since I am here an healthy brings joy to her heart. But as much as she wants to bury her face in my chest she knows that this is neither the time or the place to do so, especially with all these people around.

"So am I supposed to start in the beginning? Because that would take way too long." I continue.

"Before any of you speak I would like to know exactly what is going on here." Winter interrupts. Making her presence known and breaking the touching reunion moment. "Weiss, do you have any idea what has been going on here?" Winter continues now that she has everyone's attention.

"Well I just got here so no." I reply honestly, despite the question not being directed to me.

"Quiet you! Answer the question Weiss." Winter says bitterly.

"Winter… what's going on?" Weiss squeaks, very uncomfortable by the uncharacteristic tone coming from her older sister.

"What's going on is father making crazed and irrational decisions, did you really think that everything would be just be fine over here while you go off on a random mission to save the world?" Winter asks again in an even more bitter tone.

"What are you talking about?" I bud in, impatient with this squabble already. "Enough with all the vague questions, just tell us what's going on."

"... Very well." Winter states as she calms down a bit, recognizing her own unnecessary behavior. "I'll start from the very day that Weiss left Atlas…"

* * *

 **Flashback, the day that Weiss ran away from home**

" _What do you MEAN she's gone?!" Jacques asks one of the poor maids that went to go check on her._

" _S-s-sir, she is not in her room, a-and it appears that she took some of her belongings with her, i-including her weapon." The maid answers in a scared tone._

" _Ugh! That stupid little bitch! I want every security officer and camera focused on finding her!" Jacques screams as he pushes the maid out of his way and toward his office. Of course on the way he is met by General Ironwood himself before he can enter his office. "Ironwood…" Jacques greets bitterly. "You wouldn't know where my daughter ran off to now would you?"_

" _What? She is missing?" Ironwood asks with widened eyes, shocked with the revelation._

" _Yes, she apparently decided to run off. I noticed how gentle you treated her despite how much of a failure she was so I figured It would be a nice start to begin with you."_

" _If it were me I would have arrested you for child neglect and abuse long ago before it got to this point." Ironwood fires back angrily._

" _Watch your tongue General! I could still take that badge from you whenever I want, remember who is in charge here." Jacques yells as he weakly pushes past the general._

 _However the General has other plans, his presence here is not helping anyone, and it is not in the slightest helping with the near complete construction. Furthermore, the main reason he was here was for personal matters, such as making sure Weiss was not abused in more violent ways, and looking for a way to put Jacques behind bars where he belongs. So he does the next thing that even he would not have expected himself to do._

" _Jacques." He calls out to the Schnee family leader, who turns his head to look at him before he enters his office, he barely has the reflexes to catch the item that was thrown in his direction, he looks down at it and widens his eyes, it's the badge that he gave the General when he became the head of security of the Schnee household. He gave him the position after the attack on Beacon out of fear that Atlas would be next, or at least that what he told himself to make himself feel better. The decision received backlash from the public because the General was needed in both the military and the school, despite of his past failures in Beacon. But since the Schnee's so much pull in the council, he managed to get them to turn a "blind eye" of sort and allow this decision to be made._

" _I am no longer the head of security for this facility, take that has my resignation." The General states as he turns around. "I have more concerning matters to attend to as the headmaster of Atlas academy and as a holder of two seats of the Atlesian council. Good day." and with that the General makes his leave, leaving the stunned Schnee who can barely think straight, he squeezes the badge given to him and grits his teeth, then enters his office and slams the door shut, making all the stewards and maids wince at the sound._

" _Let's make it a point not to anger him today." The head steward says, everyone can agree to that statement._

* * *

"Wait pause right there, how do you know about the parts you weren't there for?" I interrupt with a question, trying to see that logic in all this.

" _I was thinking the same thing…"_ Thinks everyone else in the Bullhead.

"Shut up and you'll learn how I do." Winter scolds, making me shrink in my seat, and my face heats up from the embarrassment of jumping to conclusions too fast.

"There, there." Ruby comforts as she pats my shoulder.

"Alright, sorry about that." I say as I rub the back of my neck with my free hand.

"Who are you anyway?." Winer asks me, ignoring my apology.

"Well you know that Haven was attacked right? And it was saved by a certain someone and his friends?"

"Yes…"

"That was me."

"I see, you do fit the description. Well I thank you for your bravery to stand against such powerful enemies by yourself Hector Rivers, now please be quiet until I am finished." Winter surprises me with the sudden polite tone of voice she allowed me to hear.

"I uh… thanks." I respond as I rub the back of my head.

And then the story continued...

* * *

 **Back to the Flashback**

 _General Ironwood is on his personal Bullhead just after he resigned from his position as head of security of the Schnee household._

" _Put me in contact with Specialist Schnee, I must inform her myself of the stunt her younger sister has just pulled." He demands from the pilot who follows the order right away._

 _With barely any ringing time Winter picks up the scroll. The reason that they are still able to contact each other is because of the advanced technology that Atlas has kept to themselves for the most part, long range communications would only work on their continent though, anything beyond that and it would get too staticy and incoherent to understand. "Sir," Winter greets right away in her military voice._

" _Specialist Schnee, abort your mission to find the Winter Maiden, I need you in Atlas for something more important that can only be spoken of in person." Ironwood orders._

" _Of course, I'll be there as soon as I can, but it may take some time." Winter replies._

" _As long as you get here it is fine, but know that you are on a undetermined time limit."_

" _Yes sir!" No more words are shared as they hang up at the same time._

 _Time passes and the Battle of Haven has just ended, since news travel slowly because of the destruction of the CCT tower Atlas has just heard of the attack just a few days after it happened. During that time Winter has arrived to Atlas, since she was deep in the snow mountainous lands of Atlas without any reliable meaning of transportation, and the harsh snowy weather prevents any air travel, she was forced to hike it back toward an area where she would be able to travel by air. The results of her mission were… unproductive to say the least. The only lead she had was that she was deep in the frozen uninhabitable mountains of Atlas, she made the assumption that the Winter Maiden is able to survive there is because of two things, Magic, and well, being the Winter Maiden in the coldest part of Remnant. After some time like she said, she was finally able to make it back to a Military base in Atlas, the very one Ironwood happens to be in. During all of her traveling she is still oblivious to what has been going on ever since the Fall of Beacon, all of RWBY's and RNJR's actions at Haven and even the attack on Haven itself is not known to her at this time. Soon after searching the base for the General, she is called to his office._

" _Specialist Schnee, Glad you could finally make it." Ironwood greets as she shuts the door behind her. "Did you manage to make any progress on her whereabouts?" Ironwood asks, referring of course to the Winter Maiden._

" _On the information I was given, I was not able to even find a trace of her, and even with my natural resistance to the cold I was not able to search for longer than a couple of days before I was forced to rest and warm back up. All in all, the mission was a failure." Winter reports as she hangs her head in shame._

" _No worries, I had my own skepticism that it would be that simple to find her anyway." Ironwood says with a small smile on his face, but it fades away as fast as it came and he gets much more serious, preparing for a potential snap coming from the usually stoic Schnee. "Much has happened while you have been away, take a seat and I will inform you of everything."_

 _Winter does as he asks, and listens intently on what the General has to say._

" _Your sister has left her home." Ironwood gets out right away, Winter widens her eyes out of worry and fear for her younger sisters safety. "What!? When!? How!? Where is she now?" Winter stammers._

" _As far as I know she is fine, now get a hold of yourself." Ironwood gently scolds, making Winter calm down ever so slightly. "Furthermore there has been an attack on Haven academy, similar to the attack on Beacon a year before, but it was thwarted before it could get too out of hand… by none other the remaining members of Team JNPR, an unknown but very powerful huntsman, Qrow, and none other than Team RWBY." Ironwood reveals._

 _Winter sighs in relief at the news, now all she has to worry about is the rash decisions that her father is no doubt making. "Where is she now?"_

" _Unknown, we sent a small team to look for her but she was long gone and apparently no one knew about it, but apparently Qrow is acting as the temporary Headmaster for Haven at this time."_

" _Sir… with all due respect, you must be joking about that last part." Winter says with the same shocked expression after hearing the news._

 _Ironwood lets out a small amused chuckle. "I'm afraid that the rumors are true. That is an update on the state of the world as of now, Vacuo is still relatively unscathed even after everything but we can't rule them out as potentially our enemies next target, but we can't rule out our own kingdom as their next target. Now I know that you are not exactly fond of your father, but I need you to make sure he doesn't do anything to rash and compromise the security of the kingdom or academy."_

" _Sir, again, with all due respect my father wouldn't hear me out or even allow with anything regarding Schnee business, ever since I became a huntress he took away my own heiress status and practically disowned me." Winter argues maturely._

" _Which is why, just between us, I am putting you undercover as a secret agent, while the public will be told that you have quit your career as a huntress to support your family full time. This way, legally Jacques will be forced to return the status of heiress to you, giving you access to his funds and since you are a full grown woman, a mandatory portion of the power of the Schnee business overall. With you on the inside we will be able to finally be able to make serious steps toward a better kingdom. I will be honest with you Winter, your name, and your status will be taken advantage of by us. But for the greater good. I can only hope that you understand, and you do have a choice in the matter, but if you decline we will have to take… different measures." Ironwood explains._

 _Winter stays silent in her seat, looking at the ground and not daring to look back up to his face. He says that she has a choice but in reality, the only logical choice to is to go with the Generals plan, otherwise she has no doubt in her mind that things would resort to violence, and Atlas doesn't need any more negative thoughts being made about them._

" _Very well, how often must I stay in contact?" Winter asks in a monotone voice._

" _Every night, you will send us a report via electronic message through a private and secured channel." Ironwood orders, he is not happy with the decision that he has been forced to make Winter choose between, he knows that it wasn't really a choice, but an ultimatum. But he is glad that Winter is able to put aside her pride to do this for the sake of Atlas and its people._

" _Yes sir, when will this "news" be made public?"_

" _As soon as possible, it is best that you set a path to the Schnee household as soon as possible."_

" _Okay, I'll be there." Winter says as she gets up and places her hands behind her lower back._

" _You are dismissed Specialist Schnee."_

 _ **Short Time Skip…**_

 _Winter has made it back to Atlas, at this point in time RNJR and RWBY are already well into their respective missions, and Winter has just made it to the Schnee household, news have rapidly spread around the entire kingdom about Winter Schnees return to the business, and her apparent resignation from her career as a huntress. To her surprise she isn't met with hostility at the gates to the household, but is instead invited in by several Maids and Stewards. Soon she is lead to her father's office, and walks in. It has been a long time since these two has been in a room together, they haven't spoken in many years, much less form any sort of meaningful relationship with one another. She tried finding her mother first, but of course she is still locked away in her bedroom, no doubt drinking as much as she can. The room is at first full of a tense silence as they stare each other down, that is until Jacques makes a forced smile and greets his estranged daughter._

" _Oh Winter, it has been far far too long. I am so glad you decided to finally rid yourself of that dream of being a huntress and returned to the real world." He says in an almost taunting tone as he gently holds his daughter's hand._

 _Winter want's to backhand the shit out of her father for daring to touch her hand and greet her in such a way after not seeing her for so long, but she has to stick with the plan. "Yes… It is good to see you father." Winter almost gags on the words right there. "I've come to my senses, I want my heiress status back, and I will do whatever I can to support you and this company." Winter recites with a forced smile._

 _Jacques actually widens his eyes in disbelief after hearing this, he thinks, 'Finally! At least one of my daughters actually know how to obey.' But what he actually says is this, "Don't worry by daughter, I will show you everything you need to do."_

" _I look forward to it."_

* * *

 _After her uncomfortable talk with her father, Winter knew that it was time to go see her brother, in her mind she knows that Whitley is not going to be exactly happy to see her, since he just got his heir status removed and returned to Winter, and he just got it the day before Weiss ran away. But despite that, Whitely but on his best facade, as a command from his father…_

" _Hello, older sister, it has been far too long since I've seen you. How have you been?" Whitely asks in an almost robotic tone, and extends his hand out to shake Winter's hand._

 _Winter, having to be on the good side of everyone here to avoid suspicion, puts on a smile for her younger brother, despite his imperfections she still hopes that she can at least save him from the monster she knows as their father. "Whitley, It has certainly been far too long, I am sorry that I haven't been able to come home and see you."_

" _Nonsense sister, you had your duty as a huntress, and I had my duty here as our fathers son. I am certainly glad that you have returned however, I look forward to working with you in the future." Whitley replies with the same almost scary looking smile on his face. Whitley could have sworn that she saw his eye twitch for a moment, but passes it off as him just blinking his eye._

"... and for the past few months, I've been feeding information to Ironwood, and doing my best to keep the company and my father from sinking the kingdom. Which is why I couldn't go after you Weiss, I was too busy keeping father from destroying Atlas, I think he has been talking to someone, someone that is not appropriate or necessary to be in contact with. Everytime I try to get him to tell me who it is he either dodges the question or gets hostile with me." Winter explains.

Beside Tai and Raven who are standing in the back, everyone else including myself are left thinking intently on what we had just heard, except my mind immediately shifts to Salem, I have almost no doubt that this Jacques guy is talking to Salem and scheming with her, and with the information that Winter told us I can make the assumption that she doesn't know about Salem. Also it would just be plot for Jacque to be a dick like that.

"Well that makes things difficult…" I point out the obvious.

* * *

 **Jacques private office, Soon after the Battle with Tyrian**

 _Jacques is furious, he paces around his room thinking about how foolish of a daughter he spawned into this world, "Not only did she disobey me on multiple accounts, but she has realigned herself with those girls? Damn her, that will not make things look good for me if the public finds out that she ran away." Jacques rants to himself._

 _All the negative feelings he is feeling attracts a certain someone, and the same Jellyfish Grimm that Leonardo fell victim to makes its presence known by glowing a vibrant evil Red color. Jacques at first is understandably terrified, "How did a Grimm get past all of my security?"_

" _ **Jacques Schnee, I have a proposition for you."**_ _The orb speaks._

 _Jacques is surprise, stunned, and terrified all at once after just hearing the voice, and he loses control of his legs as he falls back into his chair when the orb floats closer to him. "W-who are you?"_

" _ **Your Queen, and I have a demand to make. I need you to… make something for me."**_ _The orb speaks as it drops a certain severed Grimm scorpion tail that belonged to an old enemy._ " _ **Give me access to everything you have power to."**_

" _Who are you to make demands of m- AGH" Jacques is cut off as the Jellyfish wraps one of its tentacles around his neck and lifts him off the ground._

" _ **You will follow these commands like a good dog, or else I will kill you in a very slow way, tell the authorities, you die, tell anyone else without my permission, and you die. Any objections now?"**_ _Salem asks as she drops him to the ground, he coughs up a storm and nearly throws up after this is done to him._

" _N-no mam." he surrenders._

" _ **Good, I will tell you when I need you to open your gates, stay loyal to me and you get to live."**_

 _ **Transition**_

 _Behind the orb Salem can be seen smiling, and around her are more Grimm hybrids, the same type that I fought against before and nearly lost to. She doesn't bother saying anything else to Jacques and allows the Jellyfish to float out of the open window. She stands up and looks at all of her masterpieces, but only one stands out from the others, a work in progress, after learning of Tyrian's defeat she didn't seem to be bothered at all, and now that she is alone in her own castle she can go back to her project that she has been working on ever since she lost control of me after she was so close. This particular Grimm Hybrid is much more human than any of the others, and holds a striking resemblance to myself, except with no genitals or any unnecessary organs, 'The Perfect Servant' she calls it. She took my DNA from the blood I spilled from both the Battle of Haven, and the Battle against Tyrian, and before she gave the Tail to Jacques, she already remade Tyrian. He stands next to the pod and smiles as his brother is being created._

" _When will he be done my Queen?" He asks in a raspy voice._

" _ **Soon, very soon. He will be at the very least equal to that boys maximum power, but he will not get tired, neither does he feel any pain, and he is designed to obey me. He has no soul, and I have sacrificed a good portion of my own dark magic to allow him to use the same power that his counterpart uses. He won't stand a chance against what he was supposed to be."**_ _Salem explains as she touches the pod. The fake me twitches at the contact, like he knows that his creator is there with him._ " _ **His name will be… Hell. Fitting for a creature of his power.**_

* * *

 **Present**

"How close are you to being done with this data?" Hell speaks from a dark corner of Jacques room. He looks almost exactly like me, but with snow white skin, Grimm eyes that have a small glowing red color to them, and with Veins in the same pattern as his creator, his clothes are also similar to mine, but none of the designs that I have are visible.

"AH! How do you keep doing that?" Jacques asks, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest.

"None of your business, my mother has been growing impatient with you."

"I-I-I am nearly finished with the data transfer, I had to pull a lot of strings to get this far. I am nearly finished I just need more time." Jacques pleads.

"Hmm, very well. You're lucky I was designed to be patient." The clone says.

An alert appears on the Schnees desktop, when he checks he can see a live video feed of an incoming Bullhead, full of people he is not exactly fond of, along with both of his daughters. "It seems we are going to have company, I knew that Winter was untrustworthy."

"Hm, finally, I'll be able to rid this world of my inferior counterpart." Hell says in a monotone emotionless voice. But he says it with a smile on his face. "Now is the time, open the gates." Hell demands.

"B-but it is too early! People will die and-"

"Does it look like I **care**?" Hell asks in an irritated voice, his eyes shining an evil red as he almost kills the pathetic man right there.

"No, I can see now that you don't, please keep your promise and allow my son to live."

"Hmph."

Every gate to the futuristic city is opened, and before anyone can realize it, they are being invaded by thousands of Grimm of all kinds. Jacques can't bear to watch any of this, and just slumps back down in his chair, thinking about what he has just done. In time, the only things that stand in the Grimm's way is an entire school worth of trained huntsman and huntsman in training.

The surprise attack on the kingdom of Atlas begins, will our heroes be able to save another kingdom?

* * *

 **AN- Oh boy, I'm not sure if people are going to like this one, but I got an idea in my head and I had to go with it, I hope you all enjoyed it. Not much else to say this time, but next chapter is going to be a doozy let me tell ya.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form**


	29. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 28

**AN- As always, Reviewers first**

 **Soda-fiedPyscho- You wrote a Mini chibi fanfiction about my fanfiction with the ship of the story, I enjoyed getting a good laugh out of that. Thanks for enjoying my story so much and I am sorry that Mercury is not going to die anytime soon, his character arc is not finished. As for a new cover art I will look into trying to hone the drawing skills that I never had and try to draw at least Hector. Now for the ship name… Geez I never even started thinking about that... uhh we'll go with uhhhh Red Rivers? Cuz you know… Ruby is red, and Hector's last name is Rivers... Well now onto the actual response to your review, thank you very much for the compliment, people like you are what keeps making me want to write this story literally every day. Qrow, Mercurys, and Marcus' fight was hard to write, not gonna lie. I'm sure I'll get better in the future and when they meet again I can make sure that they will have a better quality fight. Thanks for the review!**

 **Astra- Thank you for that laugh, I am very original right? Sarcasm btw. Thank you for your input about the lemons, I needed that advice. Honestly I don't even know what the gun mode of Qrow's gun is, but it sounds like a shotgun, so I just made it a shotgun, at least in my opinion. I mean when he shoots it shit gets destroyed and Grimm gets torn apart. But I could be easily wrong. I believe that Qrow's semblance effects everybody around him, including himself, and if he wants in this story he can amplify that, and things that wouldn't normally happen would happen. Now about Qrow being able to finish Marcus off, I'll explain that in this chapter, about why he didn't go and finish him off that is. I'm gonna skip a bit and get straight to the part of Hell's name but I'll get back to the other stuff later, I know it doesn't exactly roll of the tongue but this is how I saw it, when Hector uses his semblance he goes all red and Blazing, now at least some iterations of Hell in a religious standpoint would be all red and blazing, and also causing eternal torment to whatever poor souls get caught up in Hell. Now Hell is basically what Hector should have been when Salem summoned or ripped him from the real world, he is basically the opposite of all the good Hector has in him, and is the manifestation of all the evils Hector has locked away inside of him, I'll explain his origins more this story since last chapter was very fast paced. Honestly I always forget that the kingdoms names aren't the continent names, you're not the only one. Oh yeah, Winters "Retirement." was only know by Ironwood and a select few of higher ups, just to clear that up to you, so no, the grunts don't know the truth about what is going on. And finally thanks for that compliment about the Grimm hybrids and his evil twins, Im glad I was able to change your mood toward the Hybrid thing I got going on. Don't worry, the reunion will be coming soon, with how fast I pump these out It will be about maybe another half a week or two. I look forward to your next review!**

 **Kage-kitsune9001- Something like that… I can finally say to you that a dragon ball moment like that is in the making for this story.**

 **Zeldawolffang- PM covered your review but I thank you for the review anyway.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Thanks for enjoying the fight! And you'd be right to assume that the next time they meet is going to be quite eventful to say the least. Winter needed a pretty good explanation and excuse for not going after Weiss after she ran away or even seeing her after Beacon fell, so I decided to put her on a Maiden hunt just cut it short and bring her back so she can work as an undercover agent against her own father. Quite interesting now that I think about it, and yeah Whitley and Jacques are dickhead and I think that is exactly how they would react to Winter "retiring" from her huntress career. To answer your question, You'll see;), but yes, Hell is a character that has been in the works for quite some time now, and boy oh boy I am excited to write out his scenes. He is going to be in this story for a long time so get ready to see more of him. Now about the Grimm Hybrids, there are different kinds of Hybrids: There's the animalistic zombielike version, which is basically a Grimm Human that is basically fodder but can be overwhelming in numbers, there is the kind that Tyrian is that is exclusive to Faunus, where they keep some of their sanity but they do not have aura or a semblance, but they make up for it in a massive boost of strength, speed, and agility, and some of them have the ability to suppress semblances, and then there's Hell… who is the strongest one and only one of his kind besides Salem, he has a semblance but no aura due to the amount of dark magic Salem put into him, only Salem herself can create creatures like this. He was basically created to be the downfall of Hector and be the one to go after the Maidens himself to bring him in, if there was a pecking order it'd go like this. Salem, Hell/Maidens, Faunus hybrids, then human hybrids. He also feels no pain, near limitless stamina, a mild regenerative healing factor, and of course is powerful as fuck, you'll see more of him soon. Lastly I'll explain in this chapter how Jacques was able to do that, I was going to put it in last chapter but I needed the surprise factor to get you guys hyped for this chapter ;). Thanks for the review!**

 **If you guys want to know more about Hector's evil twin Hell, read the response right above this text. Seriously, it's like eight lines above this one.**

 **Now let's get right into this!**

* * *

Chapter 28- Reunion cut short.

 **Solitas, RNJRR, RWBY, Tai, and Raven.**

Right back where we left off, we are all left thinking about the information we have been told and what we should do with it. Everything's happening so fast I can barely keep up with it. So I come up with something to calm my nerves, as well as my own tream's.

"How long until we get to your house?" I break the silence with a question directed towards Winter.

"In a advanced class Bullhead such as this I estimate-"

"English please." I interrupt, I was never a fan of Military talk. It was too confusing for my small brain to handle.

"Urgh, apporximately one-two days. But we will make it into the kingdom in much less time, about a couple of hours maybe." Winter simply answers. Not without giving me a good-ol death stare of course.

"Alright, well if that's the case then we have plenty of time to plan this later, I believe we have time to make up for." I say as I flick my head toward RWBY. Who are actually looking at me with lots of concern in their eyes now that the serious things are out of the way. Most likely because of my less happy demeanor and the obvious missing eye on the left side of my face.

The first thing that Winter noticed about me was the cyclops state that I am rocking. She herself is curious about how I lost my eye. But she keeps herself professional and uptight as she usually is and well… attempts to lay down the law.

"I propose that we should make a plan as soon as possible. We don't know what exactly my father is planning, and we should be prepared for anything."

No one really listens to her, and an imaginary sad cloud appears over her head as an anime like drop of sweat drops from the back of her head.

"I'll go with the wing it sort of approach." I say as I plop down on one of the seats and let my body relax. Naturally, RWBY closes in on me with the intention of asking me how RNJR's part of the mission went. Since obviously we found the Fall Maiden and they assume that Raven helped us since she is not trying to kill me at the moment. But what is on all of their minds now that they actually have time to think is about my missing eye, they know how powerful I can be, so how did I end up losing an eye, of course Ruby is the most worried, she has come to accept her feelings toward me after a talk with her team.

* * *

 **During RWBY's journey to Atlas.**

 _Finally, after waiting so long to question her about it, Yang as decided to confront Ruby about her pretty obvious affections toward me. In all honesty she thought that her younger sister was gay, not that it would affect anything, but after seeing her interact and just the way she smiles around me just gave it away. So she puts on her best big sister shoes and sits next to her younger sister on the same log while everyone else is asleep._

" _Hey sis." Ruby greets with a small smile before she returns her gaze back to the flames that light up the darkness around them._

" _I'm going to get straight to the point Lil sis. Do you Liiiike Hector?" Yang asks as she wiggles her eyebrows and give her her signature smirk._

 _Ruby immediately heats up to the color of her hood and tries to hide her face, she didn't think she was being that obvious. Was she? In truth she has been trying to figure out how she feels herself for quite some time now. She has never felt anything like this for anyone, especially for a boy. "I uh… don't know what you're talking about!" Ruby exclaims as she tries to dash away with her semblance. Yang prepared for this highly likely turn of events and already had one of her hands on her hood. Before Ruby can even stand up she is pulled back down to her sitting position._

" _I found the Rose he gave you, pretty sweet of him not gonna lie, but it makes me wonder. Why did he get you one? I know you two already said your goodbyes already but he got one anyway. Pretty suspicious if you ask me." Yang wonders out loud in a teasing tone, hinting to Ruby that her feelings are indeed mutual._

 _If it was possible to be redder than red then Ruby has achieved such a state after hearing that, but knowing that there is no point in running from this any longer, she gives in and opens up to Yang. "He… is just so cool, and strong, and just easy to talk to all the time. There isn't many people out there who actually attempt to understand what I am saying when I am geeking over weapons, even when I knew he had no idea what I was talking about he still listened and wore a smile on his face. He also gives really great hugs." Ruby lists off with an adorable little smile on her face. "And that's without him saving all of our lives."_

" _I get it, not gonna lie to you sis but even I was attracted to him for a time. But not in the way you are if you catch my drift, I mean who wouldn't be with that bod." Yang says with a wink._

" _Ew Yang!" Ruby exclaims, nudging her sister playfully._

" _Im teasing! Im teasing! Alright in all seriousness, I'm happy for you. I thought you were gay at first but-"_

" _What?! Why would you think that?!" Ruby asks with a pouty face._

" _Well… you were never really into boys before, up until now you gave off no signs of even being attracted to one." Yang explains with a nervous smile._

" _Hmph." is all Ruby responds with._

" _Sooo... Want some big sister advice for boys?" Yang asks with a sparkle in her eyes. She has been waiting so long to be able to do this for her little sister._

" _... Sure." Ruby says as she exhales as her face goes red again._

" _I'm glad you asked! Okay, I have a whole mental list just for this moment, here is how you do it…"_

 _The older sister then went on to explain multiple ways of how to attract a guy for an unspecified amount of time, most of which making Ruby gag when she pictures it but even so she puts it into her memory banks for safekeeping just in case._

" _...but since he is a little older than you it should make it easier overall. But as a warning, he makes you cry I am going to castrate him, even if he is stronger than a Maiden I don't care." Yang finally finishes._

" _How do you know about all this?" Ruby asks as she rubs her temples, her brain still processing the influx of information her sister just gave her._

" _Girl, I have plenty of experience. I remember one time this guy-"_

" _I don't need to know!"_

" _But you've come so far already! What's one story going to do to you? Besides you are going to need to know how to satisfy a MMPH." Yang is cut off when Ruby sticks part of her hood into her mouth to get her to stop talking._

" _I know enough! Blake always left her books out when she thought that she was the only one there while taking a shower…" Ruby reveals, getting red once again out of embarrassment._

" _ ***GASP***_ _I knew there was porn in those books!" Yang exclaims, ignoring the fact that her younger sister has known about the birds and the bees for quite some time already._

" _Ehe yeah…"_

* * *

And now Ruby can see the difference in my demeanor as compared to how I was before, I don't give off the same happy vibe as before, and of course there is the missing eye, something happened to me and she aims to find out what it was. But first…

I feel a gust of wind to my right, I crack open my eye just a bit to see Ruby happily sitting next to me, which is the only spot open around me since Rhea has the other side covered. Yang and Blake both give us some space, and instead go to speak to the other members of RNJR first. While Weiss stays with her sister for obvious reasons. Tai and Raven are off to themselves, but Tai keeps an eye on me and Ruby because of fatherly reasons.

I smile and return to the happy vibe that Ruby is giving off. "Good morning." I greet, not really knowing if it is actually morning or not, at least it was morning in Patch when we left.

"Silly, it's way past morning over here." Ruby points out, pointing to the window that shows the broken moon in the sky.

"Oh… Well it was morning like an hour ago for me." I say as I lean my head back up against the wall. Not noticing that Ruby is sitting awfully close to me. Rhea of course just has to fall asleep on my other shoulder at the perfect time so she does not see this unfold. Don't ask me how she managed that.

"How did everything go on your end?" I ask, genuinely curious with how her mission went, everyone looks relatively unscathed so it must have been either pretty boring or they all got much better at fighting.

"Well for starters Mercury is a good guy now." Ruby mentions.

"... Are we talking about the same Mercury here? The one with the edgy personality and the grey hair?"

"The one and only!"

"Oh you gotta tell me that story sometime."

"It's only natural."

We share a laugh for the first time in what feels like ages. It's nice not having to worry constantly about every little thing, being back with all the girls puts me at ease, even if it's just been like an hour so far since we reunited. If I wasn't exhausted as all living Hell then I probably would be enjoying this moment even more.

Ruby suddenly and hesitantly raises her left hand to my face, I at first am reluctant to let her see the side of my face that doesn't have an eye and is still slightly scarred despite Rhea's attempt at healing me, but when I look into her eyes with my own I relax, and let her move my head with little to no resistance. Ruby observes my face for a couple of moments before she realizes how close she actually is, and in a small flurry of rose petals moves her hand away and she scoots away ever so slightly. I chuckle at her antics and lean back, preparing for the imminent question that is bound to come next.

"What happened?" Ruby asks, referring to the very obvious elephant in the room.

"I-"

 **CRASH**

Any thought I had to share with Ruby and any eavesdroppers cease when the Bullhead shakes violently, and long Black claws stab into the hull, before ripping them out and make a large hole in the hull. Rhea wakes up with a scream and almost flies out of the hole that was made in the hull, but I grab her wrist just in time to keep her safe, I do the same to Ruby and I dig my feet into the metal beneath me.

"What the hell happened?!" I ask everyone in the aircraft, I notice that we are already missing people, Tai, Raven Jaune, Yang and Blake are all missing from the aircraft, since they were all standing up and too far from anything to hold on to. I see Nora and Ren holding on the one of the seats, and Weiss and Winter with a black glyph beneath them to stop them for getting pulled out.

"Nevermore!" Winter shouts back at me over the ripping winds that are now going throughout the Bullhead.

Before I can respond a second pair of talons rips through the Bullhead, and the two Nevermore rip the Bullhead in half, leaving Me, Ruby and Rhea on one side while Weiss and Winter fly off on the other part.

"Fucking christ! I just can't get a break!" I exclaim as I hold the two smaller girls to my chest and tell Ozpin to use his bubble shield.

' _Already on it!'_ Ozpin says as the magical green bubble forms around me and the girls.

Within seconds we plummet down the the ground, the explosion of the part of the Bullhead we were in was so bright that it nearly blinded me, then after that, darkness...

* * *

 **The Schnee's**

Winter and Weiss both jump out of their part of the Bullhead a few seconds before it crashes down to the ground, and then use their glyphs to safely jump down to the ground themselves.

"How could there be not one but TWO fully grown Nevermores this far into Atlas territory? They should have been brought down miles before they even made it close." Winter says as they touch down on the ground.

Weiss on the other hand has come to a terrifying realization, if there are Nevermores this far into Atlas territory.. Then that means that they needed all troops nearby to go to Atlas, and if they need all troops back in Atlas…

"Winter we need to get to Atlas now!" Weiss exclaims, running up to Winter.

"Already on it." Winter says as she looks at the holographic map coming from her scroll. "Okay, we need to go North, we can use our glyphs to multiply our speeds, contact the others and tell them what is going on. We have to get there as fast as possible and assist with the defence. Luckily I still have this." Winter opens her coat to reveal that she still has her sword with her. With a nod the Schnee sisters start heading to the kingdom that is fighting desperately to not fall…

* * *

 **Raven and Yang.**

Raven easily recovered after being blown out of the Bullhead, due to her ability to turn into a bird, she can safely fly down to the ground. As she is flying down she looks around for anyone that might be in a bit of trouble as they fall. She spots and unmistakable head of long blonde hair, and sees that she doesn't have any control toward her decent, she transforms back into a human and uses her Maiden power to fly toward Yang to catch her. She makes it just in time before Yang hits the trees, and slowly floats back down toward the ground. Where Yang jumps off of her mothers hold.

"Thanks." Yang bitterly shows gratitude in her own way as she dusts herself off.

Raven's eyes go back to normal as she examines her surroundings, she's been in these woods before, and knows how to get to the kingdom from here, which is most likely where everyone else is going to be heading.

"I can't see anyone else, we're on our on for now." Raven points out.

"Oh so it's "We" Now? Never thought I'd hear you say that." Yang bitterly says as she storms off, not happy with her situation and desperate to find Ruby.

"As much as I deserved that, we need to prioritize getting to Atlas." Raven says while looking into the direction that they need to go in.

"Why do we need to go to Atlas? What's the point of we're the only ones there?" Yang questions, now she is starting to get on Raven's nerves but she is keeping it together for now.

"Because if anyone else from our little group is smart then they would do the same. Not one, but two fully grown and aged Nevermores broke through Atlas' perimeter quite easily, what does that say for the kingdom itself?" Raven asks, making Yang work her brain.

Yang widens her eyes in the sudden realization. "Atlas is being overrun… it's just like what happened at Beacon…"

"Precisely, so as much as I'd like to stick around and listen to your complaining we should get moving as soon as possible." Raven says as she begins to lightly jog toward Atlas.

Yang mentally scolds herself for letting her personal feelings get in the way of saving people, she is a huntress after all, and so is Ruby. She saw her get grabbed by me right as the hull breached open, and she knows that she is safe with me. After a moment of thinking Yang jogs after her mother. When they catch up they don't say a word. They can catch up and settle things once and for all once this whole thing is over.

* * *

 **Blake**

Blake landed catlike and quite safely, the furthest away from anyone else and the last to touchdown. She quickly realizes that she is by herself and readies a plan with her quick thinking. Her thinking is cut off as she feels her scroll vibrate.

"Huh? My scroll hasn't given me any notifications since we were in Mistral." Blake says to herself as she quickly takes it out.

The message is from Weiss:

 _Atlas is in trouble, head there and we'll all regroup to help defend it!- Weiss_

"Well that explains that." Blake says as she begins running toward the smoke in the sky, she assumes that it is coming from the kingdom since the only other smoke is probably from the Bullhead. "I won't run away this time." Blake promises herself as she runs toward Atlas, but soon she runs into Human Grimm hybrids, the same ones that she and RWBBY fought against before. She growls to herself and unsheathes her blade, ready to spill some blood.

"Out of my way!" She exclaims as she charges toward the pack of Hybrids.

Of course the pack is easily dispatched in a matter of seconds, Blake is not toying around this time and is determined to get back to her teammates that are no doubt heading to Atlas themselves judging from the message that she had just received. After slaying the last hybrid she believes that she is done, and wipes off the black blood on her blade on a tree as she goes back on the path to Atlas, that is until she hears one more growl. She spins around with her weapon at the ready right away, but the sight of the new creature horrified her… It's a Faunus, a panther Faunus to be precise. The creature that used to be a regular Faunus is now on all fours, it's hands now contorted and malformed to act as paws, and generally every body part is bent in some way to imitate an actual Panther, the teeth even got much longer and sharper, the hair that is growing on every inch of its body is as black as the night just like a Grimms, and the eyes are of course the same as any normal Grimm creature, Red with no pupils, literally only seeing red as it charges toward Blake at a surprising speed. Blake was barely able to use her semblance to fake her own death as she rolls out of the way. She jumps back up and wipes a tear from her face.

"Damn you Salem… we'll make you pay for what you have done to these people one day." She swears to herself as she prepares to take on this new creature

* * *

 **Tai, Jaune, Ren, and Nora**

Tai used his gauntlets to slow his fall similar to how Yang did during the initiation that feels so long ago. It's actually how he landed when he was in the initiation himself, Nora safely landed in a similar fashion by using her hammer explosions to slow her descent. Ren uses his blades to slow his momentum dramatically by spiralling around tree, and Jaune… is not so lucky. He falls right on his face after hitting the branches, but luckily minimal damage is done since he landed on his shield and his massive amount of aura blocked pretty much all of the damage, although it does take a decent chunk out of his aura, leaving him at approximately 60%.

"Ow… well at least it's not a Deathstalker." Jaune says in a raspy voice since all the air was knocked out of his lungs. Surprisingly, the four managed to land pretty close with each other, so close in fact that they can actually all see each other. Since Jaune is in the middle of the group they all converge on him.

"What happened?" Nora asked in a frantic voice, worried about everyone else.

"A Nevermore surprise attack happened." Tai answers as he helps Jaune up, as does Ren.

"A coordinated attack between two Nevermores is unprecedented, this is bad. They are evolving, and that means Salem is improving them." Ren thinks out loud intentionally. No one can deny this logic.

"Huh? My scroll just ringed." Nora points out, gesturing to her pocket.

"Really? Mine did to. Which is weird since the last time we had a signal was in Mistral." Jaune adds, holding out his own scroll that hasn't been out of his pocket in quite some time.

"It's a message from Weiss… We have to get to Atlas as soon as possible!" Jaune exclaims, forgetting the pain he has just been feeling as he jumps up to a standing position.

"Why what's wrong?" Tai asks seriously.

"We all got a message from Weiss, she says that Atlas is in major trouble as of this moment, we need to all regroup there and help defend." Ren explains for him just as he jumps up into a branch and starts jumping from tree to tree on the way to Atlas, with Jaune and Nora close behind him on the ground with their weapons at the ready.

Tai is left talking to himself as he starts to run after the kids. "Suuure just forget about the actual fully trained Huntsman, not like I have any skills at all." He says sarcastically as he closes in on the younger Huntsman.

* * *

 **Hector, Rhea, and Ruby**

My vision is slowly coming back to me, and my sense of feeling slowly returns to me as well, apparently the bubble around us broke just before we hit the ground, causing me to violently hit my head against the combined power of metal and rock. I was too focused on keeping the bubble up to worry about my own aura being up, and ended up getting knocked out because of it, luckily Ruby and Rhea landed on top of me so they were cushioned and protected from the fall. I can feel my body being shaken as I slowly crack my eyes open. I can only hear ringing in my ears but a soft voice just barely makes it through,

"... ector… hector… HECTOR!" All at once I am able to hear and see again, and consciousness returns to me I prop myself on my elbows and grab my head that is throbbing with pain. I activate my aura which soothes the pain a decent amount and gets to work on healing the gash on the back of my head. "What's going on?" I say as I look into the teary eyes of Rhea.

"It's the Grimm! We're surrounded!" Rhea exclaims as she pulls me to my feet. Apparently, out part of the Bullhead landed pretty close to the kingdom, which is good, but bad at the same time since the incoming Grimm have to run by us to get to the city, and trust me when I say that there are LOTS of Grimm…

"Where's Ruby?" I ask as I stand up, worried for her safety.

"Right here!" Ruby calls out to me as she runs back into the Bullhead. A little messy but more or less unscathed, which brings relief to my body.

Seeing me awake, Ruby jumps into me for a hug, pressing her face into my chest out of relief that I am okay, once she saw me unconscious and Rhea healing me her heart nearly dropped out of her chest, I hug her back tightly out of relief but knowing that we are basically surrounded still I had to break it apart. I lightly push Ruby off and looking into her eyes. "We're going to have to catch up another time. For now we have Grimm to slay and a kingdom to save." I say before I look down to Rhea beside me.

"Rhea, stick close to me and call out when you need me, if you are attacked do NOT hesitate to destroy your enemy." I instruct sternly.

"O-okay!" Rhea says, getting closer to me.

"Ruby, how many are out there?" I ask, my gaze directed toward the opening she came through.

"I lost count." Ruby answers as she makes sure she has a full clip. As if on cue a small Beowolf peeks it's head into the Bullhead, but right away it's head is shot off and it explodes into a puddle of black blood and guck. I look to my left and see the barrel of Crescent Rose smoking.

"Alright so that many… and we're in a wide open snowy field. Alright well this is gonna be fun." I say as I begin to power up just enough so that my punches would be hard enough to kill any small creature in one hit, while the larger ones would take a considerable amount more. At the Kaioken times 5 state I can maintain this for a very long amount of time, and the pain I feel is basically nonexistent now that I have trained in Times 20 more than a couple times to start getting used to that pinnacle of power.

"So what's the plan?" Rhea asks, really hoping that we have one.

"We can't really make a plan with that many out there, it's already a miracle that they haven't attacked us already." Just as I say that a small glow of blue shines in my eye, and a flood of knowledge enters my mind.

"Uh… What was that?" Ruby asks, unsure of what just happened to me.

"I think that's his magical Knolly person that is in his head." Rhea answers for her.

What Knolly showed me was the reason why the Grimm aren't tearing this ship apart trying to kill me, they've been given strict orders to not attack me by some unknown entity. I couldn't quite grasp what I was looking at but it basically looked like my reflection when I had both eyes. Now that I know this Knolly turns off its own power and I regain sight of what is going on around me. "Well that's weird." I say as I am brought back.

"Since when did you have _two_ magical people in your head?" Ruby asks, in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Relic of Knowledge is apparently sentient, go figure." I explain simply. "Apparently the Grimm are being ordered to stay away from me, for what reason I don't know but something or _someone_ is here calling the shots."

"Why away from you specifically?" Rhea asks.

"No idea, maybe because I'm strong as shit, or Ruby's silver eyes. Those are the only reasons I can think of."

"By the way I have a little control over them now."

"That is fantastic, just don't literally knock yourself out."

"What are silver eyes special for?"

"TL:DR, Magic."

As we cautiously approach the opening in the Bullhead, we can begin to see what is outside, and feel the vibrations of so many Grimm of all kinds running past us, actually creating an oval shape of free space around the Bullhead, seeing this I get an Idea, if they are not even wanting to get close to me, then I could try something that I was a pretty long time ago from a certain Web show.

"Ruby, remember initiation when you were riding a Nevermore?"

"...Yes."

"Think you could get her up there?" I ask, pointing to Rhea with my thumb, who in turn widens her eyes comically, not liking the idea already. "Get to Atlas, and I'll be close close behind."

"How are you going to keep up with a Nevermore?" Rhea protests, not wanting to leave my side.

"I got the hops." I answer with a amused smile.

Before anyone can respond to the little joke I made, a Goliath of all things charges right through the crashed Bullhead, forcing us all the jump out before we can put the plan into action. "Well the element of surprise is ruined!" I point out the obvious as I pull Rhea to my side. Her eyes flame up and her hands both hold fireballs ready to be thrown at any Grimm that gets a little too close.

My aura flares up as I get ready to push anything back, we are literally surrounded by all sides, some Grimm stay around, curious to see what could be in the middle of all of them, when they see me they back off but when they see Ruby and Rhea they snarl and snap at us.

* * *

 **Hell, and Tyrian.**

"Brother, it seems like your counterpart is surrounded, along with the Maiden and the Silver eyed girl. I I'd like to see the man who killed me quite brutally get torn apart." Tyrian sasy with a psychotic grin on his face.

"Even if we did Tyrian, none of them would stand a chance, you don't stand a chance either now that he is much more powerful than the last time you two fought. Especially since the Silver eyed girl is there, one glance and hundreds of them would be ashes in an instant. And stop calling me Brother, you weren't created, you were augmented and copied." Hell replies, annoyed with him.

"But no one else is deserving as such a title! By the by, how exactly did you manage to get all of this beauty to happen? Surely the Schnee doesn't have THAT much power."

"I found my ways…" Hell vaguely answers.

"Such as?"

"Lets just say that I can be pretty convincing as I am cutting off the toes and nipples of a Atlas computer tech expert."

"Amazing work, so the virus DID work again, you'd think that they would have bolstered their security systems after what happened at Beacon."

"Humans are unsurprisingly unintelligent and mostly unable to learn from past mistakes, especially massive ones such as Beacon. Remember, we need the Fall and Spring Maidens alive, we need them to get the Relics, I'll deal with Spring first, you go after Fall. If the Silver eyed girl gets in your way remember what you were told." Hell instructs, standing up from his sitting position from atop the highest building in Atlas, which is the comm tower that gives a signal to all of Atlas.

"Ah, so we do let them attack." Tyrian says from a floor beneath him.

"Ugh, fine. It won't do much other than a distraction." Hell relents, tired of telling him no.

"Yes! Finally some blood!" Tyrian exclaims as he jumps down to the ground, despite the height that would kill any normal huntsman even with a proper landing strategy.

After a couple of moments Hell takes a deep breath, he opens his eyes and a shine of red comes from the middle of them. "Mother you know he is just going to get himself killed again right?"

" _ **Of course I do son, he is nothing but a distraction at this point, as Hector is now he doesn't stand a chance, even if he did infect him with his venom."**_

"You're calling my counterpart by his name now?"

" _ **He has earned the honor of being called as such, he has earned my respect from how long he has been pushing back against me and my forces."**_

"Hmm, what would you have me do with him when we encounter each other? You know that something inside me is driving me to end his life."

" _ **As much as you would hate to admit it, he is your brother by blood, try to bring him in for subjugation if you can."**_

"Very well… I'll do as you say." Hell obediently says with a bow of his head.

" _ **Good child, now go hunt the Spring Maiden, my sources say that she is only with her daughter and she won't be a problem for you."**_

"Yes mother." And with that Hell blinks his eyes, cutting off the connection and returning his eyes to their usual Grimm state. He looks into the distance and focuses his vision on the traces of Spring's magic. He then crouches down to a leaping position, his body gains a deep small Black and Red aura. "Kaioken." in the next second he leaps so fast and far horizontally, breaking the speed of sound and breaking the windows of the buildings he flies past, his hair whips around with the wind. He truly doesn't know why he has kept the name the same as his counterpart, but he decided that it would be too much of a hassle to try to change it. He shifts his mindset back to the Spring Maiden, who he will be closing in now within the minute…

* * *

Qrow and Mercury

After running for what feels like hours, Mercury finally stirs from his little nap. Qrow notices this and stops on one of the trees, setting the young Black on his back.

"Did you get him?" Is the first thing he asks Qrow.

Qrow exhales through his nose and stands back up. "No kid, he kept going after you while you were asleep and I couldn't protect you and fight him at the same time. I think something happened to him, he was augmented or something. That last attack you landed on him would've killed any other Huntsman, yet he got back up with just a couple of gashes and bruises and still put up a decent fight."

"How… I failed… again." Mercury says in shame, pulling his knees up to his chest and hanging his head in shame.

"Kid, it's not your fault, you did great." Qrow attempts to comfort the younger Black. Although Mercury has done terrible things in the past, including helping bring down Amber, the Fall Maiden before Cinder, but now that he sees that he is trying to better himself and even earned the trust of RWBY, including Yang, who is probably the one he hurt the most personally, just makes him forgive what he has done. It's not going to stop him from kicking the shit out of him once everything is over, but it does help him keep his life.

"Wasn't great enough, now we're out here, alone in the freezing woods of the asshole of Atlas, and who knows what the others are doing right now.

"We'll find them. Geez kid your personality really has taken a 180, didn't think you could become and even bigger bitch then you were before." Qrow sayas as he pulls the stunned Mercury to his feet. "Listen kid, it doesn't matter what mistakes you made in the past right now, all that matters is fixing what you can right here and now. So are you to keep being a little bitch? Or are you going to help me kill that son of a bitch the next time you see him?"

Mercury widens his eyes at the less than professional inspirational speech, but he wipes his eyes with a smile and looks back at him with his usual Cocky grin.

"Fuck yes I am."

"Good man, now let's get to Atlas, Im sure the girls are terribly missing you right about now."

"I don't know about that first part but other then that it sounds like a plan."

* * *

 **Ruby, Rhea, and Hector**

We are all standing with our backs together, Rhea has already taken a frew down quite easily by burning them with her white fireballs, Ruby has cleaved many in two as the jumped at her. The Grimm try to avoid me the best they can but I keep catching them right as they begin to leap and kill them with a single powerful punch. But then they all stop, in fact hundreds of Grimm of all kinds stop all around us, and all stare out way, drooling from the mouth.

"Uuuh, what's going on?" I think out loud.

' _Prepare yourselves."_ is all Ozpin can say to me.

All at once, a mixture of Beowolves, Ursai, and smaller Deathstalkers and Beringels charge at us all at once. I widen my eyes and grab the girls next to me with both arms, and jump high into the air. I point Ruby toward the ground, "Ruby if you can use those eyes now would be a great time!" I say as we begin to fall back down.

Ruby focuses the strange energy she has been feeling since the Fall of Beacon into her eyes, and they begin to glow a silver shine, she widens her eyes and lets her power run wild, the few dozen creatures below us burn away into ash, I land on my feet first and put down Ruby and Rhea, who are uninjured except for Ruby who seems to be a bit worn out after pulling that off.

"Whew, that's the first time I was able to do that." Ruby says as her eyes go back to their normal darker silver color.

"Oh of course it was, we don't have much time and OH SHIT." I yell as I get block the massive stinger of a larger Deathstalker from impaling Rhea. "I'll deal with the bigger Grimm! You two take care of each other!" I shout as I push back the stinger violently so hard that the stinger part actually flies off into the air and stabs a poor unsuspecting Griffon.

"Yeah Im not even going to pretend that was intentional." I say as I charge into the horde of Grimm creatures.

"Alright Rhea, you ready?" Ruby asks as they stand back to back. While I take on the more dangerous creatures, Ruby and Rhea are going to have to face off against the smaller ones, such as the hybrids, weaker Beowolves, and creeps.

"I uuh, I don't know…" Rhea replies as she shivers, she is afraid at the mere sight of the overwhelming amount of Grimm surrounding them both. Ruby places a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"I'm sure Hector taught you something right? I have a feeling I know what one of those things was." Ruby says as he silver eyes shine a small amount.

Rhea remembers one thing I said that she has kept to heart, it was one of my memories that she saw when I was unlocking her aura.

" _No matter how many enemies I face, even if it's all of them at once, I will not go down without at least putting up a fight that would be written down in history!"_ I yell as I charge at Tyrian. It was one of the things I said to him while Salem was trying to take over my body and nearly succeeded. This is also the moment when Salem decided that it was a great idea to just recreate me using my DNA.

Rhea's eye flames burn even hotter and larger as she fills herself with as much courage that she can muster up. "I remember something like that." She declares, her white flames growing hotter, so hot in fact that Ruby can't stand too close to her without her aura beginning to literally melt away.

"That's the spirit!" Ruby exclaims happily despite the situation they're in. Without waiting for the creatures to come to them, they both dash off in the same direction, but away from each other, silently agreeing to take on half and half, with both of them still facing around a hundred. Rhea has an easier time, since her magical power is giving her a pretty big edge over her enemies, she conjures up her fire whip that she used against me in her training, but since these creatures are nowhere near as strong as I am and have no aura, she has very little trouble dealing with them. She whips an incoming charging Beowolf, and it catches aflame right away, burning away in mere seconds after being put on fire with the magical flames. She cringes when her next enemy is a human Grimm hybrid, she gets a flash of memories to just a few days ago when her village was wiped out by the creatures, but instead of being afraid, she just feels angry. She whips in a horizontal arc, the whips grows longer and larger in size so much so that she surprises herself when about a twenty foot cone of black soot is all that is left in front of her. Before she can fully process what she has just done, she gets hit in the back by an older Beowolf, not an alpha just yet but getting there. Luckily her aura protected her from basically all of the damage, and she uses the momentum of her fall to roll and get back on her feet. She then finds herself surrounded once again. Almost like the creatures of Grimm she had just slain just respawned.

"Hah… Hah… I won't be able to hold out on my own for much longer." Rhea says to herself, hoping that either me or Ruby comes to help her once either of us get the chance.

Ruby on the other hand is fighting pretty expertly, the training she has done and her semblance evolving to make her even faster is making her seem like an actual fully trained Huntress now. She dances around her enemies as she uses her scythe to cleave and cut the heads off of her enemies, her silver eyes glowing more and more after each successful kill. Making her even faster and stronger by the second, it is a passive ability that she doesn't even realize is happening to her right now. She fits her scythe from behind her, killing a Beowolf while also launching her toward about a dozen of Hybrids. She swings Crescent Rose in an arc and slays about half of them, before pointing it toward the ground and firing herself into the air, she shines her eyes at the creatures looking up at her. But this time focuses on the more powerful Grimm creatures so that she would not tire herself out. Burning an Ursa Major to ash before she hits the ground. Just as she hits the ground she activates a burst of her semblance and dashes through three Beowolves, when she appears again on the other side, a shockwave forms behind her, and the Beowolves all fall down into several pieces. She herself doesn't know where this power is coming from. But she is excited that she has improved this much in such a short amount of time. However her excitement is cut short as she hears familiar psychotic giggling behind her. She turns around in a burst of rose petals and fires her sniper at the giggling creature, but instead of the creature exploding into a black mist, it is deflected away by a long glowing yellow scorpion tail, she widens her eyes as she realizes who this is right away.

"Heh heh, the rose has grown!" Tyrian exclaims, extending his arms out in excitement. "And she has gotten MUCH stronger! Maybe you will actually be a challenge this time."

"Tyrian…" Ruby says as she narrows her eyes at him, it is true that she got her ass kicked the last time they met, but now she is much stronger, and unlocked some of her Silver eyed power. Since Tyrian is now part Grimm as Mercury told her before, she assumes that her eyes should be able to bring him down. That is if she wasn't already straining.

"I won't lose this time." Ruby declares, getting in a fighting stance with her scythe behind her back.

"Hehe… for your sake I hope you don't lose either, I'd hate to take your eye to." Tyrian says as he goes on all fours.

Ruby widens her eyes and gets filled with anger that she didn't know she was capable of. That's how I lost my eye, this creature took it! At least that is what she thinks.

"HA!" The two rivals dash toward each other, one leaving behind Rose petals while the other giggles maniacally.

Back with me, I am biting off more than I can chew with the amount of Large Grimm around me. My Kaioken times five state is more than enough for a couple of them, but against nearly a hundred can be a bit overwhelming. I dodge under a claw from a Deathstalker and slide across the ground, ending up under the Deathstalker and launch my fist into its soft underbelly, the Deathstalker goes into the air several of meters up, I jump into the air and grab it's tail, I use the gravity as a weapon and slam the Deathstalker into another one, killing the one beneath it, I then use it to swing in a large arc and hit dozens of Beowolves and Ursai alike, killing most of them. Finally the stinger of the Deathstalker I was using pops off, and the Deathstalker dissipates away, along with the stinger in my hands. I toss the useless body part to the ground and get ready to take on any other creature. I am covered in black blood and Ebony and Ivory are sparking with Black and Red electricity, my eye is also glowing a bright red glow along with my aura. This is enough to instill fear into the Grimm around me, causing most of them to whimper and run away, but one stays back to face up against me. A very large and powerful looking Beowolf that is even larger than an ancient Goliath by a lot. I look up at the creature and smile when I crack my neck.

"So what are you? A super Beowolf?" I taunt as I get into my fighting stance.

This is the same Super Beowolf that RWBBY fought against and drove off about one or two months ago. The same one that is immune to almost every form of attack due to its age and experience. It charges at me without a second thought, as do I. We clash in the middle and push against each other, surprisingly the Super Beowolf easily throws me back and knocks me on my back. I barely roll out of the way in time to dodge a crushing attack from it's paw and it creates a small crater in the ground. I flip away and power up even more, getting more serious with a creature that can push me back.

"Kaioken times TEN!" I scream as the area we are fighting in glows with red, the snow on the field actually melts away in a five foot radius to me. I dash toward the creature and with a roar, jab my fist into its snout, but surprisingly it doesn't die right away, far from it, it just recoils back and shakes its head like it has a insect in its fur. I dodge the counter and grab it's paw, lifting it into the air and throwing it toward some of the Grimm bystanders, they all get crushed under its weight. But once again it gets back up and is unscathed.

"Okay Oz, what is going on here?" I ask him as I take a more defensive stance.

' _This creature is ancient, possibly thousands of years old, it is immune to physical attacks, even if you go times twenty you wouldn't be able to dent it.'_

"Oh well that's just great. What do I do then?"

' _Let me take this one.'_

"What? Why?"

' _Unlike you, I can use magical attacks, and luckily you have kept my cane with you all this time.'_

"Alright go for it." I say as I power down.

I close my eye and my body transforms to look more like Ozpin, white hair, pale skin, and a slightly different facial structure, Ozpin opens his eye and it shines green, and he actually gains a green flaming aura, similar to my own when I power up.

"It has been quite some time since I used magic in a fight." Ozpin says as he flexes his arms.

" _Geez Ozpin, since when can you get this strong?"_

"You really think I was just sitting idly in your head? I have trained, after my defeat at Beacon I can not afford to be that weak anymore." Ozpin explains.

" _Heh, well then I'll just sit back and enjoy the show. Sic em Oz."_

* * *

 **Raven and Yang**

Raven and Yang are closing in on the snowy field, they were the second closest to Atlas, but are nowhere near me, Ruby, and Rhea in the slightest, but they can see the carnage in between them and Atlas themselves. But before they can begin charging through the Snowy field of Grimm, something lands right in front of them, creating a shockwave that nearly knocks the two off their feet. As the dust fades they can see… Me?

"Hector?" Yang calls out to the silhouette that can be seen through the dust and snow cloud.

"No." Raven states, unsheathing her sword and her eyes flame a powerful red.

"Not quite Xiao Long." Hell speaks as his deep Black and Red aura blasts away the dust cloud. To reveal himself to be the spitting image of me, but with snow white skin, purple veins, and Grimm colored eyes.

"Who? What are you!?" Yang shouts in a mixture of confusion and anger.

Hell just smirks cockily at the two, and slowly begins to step toward them, the snow around him moves away as he walks, and he answers Yang's question with a single word,

" **Hell**."

* * *

 **AN- I did say that this was going to be a doozy right guys? So many arcs and stories all going on at the same time that I can barely keep up with it, but it is so fun to write all of this, SIX groups I have to cover every chapter for this arc SIX every chapter. But boy oh boy you guys are going to love the upcoming chapters that are going to be PACKED with action.**

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Any questions? Concerns? Advice? I am open to any and all!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	30. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 29

**AN- Thank you to all my amazing reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Soda-fieldPsycho- Thank you for that entertaining review. I'm glad that you put the effort into doing that whether it is because you're bored or you like entertaining people. Don't worry about the OTP because I am getting pretty close to the… spark if you will. Now I don't want to spoil anything so I'll leave it at that. Thank you for the review.**

 **TigerVolcano5000- Just as the gang all gets back together, they are ripped apart again. The Atlas military combined with the help of the students and headmaster, they will be able to hold them off… for a time, lets just hope at least some of our heroes get there in time. Tyrian was copied, the Tyrian that we saw get killed by Hector was the original, but there was already more of him that Salem made because she kinda knew that he was going to die once the venom wore off. You'll see what I do with Yang and Ravens fight, you're right that it's not going to be easy, and it's going to be a while before anyone is finished. Oh yeah the Panter Faunus hybrid, Blake is the only one by herself, and it sucks for her that the Faunus hybrids like taking on their prey one on one, AND she is the farthest from anyone else. So that sucks for her. Thanks for the review!**

 **Zeldawolffang- I'm glad Ozpin is finally back to. It's been a loooooonng time since he has actually fought instead of Hector, and I found the Super ancient Beowolf to be a great foe for him since it is immune to physical attacks. Thanks for the review.**

 **Astra- Dude, why did make me question myself on whether or not Salem has to eat and drink like the rest of us? I spent like a good 45 seconds thinking about it. As for Grimm hobbies, I mean I think they like to slowly rip their prey apart as a form of entertainment but other then that I don't think they have anything else to do. They are the literal manifestation of evil and negative thoughts. And now to the actual response; I totally agree that winging it is an actual strategy, I mean to be completely honest I've been winging this entire story and it's worked out so far. Ruby and Yang talking about boys was something that was bound to happen sooner or later, the part when Ruby talked about Blake's book was straight out of the chibi episode for that part so i'm glad you caught on to that, I had to put at least one cute scene for this chapter. No idea why they call it a bullhead, maybe it has horns? But yeah, everyone gets divided again, because plot reasons, I had to write down who is with who and had to make sure no one was left out and oof that took a while. But I figured it out, now we have six groups that I have to write every chapter, and each with their own fight scenes, that's gonna be fun. I'm glad the one liner I wrote in for Hell was awesome to you, I am very well aware that I am pulling a massive cliche move with this Hector evil twin but just wait for what I have planned. I hope it will be worth it. Why are the Faunus hybrids different from the other hybrids? Well… they're Faunus and well… they're Faunus… I don't really know how to answer that sorry. And Tai! He will be getting his moment soon, I have a great plan for him that I have kept to myself for a couple weeks now. I didn't realize how much magic was in this story until you just pointed it out, Ozpin's magic, silver eyed magic, and of course the Fall Maidens magic and her magical white whip of fire destruction. That's not even including Hector's own special magic that I am still working on… wow, I am very original. Look forward to all of their fights, I am going to enjoy writing them. Yeah, all burst damage and then the one who decided to spec into support stuff because no one else will. Woof finally done with your response, I'll see you in a couple hours or less once this chapter is posted, and of course, thanks for the review.**

 **Now for the story!**

* * *

Chapter 29- Chaos (Battle for Atlas Part 2)

 **Atlas, The Schnee's**

The two sisters wasted no time and without hesitation ran right past all the Grimm using there speed boost. Somehow they did not see any of their other teammates but Weiss checked her scroll multiple times to see that her message was indeed read, so she knows that at least some of them are okay. They arrive in the snowy streets of the city, unfortunately, a long blizzard has just started to snow over the kingdom, making visibility low, and the grounds slippery. Surprisingly with the combined efforts of the students, Huntsman, and police forces, they managed to make multiple fronts around the school itself. The school can be mistaken for a castle from a distance but once you get closer you can see how futuristic it actually managed to evacuate… most of the civilians before the Grimm could invade too far in and preemptively set up barricades along multiple streets. Right now they are the only line of defence against the onslaught of Grimm of all shapes and sizes. The students have been grouped up with a full trained huntsman, just in case a team can't take on an enemy on their own. Artificially intelligent robots have been strictly restricted in the military part of things ever since what happened at Beacon. Understandably, there was a public outroar to ban military robots, for the reason that if it is possible to hack into their machinery, how long until Atlas is next? Unlike Vale, the school isn't the only place being attacked, even though there were Grimm in the streets of Vale they were able to push them back and keep Vale alive while Beacon fell.

"I can't believe this…" Weiss mutters loudly, the streets are littered with corpses of dissipating Grimm and people alike. More Grimm then human but still, the ratio is too close, and it keeps growing even nearer to the Grimm's advantage.

"Don't bring yourself down with the statistics, all that matters is winning this day to save our home, we need to get to the house, I have I feeling I know how did this." Winter says through gritted teeth. She knew that her father was contacting someone and sharing classified information with said person, but was never able to find out who it was. She blames herself somewhat but pushes it away into the back of her mind. Now, especially now, she can not let her personal feelings get in the way.

"I am coming with you!" Weiss declares, she as decided that it is time to face her father once and for all. But she has other intentions. She has to see if a certain someone she hasn't seen for more than a couple minutes at a time ever since her tenth birthday is okay, and as much as she hates her brother Whitley, he is still just a child and knows not what he does, she believes that at least _he_ can be redeemed.

"I know you are. But father has started down the wrong path ever since I left him and became a huntress, he is my duty. You will make sure none of the Grimm get in the house, understood?" Winter leaves no room for argument for her younger sister for she is speaking in her huntsman voice, a voice she hasn't able to use for months.

"O-okay." Weiss reluctantly agrees to the terms quickly thought up by her elder sister.

"Good, now let's get back to it."

Without any response, the two Schnee sisters break into full speed again, straining themselves but not by much, they have no second to spare, the longer those gates are open the more people will be killed and they know that they can't hold on much longer, despite how hard they are fighting to keep themselves fighting, but soon auras will begin to break, blood will begin to spill more violently, and all hell will break loose if they don't get any help.

* * *

 **Blake**

"Ugh!" Blake groaned as she gets slammed against a tree, the panther was fasted then she expected, and she got hit by it's powerful tail that took a chunk out of her already small amount of aura. She can't take anymore hits like that. She rolls out of the way right before the clawed paw of the panther breaks right through the tree, splinters bounce off her clothes and aura as she uses her semblance to reappear behind the creature, expecting the tail to be on it's way again. Of course, being as young as this Grimm is, it indeed comes, and she narrows her eyes as she ducks leans back to avoid the blow and use her blade to cut off the tail. The Grimm whimpers and roars in pain as it bleeds from its stump, then looks at the her prey with even more anger and hate in its eyes. Of course it charges but without its tail it is off balance, and stumbles into trees and stones alike trying to get to her.

"Can't keep your balance without your tail, this fight is already one." Blake states coldly as she dashes toward the Grimm Panther hybrid to finish it off.

But before she can stab it in the neck as she planned, a different set of teeth bites down on her arm, with her quick thinking she uses her semblance to clone herself with ice dust and jumps away, when she looks back she can see another Panther Hybrid, but with more armour on its body, and instead of a fleshy hairy tail, this one's is all bone and armour, yet it still moves so freely just as it was a regular tail.

"More?" Blake says to herself angrily, she takes a deep breath and gets ready for a tougher fight, this one is older and seems more advance so she would have to get more serious in order to defeat this creature and get away with some of her aura intact for her imminent future battles. But as she comes up with a plan, even more Grimm show up, attracted to her anger and frustration, she can't come up with a plan in time as a monkey hybrid swings in from above, this Monkey type Hybrid looks strikingly similar to a human, but looks to be forcibly bent and contored in some areas to hold a stronger resemblance to an actual Monkey, also having sharp teeth and a hooked tail. The sight of this creature reminds her of Sun, and she would hate if he became something like this. The thought lights a fuse under her and she loads in several flame dust crystals into her blade to enhance her semblance, she needs to take them out quickly and efficient. She dodges out of the way and leaves behind a flaming clone of herself. She watches as it explodes but it doesn't do its required job, when the dust cloud fades away she can see none of her enemies, but hears a something break in the distance to her right. She snaps her body to the right and gets ready to counter any attack that may be coming her way, but nothing comes, she hears the same snap to her left, and behind her, above her, all around her.

"Tsk, i'm surrounded." Blake realizes, she takes her sheath and wraps her ribbon around the hilt of her blade, prepared to be moving as fast and as consistent as possible to deal with an unknown amount of enemies by herself.

Will Blake be able to fight off so many enemies on her own? Or will she fall like so many others…

* * *

 **Ozpin versus The Ancient 'Super' Beowolf**

Ozpin takes out his cane from my magical back pocket, and with one movement extends it and holds it like a sword with one hand behind his back, it has been awhile since he fought anyone or anything. The last time he fought was against Hazel during the Battle of Haven, and now he is up against a creature so old that it is immune to all sort of physical attacks.

"You must be thousands of years old to build up such an immunity, tell me if you can, just how many people have you killed?" Ozpin asks the creature, knowing very well that he will not get any verbal response.

The creature responds by charging toward him, it was confused for a moment after seeing my hair turn white and my aura change from red to green before fading away, but it reverts back to it's more natural aggressive instincts and attacks Ozpin, swiping with its massive paw from the left. Ozpin leans back like he is playing limbo and jabs his cane into the side of it's paw, forcing it off balance and making it fall over and roll a couple of times before it stops itself.

"Hm, your strength is very useful Hector."

" _You're welcome. But as cool as that was you know that it's not going to do any damage to the thing right?"_

"Of course, I am merely… Testing the waters." Ozpin replies with a smug smirk.

" _You have spent way too much time with me."_

Before our conversation can continue, a loud and angry roar rips itself through the air, silencing any further words I was about to say. Ozpin narrows his eyes at the creature as his hair whips backward due to the force of the pressure coming from the beasts lungs. It smells terrible but he has smelled worse things before, such as the black blood of Grimm still stuck to him like glue because of my little rampage that I went on earlier. Ozpin holds out his cane again but this time there is a green shine on the end of his cane, making it into a sharpened, pointed edge.

" _Since when can you do that?"_

"Not now."

What Ozpin doesn't have the time to explain is that the cane that he is so fond of is one of the only weapons in the world that can be a catalyst for magical attacks, of course he can use magical attacks on his own similar to the Maidens but in this case he doesn't want to use too much magic before he has to recharge. He senses something far more dangerous that he and I will have to face against soon. Too much dark magic in one place.

The Beowolf charges at him once again, but not without a plan this time, it goes for another swipe, this one coming from Ozpin's right, but fakes him out and goes to bite him in half. It's teeth hit its mark, but he can't taste any of the blood that he is so familiar with. Between the beasts jaw's, Ozpin has put up a personal shield, that wraps around just his body, he pushes out the shield to force the beasts jaw apart, and stabs his weapon through the roof of its mouth. The beast rears back in pain as black blood begins to pour out of its mouth, pouring all over the snow and ground. It has not felt pain like that in so long, it had a close call not too long ago but nothing this severe. Before it can recover fully Ozpin appears above the creature, and drops down and stabs the creature in the back this time. He seemingly teleports so fast all around the creature that it can not keep up. Slashes and stab wounds appear all over the ancient creature of Grimm.

Ozpin finally stops and fixes his jacket, it was a little too crooked for him to ignore. But he does ignore the frustrated and pained cries of the creature he is so effortlessly in the process of slaying. The beast can barely stand up anymore, it tries to run away but it's legs fail it, and it eventually just falls over and slowly dies of blood loss.

" _Well that was fast."_

"Of course, a huntsman shouldn't play with their enemy, especially during a time such as this."

" _Hey I wasn't playing around! Dude we are literally covered in Black shit that I HOPE is blood."_

"I am well aware... _dude_."

" _Alright give me back the controls, I can't get it out of my head the way you said that word."_

"Very well." Ozpin says in an amused voice. A second later and my body regains it's red aura. I flex my arms and stretch as the feeling of moving parts of my body voluntarily fills me with a certain joy that I can't explain, despite being surrounded by multiple Grimm once again.

"Ah, that felt oddly satisfying. I wonder how the girls are doing?"

* * *

 **Rhea**

Rhea is still surrounded by a various amount of Grimm, due to her inexperience in long drawn out battles of combat, and lack of a decent amount of training. Exerting this muh magical power in such a short amount of time after just managing to get a small amount of her power under control is draining her of her stamina heavily. But she pushes herself through and powers up again, she even hovers above the ground about a foot unintentionally but she is too into the battle to realize her rapid improvements.

She lets deep raspy breaths as she prepares her next attack, but is cut short as another Ursa charges at her, making the ground vibrate with each step, the snow around them has all melted away except for the snow still falling, leaving only dead, burnt grass in its wake. She gets caught off guard and gets swiped by the Ursa, she bounces off the ground on her face and slides across the mud to a stop. She pushes herself up onto her hands and knees and spits out the mud that got into her mouth. She instinctively rolls out of the way of the second attack, and her eyes catch flame as she fires a white ball of fire at her attacker, engulfing the Ursa and burning it to ash within seconds. However she can not celebrate her kill for too long as Human Grimm hybrids attack her again, charging in from all directions. Rhea's eyes flame even larger and hotter as she lets her power explode from every inch from her body, this detonates a wide area of attack that explodes in every direction, burning any dumb Grimm stupid enough to get close to her as she does this, the explosion burns away some of the clouds above her, revealing the blue sky and the sun just above her, when the dust cloud fades away Rhea can be seen floating mid air with her eyes wide and still flaming, but visually exhausted, she is heaving and she falls from the sky, landing on her hands and knees. She killed at least a hundred Grimm creatures with that attack. But it has drained her of the rest of her stamina, she has been fighting for what feels like hours, although it has been only about twenty minutes since they have crash landed on their part of the Bullhead. She thinks she will have some time to recuperate but widens her eyes as she see's Grimm already becoming visible, kill a hundred, and a hundred more will take their place. Every Grimm on the continent is closing in on Atlas, due to the mass panic from the people of Atlas.

Rhea coughs as she forces herself to stand back up, the clouds above her reconnect and snow begins to fall again, although much lighter this time. "Come on! I can do this all day!" Rhea shouts to the legion of Grimm stomping her way. She knows she can't keep this up much longer, and might be able to take out maybe one or two more before she falls. Nonetheless, my voice repeats itself in her head.

"It doesn't matter how many I am up against, as long as I can stand I can keep fighting!" Rhea says to herself. But widens her eyes as the Grimm all of the sudden get much more hesitant and skid to a stop. She wonders what is going on to make them act so unusually, and jumps when a hand grabs her shoulder.

"Where was that when we were training literally yesterday morning?"

Rhea's face lights up as she recognizes who that is right away, she lets herself fall to her knees and exhale heavily. I catch her before she can fall onto the ground and help her keep steady.

"Yo, you okay? I can see that you let yourself go wild finally, just sit tight for a bit, I'll keep you safe." I say as I stand between the Grimm and Rhea.

Rhea sits down behind me and watches as the Grimm even back away from me. They saw as I handled the ancient Beowolf, and slay dozens of Grimm with just Ebony and Ivory. I stand at the ready for any brave ones to come at me, but instead they just whimper and scurry away, just the presence of me now instills fear into their hearts. Only Four types of people can do something like this: Maidens, Silver eyed warriors, Salem, and lastly, warriors so skilled and powerful that they end up covered in gallons of blood of Grimm. I would be the fourth and most rare type obviously, the only other known person that can do this would be Hazel.

Rhea looks around the scorched and bloody battlefield, and then to the city, she feels bad for the people inside, and although she doesn't have much power left she still wants to get over there and help as fast as she can. "RJ, I think you have things settled here, I am just too much of a burden to fight with you right now with the way I am."

"Eh?! What makes you think that?" I ask her in a bit of a concerned tone, I notice her staring off into the distance of Atlas and realize she is bullshitting me. "Oh so you want to go help them?"

"H-how'd you know that?" Rhea asks almost right away.

"Dude, I saw you staring at the smoking city, knowing you and with the knowledge I got after going through your memories while I was unlocking your aura, it wasn't that hard to figure it out." I point out as I turn back around to face the Grimm again.

"Sooo…"

"What are you doing? waiting for permission? You know i'm not good at the whole Sensei thing right? Just don't get yourself killed, we're not that far away so you shouldn't run into much resistance, I'll make sure of that."

"RJ…Okay! I won't fail you!" Rhea exclaims as she feels rejuvenated. She levitates a short distance off the ground and without waiting for me to respond, flies off at a low altitude as fast as she can to the kingdom. By the amount of power it would take to propel herself continuously toward the city, she might have enough more left over to create one more blast like the one she had just made, it might not be much considering the amount of Grimm that are still charging the Grimm, but it might be enough to push them back and give the people of Atlas some breathing room.

"Oi! Don't fight for me fight for the… whatever, girls are weird. Alright you ugly fucks just try to get past me!" I taunt the horde of Grimm ahead of me, I haven't taken much damage and with the Grimm being a bunch of pussys this is mostly a one sided battle for any Grimm that decide to try and foolishly push past me to give chase to the Fall Maiden.

"Now where's Ruby?"

* * *

 **Ruby versus Tyrian (Clone)**

With a silver shine and a glowing Scorpion tail, the two combatants clash in the middle, creating a shockwave that blasts away the snow on the ground and the flakes that are still falling. Ruby pushes Tyrian back after using her eyes as a sort of flashbang right as they clashed, Tyrian groans in pain as Ruby uses her scythe to cut upward at his chest, making a gash in the Scorpion hybrids chest. Then digs the blade into the ground and spins with the staff and kicks him away. Tyrian skids back along the dirt but still keeps a a psychotic grin toothy grin on his face as he holds his arms up in an X formation to block Ruby's next slash. Ruby widens her eyes at the reflexes she didn't expect to see from Tyrian, especially with her enhanced speed thanks to her silver eyes. Tyrian grabs her blade with her hands and tail, and yanks it out of her hands. Then delivers a violent kick to her stomach just as he did the first time they fought, knocking her back far and making her tumble along the ground until the skids to a stop.

"AHAHA The Rose has grown more skilled! You are certainly more fun to fight against now!" Tyrian yells as he charges her at speeds that Ruby can actually keep up with. He forms his hand into a stabbing weapon, using his claws with the intention to stab her through the gut. But Ruby has none of this, she doesn't bother to give him the satisfaction of a retort, and responds by widening her eyes and blasting him with her silver eyes. Burning away a chunk of his arm before he even realizes what is going on, he barely rolls out of the way of her gaze before his entire body burns away. Ruby shuts her eyes and holds her head, she is pushing it too far and can't risk doing that again because if she does she will without a doubt knock herself out, but she has given herself a huge advantage by 'staring' off Tyrians arm.

But despite losing an arm and feeling a tremendous amount of pain, Tyrian giggles like a child as he pushes himself back onto his feet. "Hoohoohoo, now THAT is power." Tyrian disturbingly compliments in a scratchy voice, he is standing between Ruby and her Scythe.

Ruby pushes herself onto her own feet and gets into a fighting stance, this will be the first time in a while that she takes on a serious enemy without her enemy, she isn't that physically strong compared to everyone else on the roster, but she has learned to use her speed to her advantage to land quick and fast hits and dashing away before her opponent can even attempt to counter attack. The problem with that style of hand to hand combat is that it would only work on small Grimm or human opponents, this is not a normal human opponent, far from it. She doesn't even think that Tyrian would feel her punches, but she has no other choice right now.

She isn't allowed another second of thinking as Tyrian dashes her way, ignoring his handicap and adopting a more unpredictable fighting style that focuses on fighting with one arm. Ruby blocks the first punch, but instead of taking the full force she instead redirects the punch away from her, she ducks down and jabs at his side three times before using her semblance to dash away before Tyrian tries to counter by trying and missing to elbow her head. As his attack hits nothing but air Ruby uses her semblance again to dash to the other side of Tyrian, and kicks him in the side, barely fazing him, she barely takes her foot away just as Tyrian attempts to trap her leg between his stump and his knee. This is where he begins to get frustrated like a child who can't get something from the store because their parents said no.

"Errgh!" Tyrian exclaims, but he stops himself from making any rash decisions and takes a deep breath, with her speed he won't be able to grab her or stick her with his stinger. So he needs to catch her on a pattern. "You have become quite a nuisance little Rose." Tyrian says as he slams his tail against the ground.

"That's what happens when you train hard for months." Ruby retorts, her next goal is to stun him and get to her scythe, with one arm there is no way Tyrian can defend against her fast and hard fighting style, "I am going to make you pay for what you did to my Uncle and friends, and for the eye you took from Hector."

"Oh him? I actually didn't do, as much as I would have liked to have done it myself I am afraid that me was dead before he could see what happened." Tyrian reveals, getting less serious as he tells his part of the fight, Ruby widens her eyes at the revelation, but narrows them as she suspects him to be lying. "Well now that you bring it up I did inject him with much of my venom. Hehehe he was practically part Grimm at the point, I guess good old Oz used his magic to heal him. Honestly I don't really know what happened after that." Tyrian finishes with a short giggle.

Ruby makes a mental note to talk to me about it later. "You can't be-" she is cut off when Tyrian runs up to her face, his stinger was just millimeters away from her nose when she dodged it just in time with a dash of Rose petals, Tyrians stinger stabs into the ground and breaks it apart, the shockwave knocks Ruby off balance and she falls onto her side, seeing his opening Tyrian runs up to her and kicks her in the head, knocking her head on the ground and sending her rolling away even further, her aura dances around the point of impact as it defends her from a skull fracture and concussion. She uses the momentum from the kick to roll onto her feet, and dodges the stinger that comes right after she recovers. Leaving Rose petals behind as she does so, she dives for her Scythe but somehow Tyrian catches her mid dive, kicking her in the stomach again and away from the Scythe.

' _What?! I was faster then him just a second ago!'_ Ruby thinks to herself as she holds her stomach in pain.

"You really think that was all I had earlier? Come on little Rose, you should have known better. Even with one arm I can defeat you, now will you come with me to my Queen or do I have to render you… immobile? _Pleeeease_ tell me you're going to keep resisting!" Tyrian squeals like a child, his mood changing multiple times throughout that streak of sentences. From cockiness, to seriousness, to childish excitement.

"You've been toying with me this whole time?!" Ruby realizes.

"Of course! I was having so much fun with you though so don't feel too bad."

' _Shit…'_

Ruby swears to herself for the first time now that she is in a tight spot, Tyrian is now going to get more serious, and when he does she won't be able to keep up with him, especially without her Crescent Rose. But that doesn't mean she is going to give up. She pushes herself back up and pumps more aura into her semblance then she's ever done before, and without any warning fades away from Tyrians sight, leaving an afterimage in her wake. Tyrian gets confused and rubs his eyes to make sure his eyes aren't deceiving him. Then he feels a skin ripping piercing shockwave that knocks him off of his feet. Pushing himself up he looks behind him to see who or what could have done something like that. He sees the very girl he was sent to retrieve, wielding her Crescent Rose in an impressive fashion, her cape and hood actually glows red and her body has barely noticeable red lighting cracking around it. But it dies down as she looks at her enemy with a smirk. That was the first time going that fast and it could have easily gone wrong, but she managed to do it perfectly. She managed to go barely above the speed of sound in a single burst of speed, albeit for just a fraction of a second.

She wastes no time to attack Tyrian, using her Scythe to fire off a shot behind her and using the recoil to propel herself toward him at even faster speeds then before. Tyrian barely reacts in time to block it with his one hardened human arm. But just as he does he feels a slash cut across his back. Before he can react to that attack he feels another one on his leg, causing him to fall to one knee since one of his ligaments was cleanly cut through. Ruby stops her assault and stands a few meters away from him.

"Since when did you get so fast and skilled?" Tyrian asks with a maniacal smile.

Ruby's eyes shimmer a bright silver, and she looks down to on of her hands. "Honestly, I don't really know. But I think this fight is decided now, tell me how this happened." Ruby demands, pushing the blade of Crescent Rose up to his neck.

Tyrian just laughs at her nonverbal threat. "Oh please, you really think _death_ has a hold of me anymore? There are dozens more of me, if anything that lucky random burst of power and speed just prolonged your already short life-"

He gets cut off, and his vision goes black and a gunshot is the last thing he hears. Ruby fired her weapon and used that recoil to cut off the Faunus hybrids head and it falls to the ground with a soft thud. She averts her eyes from the black blood that spills out of his neck and head, she lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and falls to her knees, exhausted after exerting herself more then she was ready for. She feels nauseous and the smell of Grimm blood isn't helping. Her silver shimmer dims down until it is gone, to make things worse she hears something land behind her, she whips around and points her Sniper Scythe at whoever or whatever landed behind her her finger is already on the trigger but she stops herself just in time when she sees a familiar face, along with Black blood from head to toe, and around her are dozens of evaporating bodies belonging to Grimm.

"Sooo, I was gone for like ten minutes, and then I find you standing over the headless body of this fucker. Don't know how you did it but good job." I compliment, giving her a thumbs up and a smile.

"... Where have you been?" Ruby asks in a tired monotone voice.

"You're… seriously asking me that, have you looked at my body recently? Okay that came out wrong but yeah I killed a lot of things." I answer while I wipe off black blood from my forehead and flick it to the ground. "It looks like the Grimm have been cleared from this area at least. Rhea went to go help out the people fighting in Atlas, we should go find the others, who knows what they are getting themselves into right now."

Ruby closes her eyes and wobbles as she stands, almost falling over due to her exhaustion, the adrenaline running through her veins is finally wearing off, and the side effects are coming in full blast. I notice her doing this and right away I jump in front of her and hold her up by the shoulders. Even then she goes limp and slumps her head against my chest.

"Shit, gotta get you to Jaune, wherever he is since Rhea decided to go off and be a one girl army." I say as I turn around and let her lay on my back, I grab her legs and effortlessly lift her up, " _Alright Knolly, I would like to know where Jaune is."_ I think in my head, hoping that the Relic is listening.

Fortunately, Knolly grants my request and with a shine of blue from my eye I can see Jaune running with the rest of my team, along with Tai not far behind, they all seem to be running to something though, which confuses me because its not to Atlas. Before I can see what they are running to the vision cuts off. I blink and my vision returns to normal.

"Of course you would do that. I don't even know where they are, where is there even a forest? Seriously how do I miss a whole fucking forest..." I list off all of the illogical things that have been going on ever since the crash, with Ruby on my back I begin running through the field, the blood finishes evaporating off of me, with the Grimm retreating from this area I can assume that the flow of Grimm has finally stopped, and the grueling long hour of fighting that has felt more like days might soon come to an end.

"Wow we really cleaned house." I say with an impressed whistle as I look around the scorched battlefield that is littered with evaporating corpses. "Guess you two held your own pretty well." After I say that I notice a bright blue beam of ice, the very one that almost killed me at the Battle of Haven in the distance. It is strange to me why Raven is using an attack like that against weaker Grimm, unless...

"The hell is going on over there?"

* * *

 **Ironwood**

The General was in the streets of Atlas when every Western gate of Atlas was open without any notice, the military forces were forced to set up a perimeter around the Atlas Academy itself, this was the plan made just in case the walls would fall so they could evacuate as many people as possible. The General himself refuses to let another Kingdom fall while he could do something about it, especially his own home. He will give his life if that was what it took. He fights alongside the Hunters and Hunters in training as they perform quick search and rescue missions to help anybody who has been trapped outside of the perimeter by the Grimm. He was shocked to see how deformed the Grimm hybrids who no doubt in his mind used to be humans, but he pushed his personal thoughts aside and did what had to be done, as does most of the other huntsman.

"Hold this area! None of them get through do you understand!?" Ironwood orders as a small squad of Huntsman join the battle, they can hardly be called reinforcements but every pair of hands ready for combat is appreciated.

"I used to live there…" The youngest of the group, probably fresh out of graduation, says as he weakly points to a building that is infested with Grimm.

Ironwood walks up to the young man and grabs his shoulder with his bionic hand and looks into his eyes. "This is what fully trained Huntsman see every day, we don't like it so what do we do about it? We make it stop. Now come with me to make it stop." Ironwood says in an almost scary but inspirational and determined voice. He reloads his revolver and steps out of the perimeter once again, leading the rescue operation for anyone who might still be alive in that building.

But something stops him, and stops all the soldiers behind him from firing, what made them stop was a massive white flame burning away almost the entire width of the road ahead of them. When the steam settles down, only a young Wolf Faunus girl with flaming amber eyes can be seen, along with her white flaming hands,

"Okay… I'm done now." Rhea says before she falls onto the ground unconscious.

Everybody is too stunned to move after what they had just witnessed, none of them save for Ironwood as ever seens a 'semblance' so powerful in their lives. Mutters and rumours are already being spread about what just happened in front of them, but they all get serious once they see not so friendly movement begin to stir again, Ironwood quickly runs up to the unconscious girl and grab her, and takes her behind the barricade before things get too heated, and then into the academy.

" _What is a Maiden doing here?"_ He thinks to himself as he lays her down on one makeshift beds that were laid out. " _I'll get back to you later young lady."_ He gets back up and runs back outside to assist his soldiers in battle. "Use this opening to push them back! They amount of Grimm invading the City as dropped drastically, we can win this!"

Meanwhile, at the top of the walls where some of the military personnel are stranded until the Grimm are pushed back notice that there is a distinct decrease in the number of Grimm coming from the west.

"Hey… wasn't there like an ocean of Grimm over in that direction like a minute ago?" One of the younger soldiers asks.

"Are you blind?! Of course there's…" The older officers voice fades away as he notices an empty scorched field with hundreds of corpse all around. "Do we have any huntsman posted outside of these walls?"

"Not that I know of, but whoever they are just saved our asses." Another soldier adds as he unloads the rest of his cligg into one of the passing Griffons. With the western front more basically won for them, they can start to focus more on the flying creatures such as the Nevermores and Griffons, since they are the immediate threats to the evacuees who are about to start taking off.

* * *

 **Raven and Yang versus Hell**

"So you're a rip off of Hector then?" Yang asks after a couple of moments when Hell introduced himself.

"If you wish to seem me that way, so be it. But I am not here for you Yang, I am here for _you_." Hell reveals, pointing toward Raven.

Raven narrows her eyes at the copy, and unsheathes her sword right away. "Yang stay out of this, you won't last long against someone as strong as him." She says without looking at her daughter.

"Like hell I will! You think I am just going to sit back while you get all the fun? I've been itching to have another rematch with Hector after all this time but I guess this lame rip off will do." Yang argues as she rolls her shoulder.

"This is not a joke Yang!" Raven yells, bringing the sharp blade in front of her own daughter's eyes. "This isn't some sparring match, or the Battle at Haven. He isn't like Hector, he is not going to hold back and your semblance won't be able to keep up with his strength. You're aura will break on the first hit and he'll kill you with the next before you are even able to defend yourself." Raven explains in a deathly serious voice. As she explains Hell allows his aura flare, a Deep black and magma red surrounding him as he grows stronger, faster, and more perceptive. Raven can sense the dark magic oozing out of him.

"This isn't my first rodeo _mom,_ I'm not surprised that you didn't know that though, since you've been gone my whole life." Yang retorts, hitting the blade out of her face with her bionic hand and enters a fighting stance.

"That's not any way to talk to your dying mother." Hell scolds, shaking his head with a disappointed look on his face.

Yang stops in her tracks and widens her eyes, she slowly turns to her mother, her hair blocking her eyes. She sees Raven with equally as wide eyes, this is not the way she would have liked her daughter to find out about her incoming death. "What does he mean…?" Yang asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

Raven can't bring herself to reveal it right now, and opts for a more distant response. "That isn't important right now, just stay focused-"

"Holy shit you really haven't told her yet?" Hell asks in an amused tone, catching the mothers and daughters attention once again. "All Maidens die at the age of fifty, I'd say your mother would have a couple more days to live at best if she is careful with her powers." Hell reveals to Yang who gasps loudly at the news. She can already feel tears threatening to escape from her eyes as she looks back at her mother, who looks down with clenched fists and flaming eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yang asks, distraught.

"I wish you found out a different way, but we can't afford to be emotional right now." Raven says in a stern voice as an icey aura begins to surround her body. "Negative emotions only make the Grimm stronger."

Yang turns back toward Hell, who still has a cocky smirk on his face, he knows what is going to come next, he knows Yang just as much as I do. My memories were passed on to him during the cloning process, Salem achieved my memories while she was in my mind while I was fighting Tyrian, her plan is all coming together perfectly. Yang's eyes turn red and her hair flames a bright white and yellow color. With an angry roar she fires herself toward Hell and punches him with all her might, creating a shockwave that cracks the ground underneath where Hell is standing. But no damage is done… in fact all Hell had to do was catch her fist, and with a bored look on his face, tosses her like a ragdoll back right past Raven and toward the forest with such a force that she crashes through every tree she hits with no signs of slowing down.

Raven looks back toward Hell and conjures up her long ice sword, in turn Hell goes into his own powerup position and right away goes to maximum power.

"Kaioken times twenty." He says in a monotone voice. Unlike me, he doesn't feel any pain from using this power of mine, and his body isn't damaged nearly as much as mine gets, he also gets as hot as I do when he powers up. Add that with his limitless stamina and he is already stand much more of a chance against Raven then I did.

Raven flies toward Hell at breakneck speed, and swings her sword down at him, which he dodges at the last second and kicks the sword as it gets stuck in the ground, shattering it with sheer power and heat. He counter attacks but his punch goes right through Raven, and she fades away revealing herself to just be an afterimage, she appears behind Hell and kicks him in the side with a powerful roundhouse, if this were any normal Hunter they would have at the very least broken bones, but Hell grabs her leg and shoulder charges her back through the forest, but Raven is able to stop herself mid flight with her Maiden powers. Hell saw this coming though and appears behind Raven and kicks her in the back, sending her back down in the ground with a loud thud that sound more like an explosion. He lands a short distance away from the man made crater and calls out to his opponent.

"You are much weaker and slower than I expected you to be, the process must have been going faster than I expected." Hell says, letting his guard down.

When the dust cloud clears Raven cannot be seen, and before he can put his guard back up he gets cut in the side, or at least that was what Raven thought was going to happen. As the blade touched his body a black aura like field of defense stopped it from actually getting to his skin. Raven widens her eyes at seeing this and jumps away before she can get countered.

"How do you have an aura?! You're Grimm." Raven shouts at him, to which Hell just chuckles at.

"My mother found her ways, lets just call it artificial aura for now." Hell answers with a smirk on his face.

Raven groans out of frustration and grits her teeth, this is bad, not only does this copy of me not feel any pain or gets tired, but he also has an aura on top of that?! Raven decides it's time to go all out, she has no other choice in the matter.

But before she can release every ounce of magical power she has in her body a scream is heard, and a blur of yellow dashes right past her and toward Hell, Yang has returned and she is not happy. This time Yang's punch is stronger since she absorbed the kinetic force in her back when she was flying through several trees. When Hell tries to catch her punch this time he gets pushed back, he grits his teeth at the unexpected power of Yangs attack and struggles to push her back in his awkward position. Yang pulls back her punch and ducks down, then liver punches Hell as hard as she can, the force of her punch creates a shockwave and Hell is sent flying through the air similar to how he did to Yang, but luckily for him his aura protects him.

"That's what you get you little shit!" Yang shouts at him as he lands on the ground, pointing her fist at him as he pushes himself back up.

"Yang that's enough! Let me handle this, he barely even felt that he has an aura!" Raven yells to her daughter, floating down to her side.

"You can't take him by yourself, you're on a time limit." Yang barks barks back without looking at her. "And if you use too much power you'd be killing yourself before I'd get that chance, it's either together or we both run got it?" Yang offers an ultimatum, her eyes red as she gets into her mother's face. In truth she is an emotional mess right now but she is directing all of her anger and sorrow to Hell.

Raven is taken aback by her daughters outburst, but knowing that there isn't any other way to convince her and she isn't exactly one hundred percent confident in herself to defeat Hell on her own, she accepts her terms. "Okay Yang, together." Raven says with a small smile.

Yang smirks herself and faces Hell again, along with Raven, they both get into fighting stances and they get ready to take on this powerful foe on their own. Hell stands back up and laughs at the sight of the Mother and Daughter finally getting it together. With Yang's red eyes they look even more related than before. "About time you two came to your senses, this might actually get fun now." Hell says as he powers back up to maximum. His black and red aura melting away any snow around him.

"Yang, let me take him head on, I can take his hits, I'll make an opening for you." Raven whispers to Yang.

Yang responds with a small nod that was barely noticeable, but that is all that Raven needs to see. Raven dashes back at Hell with flaming eyes and leaving a trail of red mixed with blue and cuts down at him again. This time Hell catches the red blade with his bare hand and deflects it. Before it can get forcibly twisted out of her hand Raven activates her Maiden powers and freezes the blade to his hand with a smirk. She knew he was going to do something like that this time, and before Hell can realize it he is punched in the side again by Yang, while at the same time getting kicked in the side of his head by Raven, but instead of getting ripped in half like any normal Grimm he withstands it, and grabs both of the attacking limbs and throwing them into the air. Hell goes after Yang first appears above her, and with both his hands locked together above Yang then pounds her back down into Remnant. Shattering the magical ice glued to his hand upon impact. Before he can fall after her Raven kicks him down herself, sending him plummeting back toward the ground at an angle. He flips in the air and lands on his feet, cracking the ground when he lands and looks up to watch as Raven fires off some Ice spears his direction. But he just jumps back up through the air with his arms in a defensive position, charging right through the Ice spears, they either shatter against his evil aura or miss him completely, Raven is barely able to react in time to catch his fist with both of her hands. The shockwave shakes the trees behind Raven and pushes away the snowflakes still falling.

"Impressive." Hell states although his face says otherwise as they grit their teeth and try to push back the other.

Yang recovers from her plummet to Remnant, and sees Hell in a power struggle with her mother, she cocks back her Ember Celica, and with a punch fires it at Hell, hitting him right in the hip and knocking him out of his concentration, she continues this by firing three more shots into his side, and he gets pushed back and his guard his forced open. Raven takes advantage of this and kicks him back to the ground and charges up a magical blast in an attempt to finish him off before he can recover. This ice blast is going to be the last one she ever does, and she pumps every ounce of power she has left into it, a large blue magical ball of magical ice forms in her hands, and then it condenses to the size of a baseball, she slams pushes her hands out and with a scream and her eyes flaming higher than they ever have before, lets her stored power explode in a massive beam attack with the element of ice imbued into it. Yang jumps to the ground and protects her head as it heads toward at Hell.

Hell stands back up and widens his eyes at the massive blue beam attack coming his way, it is too late to dodge out of the way so his best bet is to try to tank it or deflect, he holds his hands out and catches the blast in his hands and with all his might tries to push it back, the black aura flickering on his hands as it struggles to protect him from an icey death. He holds it off for a couple of moments to the amazement of Raven and Yang but it is not enough, the blast engulfs his body and he screams as the blast explodes once it hits the ground.

Raven huffs and puffs and her arms fall to her sides, her eye flames dying down, she is drained of her power and can't keep herself afloat anymore, and she falls to the ground on her back with a thud. She pushes herself onto one knee while clutching her heart that feels like it is about to explode. Yang jumps back up and runs to her side.

"What's wrong?!" She asks loudly.

Raven coughs up a storm in response, she holds her hand to her mouth for the last few but once she removes them she can see a splatter of blood on her hands, she fears the worst is happening too soon. "I used too much power in that last attack, I tried to end it quickly but… ugh." Raven's eyes roll to the back of her head and she falls onto the ground unconscious. Still alive and breathing but unconscious.

"Hey! Mom come on I know you're not done yet!" Yang exclaims hysterically as she rolls Raven onto her back.

But she can't worry about Raven for too long. Once the dust cloud of snow and dirt dies down, Hell can still be seen standing, his clothes ripped and lacerations all over his body, but alive and able to fight. He laughs once he locks eyes with Yang after seeing Raven unconscious. "AHAHA You almost got me with that one but my mother made me to be the _perfect_ specimen." Hell taunts as he steps out of the icey crater. That last blast broke his aura but his natural toughness along with a twenty times Kaioken boost and his Grimm enhancements he was able to tough out the attack that would have certainly killed even another Maiden.

Yang narrows her eyes at Hell, and only sees red, she gets back on her feet and steps in front of Raven, blocking Hell by using herself. She knows she can't win against him alone, but will be damned before she lets him get past her.

"Why the futile last stands? I don't understand you humans, you fight and lose but no matter how many times you fail you just keep pushing back, even when it is impossible to win." Hell says as his body heals, steam comes out of his wounds as they stitch themselves back together, before you know it he is fully healed and his aura begins to come back. "Just step aside, and I'll let you live." Hell offers with a kind smile despite the situation he put her in.

"No, screw that! No matter how impossible it seems, as long as I can clench my fists I won't back down!" Yang shouts to him loudly, her eyes going red as her hair flames in once again, bringing out every ounce of power she has left.

"Hmph, so be it." Hell doesn't even get into a fighting stance, just walks toward Yang in a threatening fashion. He narrows his Grimm eyes as they glow red, similar to how Salem's does when she gets angry.

Yang backs up one step, truthfully she is afraid of what is going to happen in the next couple of minutes, but her heart stops her from leaving her mother behind. Despite her abandonment and a whole life of wondering and suffering about her mother, she can't leave her now, especially when she is just starting to get to know her, and with the news of Raven's imminent death happening within the year at the very most, she is willing to lay her life down for her if need be.

Despite the amount of pain she is in, Raven regains consciousness and pushes herself back up, barely being able to stand and still bleeding from her mouth. "Don't throw your life away for the likes of me." She says as she uses her sword for support.

"You're still alive? That's unexpected but I doubt you'd be a challenge at this point. Just lay back down and I'll do the rest." Hell taunts, he doesn't slow down in his advance toward them.

Hell raises his arm in front of his face to avoid bullets colliding with it, he peeks through his guard to see a young man with green clothing in one of the trees close behind Yang, he jumps away when Nora tries to slam him into the ground with her hammer, Jaune runs up to Yang and Raven and jumps in front of them, holding his shield out in front of them and backing up slowly, pushing the two women back with him.

"J-Jaune?! When did you guys get here?" Yang asks, calming down a decent bit now that more allies are around.

"It was hard to miss the giant blue light in the trees Yang." Tai says after he lands in front of Jaune, prepared to hold back Hell. "Now what is that thing and why does it look like Hector?" Tai asks, pointing at Hell who has just kicked Nora back toward them.

"He is some rip off of Hector that Salem made, and he is just as strong as him if not stronger." Yang answers, her hair dimming down to its usual color.

"No kidding? Shit." Tai says, immediately getting much more serious.

"Hm, the insects are here now… Mother said to eliminate anyone who gets in my way. This is your only warning…" Hell states as he begins to power up again, his black and red aura surrounding him once again.

"I want you kids to take Raven with you and get Hector, I'll hold him off." Tai orders, holding his arm out in front of the kids and Raven behind him.

"What?! Dad you're strong but there is no way that you will be able to hold him off for long!" Yang exclaims, waving her hands to emphasize her point.

Tai just smirks as he looks back at his daughter. "Yang, you've never seen my semblance in action have you?" He asks, this peeks the attention and curiosity of Hell, so he doesn't attack right away so he can find out what he is up against.

"N-no but-"

"Yang, he'll be fine." Raven says, she is being supported by Jaune and Nora. She looks toward Tai with an impressed look on her face. "So you finally decided to let it out after all these years huh?"

Tai nods at his wife but doesn't remove his eyes away from their daughter. "Thats right."

"Dad… What even is your semblance?" Yang asks finally.

"Well… it's our semblance technically, but mine is much more dangerous and evolved than yours." After he reveals that, his own hair rises up, glowing the same fiery yellow light that Yang has when she uses her semblance, but his eyes remain Lilac for now. His muscles also get more defined and enlarged. "Your semblance is to absorb damage into your muscles to give you a boost in power and speed. But there is two weaknesses to yours, you can't absorb the kinetic energy if it is too small or big, and you get exhausted after using it. Mine doesn't. To put it plainly, my semblance is yours but on steroids and without those weaknesses." Tai explains, his yellow aura simering around his body.

"I hope you haven't gone rusty with that little trick." Raven adds.

"Lets just say that I have been practicing."

"Dad… please don't get hurt." Yang pleads, finally letting her tears fall after everything that has happened in the past couple of hours.

"Don't worry my little dragon, I'm not the one that's going to get their asses kicked." Tai says, he rubs the side of Yang's head and for the first time in any of the former members of JNPR, she doesn't move his hand away from her hair.

Yang sucks up her emotions and joins her friends, turning her back to her father, she doesn't want to look back at the scene, and the present members of RNJR, Yang, and Raven all run toward the huge blast of fire in the distance they had witnessed just a few minutes ago. Leaving Tai alone with Hell.

"Are you done talking now? My patience is wearing thin and I assume that you're not going to let me pass without you having anything to say about it." Hell states, even adding a yawn to the end of it.

"Yeah, we are. And this is where your reign of terror stops, whatever you are. Don't tell me your name because I won't be needing it, but know this… HAA." Tai releases all of the kinetic energy that has been stored up in hs body for _years_. Like his daughter, his eyes now turn into the same angry red. "This is the full potential of a Xiao Long!" He screams as he charges toward Hell and speeds that already matches Ravens from earlier.

Hell widens his eyes and crosses his arms just in time to block the attack, then he grins like a maniac. "OOOOoooh and I thought that my counterpart would have been the one to give me a decent fight!" He exclaims as he pushes Tai back.

"Shut up already! I can't hit him in the face so you will have to do!"

Tai unleashes his hidden potential, and Hell may have found someone other than myself that might stand a chance against him. Truthfully Tai and Yang's semblance is a hard counter to the Kaioken semblance, but Yangs body wasn't able to keep up with the influx of power that was continuously flooding into her body. Tai's however, has evolved his semblance to store up an unlimited amount of power unleashing it only when he wants to, and trained his body to handle the strain very well. While Yang can dish out twice the damage dealt to her, Tai can dish out quadruple the damage, and he has stored up a lot of power throughout the years, combined with his missions and training his daughter. The only drawback is that he can only handle it for so long, he told a half truth to his daughter and friends, he hasn't went all out in so long that his body won't be able to hold out for more then maybe ten minutes.

The others run in my direction, in hopes of telling me the situation and hoping that I get there in time before the worst happens. Nora speeds up ahead of them, an order my Jaune since she is the fastest of them all in that group.

Tai gets into the biggest fight of his whole life, and Hell faces his strongest Non Maiden opponent… so far.

* * *

 **AN- Well this chapter lasted a lot longer than I expected, but things needed to be done. Did you expect Tai to be strong as fuck? Probably not, originally I was going to have Hector be here this chapter but I decided that Tai needs to get some shine for once, he has barely got any even in the show besides training Yang and helping her through her depression. But I am warning you… Power comes at a price. So many other things are happening at the same time and I don't blame you if you can't tell what is happening before the other, feel free to ask me to help you understand.**

 **Also HOLY SHIT OVER TWENTY THOUSAND VIEWS!? Damn I did not think that my story would come even close to that number. And 162 followers as well? Damn guys, that is just... overwhelming to say the least. Thank you all for the support!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think! Questions? Ideas? Concerns? I am all ears!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	31. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 30

**AN- Thank you to the reviewers from last chapter**

 **Soda-fieldPsycho- Forgive me, I couldn't find a moment for them last chapter since Hector was covered in blood and Ruby pretty much knocked herself out, they are coming soon, just be patient just a little longer. Thank you for the review.**

 **Zeldawolffang- I'll fix that as soon as I can, thanks for that. See ya next chapter!**

 **Astra- I was really tired at the moment of responding to the reviews and that was the best I could come up with, naturally Faunus without semblances are stronger and faster, so naturally they would be more dangerous as Grimm hybrids than humans. Now to the actual response, Weiss and Winter have a role to play you just gotta wait and see, I was going to have them fight with Ironwood instead of going to the household, but someone has to go figure out what the hell happened, since Ironwood is fighting for his people because plot and I found Rhea making a public appearance with her Maiden powers to be a better thing to do. Blake time, yeah she is the only one by herself so she has no reinforcements on the way, she has to play it safe, honestly she is the hardest to write fighting and write dialogue for but I managed so far. Ozpin is confusing, but he is a badass. Tbh I just had to get rid of that dumb super beowolf idea, so I gave Oz the power to get rid of it pretty easily because he is Wizardly. I guess you could call it Wizard Trigger, honestly not that far. Rhea has untapped potential that she keeps tapping into it everytime more as she uses her powers, she is not even close to Cinder level yet, just recklessly letting it all out at once multiple times and tiring herself out, let's say we replace her with Cinder against all those Grimm, she would have used much less energy and wiped them out more efficiently, just letting your power explode without any real plan afterward if they survive is what almost got her killed of Hector didn't show up. Now for Ruby vs Tyrian, I'm sure almost everyone knew that I couldn't even consider the possibility of Ruby losing or worse, she is still the main cannon character, I put myself in a lose lose situation there. I couldn't just have Ruby stare at Tyrian to death, or have Tyrian kick her ass, or have them fight to a stalemate until Hector came to kill Tyrian himself. So I went with evolving Ruby's semblance to where she can now move at the speed of sound in very short bursts, and then go to sleep because she is out of aura and stamina. I hope I made the right decision there. And no, Tyrian is not just some mini boss now, he was just up against the worse matchup possible for him, Silver eyed warrior, and Hector's Kaioken. He still has a role to play you'll see. As much as it would be awesome, Tai isn't going super saiyan, he just has Yang's semblance on fucking bear steroids and he is finally going to have his moment. I wonder how that will turn out? I say dude a lot in real life and Hector started out as a self insert, but now that he is waaaaay more evolved then I am he is basically an OC now. But dude is just his go-to word. I don't mind writing a big response, it doesn't change how many words I write each chapter so it's no biggie. Maybe I am the one who has to cut down on the length of the responses. See ya in approximately exactly 4 hours, 12 minutes and 18 seconds.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- As much as Jacques is a dickhead, he did it to save his son, I put him in a shitty ultimatum decision making position, and he chose. What would you do if your son was on the line? Anyway, this chapter will explain a lot of things on all fronts. I wanted to give Ozpin some spotlight since he hasn't gotten a lot throughout the entire story, he is still in there and he has only been growing stronger. Rhea has been letting her hidden power explode, and while it is an amazing sight to see she isn't really controlling it, more on that when she returns. Since Ruby is still supposed to be the star of the show, I had to give her a buff of some kind, In the future I'll show how she developed her silver eyed power, and her semblance has FINALLY evolved, her speed now surpasses the speed of sound! But she can only do it so much before she runs out of stamina and/or aura. I can't say anything about Hell because spoilers, but I can say that it will be amazing, and Tai is going Super Saiyan in RWBY human form. Thank you for the review and I'll see ya next time.**

* * *

Chapter 30- Unleashed Hidden Potential (Battle for Atlas Part 3)

 **Hector and Ruby**

After getting Ruby on my back I have been lightly dodging toward the Forest which is still quite the ways ahead of me. She is still unconscious, and her head is resting on my shoulder right beside mine. Somehow her hair is getting in my mouth and eye and it bothers me, but I just tough it up since its the wind that is doing this to me. Something I notice as we walk is that Ruby's hair has actually grown longer, pretty cute if Im being honest here.

' _What was that?'_

Oh Gosh Ozpin was listening to my thoughts.

"Nothing."

' _Hector, I can hear every single thought you make.'_

"Which is why I am confused because all I am thinking about is finding the others and if Ruby is going to be okay." I futilely try to hide the soft flush on my face, but then realize that Ozpin isn't really with me physically. That us until he pops up in his Astral form literally right in front of me and almost scaring me to death.

"GAH! Why?!" I ask loudly and angrily after my heart starts beating again.

" _You did say you preferred speaking with me face to face instead of in our mind."_ Ozpin answers, moving to my side as I begin to jog again. " _I sense the Spring Maiden moving our way."_ He says after a moment in a much more serious tone. " _She is injured."_

"What?! Are you serious? She's like equal to me what happened?" I skid to a stop and turn to face the deceased Headmaster.

" _She isn't equal to you any longer, hasn't been ever since after the Battle you two had. She has reached her limit and the Magic within her is fighting to escape, and once it does…"_ Ozpin lets that last word hanging in the air, its meaning obvious to me.

"Damn… it's happening sooner than I thought it would."

" _Yes, which is why we must find whatever or whoever could have put her in such a state, she is still one of the most powerful beings in this world. So that afterwards… she may go to rest peacefully."_

" ***Sigh*** Alright I get it, where are they coming from?"

" _Miss Valkyrie should be here very soon actually."_

"Wait what- OOF"

"HECTOR! COPY OF YOU! STRONG! TAI IS HOLDING HIM OFF! HEEEELP!" Nora shouts multiple times into my face. Then she falls to her knees panting, she has been sprinting full speed for miles and only sped up once she saw my silhouette in this distance. The other members of RNJR, Yang and Raven are still far behind but closing in.

"Woah woah woah, calm down and speak clearly." I say as I kneel down beside her with Ruby still on my back who has just begun to stir again.

"Hah… hah… There is some guy who looks just like you that beat up Yang and Raven at the same time. He has the same ability as you to." Nora explains more clearly.

"What? A copy of me? What do you mean?" I am confused, trying to understand what exactly is the situation.

"I mean that there's an evil you!"

I can't find the words needed to respond to that, all I can do is widen my eyes and look down. I think this is a joke at first but the look in Noras bloodshot eyes tells me otherwise. She looks so terrified, and Nora NEVER looks terrified. Worried maybe but never to this extent. I take a deep breath and place a hand on Noras cheek to get her attention back to me.

"Where is he?" I ask in a deadly serious voice.

"Tai is holding him back right now, but I don't think he'll last, if you don't help him he'll die!" Nora exclaims, now on the verge of tears.

"What's… going on?" Ruby woke up just now, all dazed and confused, but once she sees Nora in her terrified state she wakes right up and climbs off my back, weakly, but okay. "What's going on?! Are you okay?!" She asks Nora, hugging her head to her chest.

"We're going to have company soon. Dangerous company, even to me." I answer for Nora, standing up and keeping an eye out for the others.

Ruby notices my deadly serious tone, and wonders why. The only threats to me are Maidens and Salem right? And the Maidens around here are friendly and working with us.

I wave my hand in the air as I spot the unmistakable glow of Yangs blonde hair. They spot me and start heading our way. As they get closer I can see Ravens really beat up state. I clench my fists and eyelids as that confirms Nora's story, if not a copy of me, then at least it is someone as strong as me or more. Nora stands back up and I help Ruby up and while assisting her we start making our way to them to meet in the middle.

After about a minute of walking we all catch up with each other, and once I let Ruby down Yang grabs my shoulders and pulls me down to look her in her red eyes.

"Are you the real Hector?" She asks with a mixture of hate, anger, and seriousness.

I am taken aback at first by her tone but after a moment I understand why. I gently remove her hands from my shoulders and hold them gently. "Yes." I answer in a serious yet kind tone.

Yang exhales deeply and apologizes, slowly pulling her hands away. "Sorry… I assume Nora told you about what is going on right?"

"I have a good idea." I say as I look into the distance to see if I could see or hear anything unusual. "Jaune, heal up Raven and Ruby, im going to go meet this evil twin of mine." I order. Jaune wastes no time and gets to work on both of them, working on both of them at once with each hand.

"I just need my aura filled and i'll be fine Jaune." Ruby says as her bright red aura flows around her body. "Raven needs your full attention anyway."

"Alright, just don't do anything stupid when I let you go alright?"

"Ergh." Raven groans in pain, she fell unconscious again on her way here, and upon closer observation it looks like she has aged slightly more, her with just a barely noticeable amount of gray more, and a few barely noticeable wrinkles on her face that weren't there before.

"How did she end up like this?" I ask as I kneel down, I know that she got hurt while fighting, that much is obvious, but as to how she got this way is still unknown to me.

"She was fighting that guy that looks like you, and she went all out, and I mean ALL out. She let out some massive beam of ice or something, but that bastard _still_ got up after that." Yang explains, clenching her fists as she speaks.

"..." I remain silent as I process this information, placing a hand under my chin and my free arm across my chest.

As I think something lands behind us all, something loud, and powerful. The shockwave from the force of the landing knocks everyone but myself off their feet. Throughout all of this Jaune manages to keep his focus on amplifying the auras of the two injured girls in front of him.

I slowly turn around to see who that was, I couldn't even see the person flying through the air. When I fully turn my body to face the person who has done that, my eyes narrow and my heart skips a beat out of nervousness. I meet eyes that look just like my own, except in the form of a Grimm, he has clothes that look like mine but his jacket is torn off, and his shirt has multiple cuts in it. He has the same face as me, but with snow white skin and purple veins in the same form of Salem's all around his face and the exposed parts of his arms. I am at a loss for words when I see the spitting image of myself, and terrified when I think about what happened to Tai. When he finally meets my eye he smiles wickedly and widens his eyes in excitement.

" **Finally found you**."

* * *

 **Blake**

Blake is in a tough spot right now, she is by herself, tired, and outnumbered. More Faunus hybrids have completely surrounded her, and everytime she cuts one down, another takes its place.

Before she can think of a strategy, a type of Grimm she has never seen or heard of before breaks right through the perimeter of the circle the hybrids made around her, a Rhino Grimm, she barely gets out of the way of the behemoth without using her semblance, but when she lands she is immediately attacked by a different Panther Hybrid, in the split second she had she rolled away while leaving behind a lightning dust made clone of herself, which fries the Panther hybrid to death, while she managed to take one of them out, she used the last of that type of dust, but if she just left behind a regular shadow clone the Panther would have just pounced on her again and she would have had to use even more of her aura to get away from the creature, or lose it all together. She pushes herself up and into the air, unintentionally dodging the tail whip of one of the Monkey Hybrids.

Now that she is out of the circle that was made around her Blake runs as fast as she possibly can, hoping to run into someone from her team, or anything that she can use to her advantage, she doesn't get far when she starts to feel the thundering steps of the Rhino Grimm chasing her. She is no where near fast enough to dodge this creature this time, and her aura gets broken when she gets gored in her back by the horn, she gets a large gash across her back as she is thrown forward, breaking right through one tree before coming to an abrupt stop at the next, furthering injuring her to the point where she can't even move. Her head and ears slump down as she falls unconscious from the pain and trauma. And the Rhino moves in for the kill, scraping the ground with one of its front legs as it prepares to charge it's horn right through her chest.

But just as it begins to move a massive curved blade cuts it's head right off, the Rhino takes a few more steps before it's head falls off and the body falls over and both begin to evaporate right away. The man who has done this wears a red cape, and has graying black hair. A man that Blake hasn't seen for a long time. Qrow Branwen has came to her rescue at the very last second.

"Cat girl you still with me?" Qrow asks Blake as he backs up toward her, his Scythe positioned behind him at the ready to dismember any Grimm that pounces at him. After a couple moments of no response he assumes that she is unconcious. "Damn, you did good kid, I don't know how you stood up against these things by yourself but good job. Now where is that Black Kid? I know I shouldn't have left him behind too far." Qrow transformed into his bird form when he spotted a huge black smog in the air that looked like it was coming from the kingdom or a fallen Bullhead. Leaving Mercury behind but with his Bionic legs and natural speed he should be there with them shortly.

 _Meanwhile_

"God damn dusty old birdman." Mercury says as he sprints through the forest. "Leaving me behind in a fucking Grimm infested forest right after I just learned that Marcus is still alive, he better have a _damn_ good reason for that."

It's safe to say that he isn't too pleased with being left behind without any real explanation besides " _I see smoke."_

Back with Qrow and Blake. A Monkey Hybrid swings in from above Qrow, attempting to catch him and hold arms to his side while its Grimm comrades tear him apart, but gets cleaved in half before it gets close to him. The other Grimm are being cautious with their approach, knowing that Qrow is a very experienced Huntsman and Grimm slayer. Intelligent, Too intelligent for their age. Qrow takes note of this and narrows his eyes, they are slowly advancing, staying just out of reach of his Scythe, his entire front is full of Grimm and he can't move since he needs to protect Blake until she recovers enough to move.

"C'mon Cat girl, we don't have much time left." Qrow points out to the still unconscious and unmoving Blake. Qrow wants to transform his weapon into its Shotgun/Hand Cannon form, but if he does then he won't have anything for close range besides his fists and feet, and he isn't exactly confident in himself to be able to punch the creatures to death, even though he has done that before just to challenge himself during his days as a member of Team STRQ. The memory of Summer reprimanding him for it makes him smirk slightly but his look hardens as he refocuses on the situation he is in. He cuts down another two Grimm hybrids as they attempt to catch him off guard from behind, then twirls on the staff of his Scythe and kicks another one away. He then morphs his weapon back into its sword form and cut a human Grimm hybrid in half from the bottom up, as he raises the sword over his head he cuts the leg off of one of the a nearby Monkey Hybrids. It falls to the ground screaming while its severed leg evaporates away on the ground.

"You creatures are manageable enough." Qrow taunts, twirling his sword before morphing it back into its mechanical Scythe form.

This time a different kind of Grimm creature that even Qrow has never seen before, a Grimm Lion, a much larger one at that, even bigger than the Rhino Grimm he had just slain. That means every person that ever ran into this thing was killed. "Huh, never saw anything like you before." Qrow says as he readies his Scythe from behind his back.

The Lion Grimm roars at him in response, and bears its teeth all it is thinking about is how Qrow tastes at the moment. It knows that this is a more experienced huntsman and it is already thinking of ways to counter and kill its prey.

"Did you just call me old?" Qrow asks the Grimm in a bitter tone. "Big mistake bud." Qrow taunts it further, trying to get it to attack him first instead of the other way around, if he takes one step too far away from Blake she'll get grabbed by one of the other Grimm creatures, and if that happens he would not even come close to looking forward to explain how that happened to the girls. So he is putting on an act to stall as much as possible so Mercury can get there.

And then, as soon as his mind drifts back to Mercury, a steel boot comes into contact with the Lions head just as it pounces, kicking it away and into a tree, knocking it down in the process.

"Took you long enough!" Qrow exclaims as he roughly pats Mercury on the back.

"Unlike you I can't turn into a damn bird and fly off into the distance old man!"

"The only reason I am not hitting you for saying that is because we have bigger problems on our hands, take care of Cat Girl over there and make sure nothing gets close to her. Provide long range assistance when you can, and please don't get yourself killed, just in case the girls actually have taken a liking to you." Qrow orders as he charges the Grimm Lion who is still shakily trying to stand back up from the surprise attack.

"You didn't really give me a choice there but sure." Mercury mumbles omce Qrow gets out of earshot.

After taking a quick glance around the area Mercury kneels down in front of Blake, who is bleeding from her back and is still unconscious, but one good sign is that she is still bleeding. "Hang in there Blake, I got ya." Mercury says as he moves Blake from the uncomfortable position she must have been in and lays her on the softer ground on her side beside the tree she was slammed into. He stands back up and turns around to see the monkey hybrids still missing its leg swinging off from a branch and rushing Mercury, he jumps for a second but instinctively kicks up into the air and slams his boot into it face, instantly killing it.

"Ugh, never do that again ya damn Monkey!" Mercury exclaims to the now dead Hybrid. Now that he's got that out he looks around to see the smaller hybrids beginning to surround him and Blake, and he finds himself in the same spot Qrow was in before he came into the picture. "Lovely, guess I get to have some fun now." Mercury mumbles to himself as he gets into his fighting stance, planning to shoot some projectiles first to take out some of the faster and weaker ones.

He kicks his leg behind him and upwards to take out one of the hybrids he caught in his peripheral vision, the smoke caves in its chest and crushes its heart, and it falls lifelessly to the ground. From the corner of his right eye he sees a normal Beowolf charging at him now that it has an opening, but Mercury follows through with his back kick and slams the toe of his boot into its skull, crushing it against the ground and killing it instantly. Over his time with the girls Mercury has been getting better with his kicks, being able to end fights with just a few instead of his usual dozens or maybe even into the hundreds if you count his version of the cyclone. Against Grimm with no aura he can easily take them out in one or two hits, the alphas and more powerful Grimm take more but he can still handle them on his own with time as long as more then three doesn't come at him at once. But he can't do this forever, even he will run out of stamina if he keeps having to use all of his moves to defend Blake for an extended period of time.

"Qrow! I'll carry Blake out of here as soon as I get an opening, finish your fight!" Mercury shouts to Qrow as he kicks his projectiles in all sort of directions to any Grimm that gets too close.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" Qrow barks back as he flips over the Grimm Lions paw swipe again. "Geez Cat girl, how did you get yourself into this position?" He asks no one in particular as he slashes away at the armour of the Lion. He has been doing very well against the Lion Grimm so far, but he expects it to start adapting to his sword fighting style soon. So once he lands on the ground after jumping over another attack, he switches his weapon to it's Sycthe form, and twirls it around as he dashes toward the creature, not giving it a chance to process what Qrow has just done. He catches the beasts front left leg and neck in the curved blade and pulls it with him as he runs and jumps into the air, pulling the heavy Lion with him. Using gravity to use advantage he lands on a tree and grips his Scythe as tight as he body allows him to, and slams the Lions back against the tree. The beast roars in pain as its own weight slowly pushes against the blade of the Scythe. It tries to push it off with its free paw but just makes it worse and it digs into its neck, cutting through the major arteries in its neck. It weakens due to blood loss until it passes out. Qrow keeps holding on until his Scythe feels weightless when the body of the Lion falls away from its head. Qrow exhales as he pulls up his Scythe and sheathes it on his back.

"Alright Black! We're good to go!" He shouts to Mercury as he fends off one more Beowolf.

"Alright!" Mercury shouts back as he grabs Blake and carries her bridal style and pumps aura into his legs and runs as fast as he can with the girl in his arms.

Qrow turns into his Crow form and flies off, catching up with Mercury easily and flies by his side, and the two get away relatively unscathed and saving Blake in the process.

* * *

 **The Schnee's**

After a short sprint through the city and Academy, both Winter and Weiss made it to their household, which is conveniently unscathed form any kind of battle. Also it doesn't seem like there is any staff present, the house is empty. Well, almost empty.

One of the door breaks down when a Human Grimm hybrid latches onto the back and shoulders of one of the male maids. Winter doesn't hesitate to stab the creature through the back of its head and out its mouth. The maid whimpers in pain as the Grimms evaporating body is kicked off of him.

"M-miss S-Schnee, those t-things broke in not t-too long ago a-a-and ah…" The injured maid is bleeding and in shock, unable to speak properly without stuttering, but Winter understand what he is trying to say right away.

"I understand, are there any other survivors?" Winter asks in a gentle tone.

"M-m-maybe." He says before he lets his head fall to the floor, unable to stay conscious any longer and soon passes away, upon closer observation he has a deep gash under his armpit that went right through an artery, he was bleeding to death while telling Winter of other survivors.

Winter exhales and shakes her head, closing the eyes of the boy before standing up and looking around for any signs of Grimm activity.

Weiss in the back is still in shock about everything that is happening in their own home. Her mind drifts to Klein, and all the other maids that took care of her while she was living here, she almost lets her emotions get the better of her but a hand on her shoulder snaps her out of it. She looks up at Winters stone cold face, yet it is gentle as well somehow.

"Weiss, I am going to find out what started this in the first place, which means I have to find Father and make him tell me how to stop this. You will prioritize Search and Rescue, look for any survivors, the panic room may have some survivors in it, the code to the room is 34-78-96 in case you have forgotten. Lead anyone you find there and close the door. When you know that there are no more people to find, lock yourself in there as well and wait for me to come back." Winter orders Weiss in a militaristic manner.

"But I need to see Father to, I need to settle things with him once and for all. When I find them all I will-"

"You will not!" Winter cuts her off by raising her voice and tightening her grip on her shoulders. "The crimes that we all know he has committed has earned him _multiple_ death penalties. Now with what he has done here he is a War Criminal. I do not want you to see what I have to do." Winter explains, her eyes getting glassy as she explains what she has to do.

"You're going to… execute him?" Weiss asks out of disbelief. Almost afraid of her own elder sister.

"It is what the laws of Remnant demand." Winter says as she wipes her eyes of tears threatening to escape. "As the Heiress to the Schnee dust company I hereby resign myself from my position and return it to you Weiss Schnee." Winter proclaims, shocking Weiss even more with her words.

"What are you doing?!"

"I am an huntress and an Atlas Specialist, I will do my duty, now you do yours." Winter runs off to a different part of the house, leaving Weiss who reached toward her with hand and has tears flowing down her face. When Winter gets out of view she wipes the tears out of her face and tries to calm herself down, her negative emotions she is giving off is only going to attract more Grimm. As she does so she hears something scratching against the wall. She grits her teeth and readies her sword, prepared to eliminate these threats and do her part.

* * *

 **Winter**

Winter memorized the layout of this entire building throughout the years she lived here, and knows exactly where her father's office and secret office that he thinks nobody else knows about. On the way she had to eliminate some Grimm hybrids that got in her way and she did so easily and without much issue. Now she stands at the door to her father's office, and she kicks it open since it was locked and she didn't have time to pick it or look for the key. When she walks inside she sees some more survivors, who were terrified since they thought that the Grimm just broke in, but once they saw Winter they all took a breath of relief.

"Where is my father?" Winter asks simply, walking up to the desk to see if there are any leftover files that could lead to who exactly Jacques was communicating with. But alas, the computer was destroyed and the hard drive with it. She curses under her breath and stands back up, waiting for a response.

"We don't know… we just locked ourselves in here when we saw those things running around the mansion." One of the staff members finally speaks up.

"Hm, barricade the door on my way out, the Grimm in this building are not that strong so if one manages to get in and I am not around you all can defeat it if you gang up on it." Winter says as she stands at the doorway, peeking around the corner to see if there are any Grimm that made their way into the hallway.

"With what?!" One of the staff asks, already scared of being alone without protection.

"Anything you can find, or take your chances and run to the panic room, Weiss Schnee is gathering survivors on the ground floor and will make her way up, clearing any Grimm on the way." Winter says, giving them a choice as she walks out of the room after lifting the destroyed door back up to block the doorway the best she can with the short amount of time that she has to spare.

* * *

 **Weiss**

A couple of minutes after Winter went off to do her duty, Weiss is in the process of doing hers, she has managed to gather a small group together, and they move together to the second floor where the panic room is located. She hasn't ran into much resistance luckily, and now she just needs to make it to the panic room.

When they small group makes it up to the next flight of the stairs, Weiss gestures for them to remain silent and still. She takes the last step and she is immediately pounced on by a different type of Grimm, a feline type with sharp claws and teeth, this must've been a cat faunus who just recently was infected with Grimm. When she slams against the ground and slides across the floor the small group of helpless staff members begin to panic with their guardian now gone. However one brave man runs up the stairs to go help Weiss who is holding it back with the side of her sword, unable to get the sharp end into its body, the man doesn't hesitate to tackle the Cat-Grimm hybrid off of Weiss. But unfortunately when they tumble along the floor the Grimm is the one on top, and he has no aura to defend him when the Grimm begins tearing into him, tearing his skin and muscle apart to the bone.

Before it can land a finishing blow however, a summoned Boarbatusk gores it in the side, killing it when it's tusks pierce its lungs and heart. The last thing that man sees is Weiss Schnee on her side with a white glyph beneath her and her hand extended out toward him. Weiss pushes herself up and rushes to the man's side, kneeling down beside him. But it is already too late to save him, he is gone.

"Damnit…" Weiss says with a mixture of sadness and frustration. But she manages to keep her emotions in check and presses on. "Come, the room isn't too far from where we are." Weiss beckons the remaining four survivors to stick close to her, this time she keeps her summon close to her, it doesn't take that much energy or aura to keep the summon active, and since the Grimm around here are very weak compared to the ones in the city, she can easily keep one small but powerful summon up for an extended period of time.

After using the summoned Boarbatusk to go ahead of them, she basically has a free walk to the panic room that is just around this corner. After rushing the others inside the room and checking for any leftover Grimm around. She punches in the code and opens the big steel door… and the only one in there is you snotty, bratty little brother.

"Whitley?! Why are you the only one in here?!" Weiss asks angrily as she pulls Whitleys collar and gets up into his face.

"W-Weiss?! You're here?!" Whitley asks with a surprised look on his face.

"Don't Weiss me Whitley. **Why. are. you. the. only. one. Here?!** " Weiss asks in the angriest tone she has ever used before.

"I made it here first." Whitley answers with a small and nervous smile. "I waited for about a minute but nobody else came dear sister, so before the monsters came to get me I locked the door and kept them _all_ out." Whitley reveals in a nonchalant tone like he didn't do anything wrong. Clearly he has finally lost it.

Weiss releases all of the anger she has had pent up against her family for her whole life, and proceeds to slap the ever living FUCK out of Whitley, leaving his face red. But she isn't done there, she pushes him to the ground and she straddles him, Whitley is to unathletic to overpower his sister, and can't do anything but continuously take the beating he is getting, never in her life has Weiss ever been so angry, and felt so much hate for a member of her own family, toppling over her own father even. This violent and bloody beating goes on for several minutes until one of the staff members finally builds up the courage to softly tell Weiss to stop.

"I think he has had enough Miss Schnee…"

Weiss grits her teeth and stops punching her little demon brother. He is bloodies and unconscious and there is no way that he wont have a couple of scars on his face after it heals. He was way too far gone then she realizes, the only thing for him is to be locked up in mental hospital for the rest of his life or until he gets better. Before she gets off of him she spits on his shirt, and lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She has half a mind to just pull his body out to be torn apart by the Grimm, but refrains from doing so.

"I am going to look for my mother. This is an order for the heiress to the Schnee dust company, you will restrain him and keep him in here until further notice. Let anyone in who makes it here, I will take care of any remaining Grimm." Weiss says as she closes the large steel door. Making sure it is locked before she walks off with a new goal alongside her mission to save as many people as she can.

* * *

 **Tai versus Hell**

 **Five minutes before Hell's arrival to Hector's Group.**

Tai and Hell have just begun their fight, and it is clear who has the advantage so far, Hell has been ragdolling Tai so far but he is catching up to Hell in terms of strength and speed as the fight goes on, his pure willpower being the only thing that is preventing his aura from completely depleting after each blow. Tai is already coughing up blood but is growing much, much stronger, and he can feel it. He also passively gets stronger as the fight goes on without taking damage. But the more power he absorbs and releases, the more he can feel his body taking the strain of it.

Ignoring the pain in his bones, Tai finally lands a solid hit into Hell's face, catching him off guard as he flies across the field of snow. Before he can recover quickly, Tai appears behind him and axe kicks his head into the ground, crushing his head between his heel and the ground. Tai jumps back before Hell can grab his ankle and counter attack. He watches in awe as Hell simply pushes himself back up and cracks his neck like all he had was a bone slightly out of place.

"Well you're definitely an interesting one. Although I must admit that I expected much more from you, I am barely feeling those punches." Hell says as he takes the lead this time, disappearing in a blur of black and red and reappears as he grabs Tai by his face and slams him into the ground, then dragging him through the snow a for about twenty feet before throwing him up into the air. Thinking that he has this in the bag.

Although Hell is seemingly winning this one sided fight, this is all according to Taiyangs plan. He is taking a lot of punishment and abuse, but every devastating blow he takes is added into his reserves of power, he is planning to release all of it in a devastating final attack when Hell least expects it. Hell ends the combo by pounding Tai into the snow, but to his surprise Tai gets right back up, not without some scratches or bruises but still, he gets up.

"That all you got?" Tai taunts with a cocky smile on his face. His stored up power is just barely being kept under control, he shakes and while it looks like he is in pain he is actually doing that to keep the power in him.

Hell narrows his eyes at Tai with a bit of suspicion, a fully trained and experienced Huntsman wouldn't just let himself get beat around like this, even if they did have a semblance like the Xiao Long's do. "What are you planning?" Hell asks in a threatening tone.

"Plan? What Plan? Unless you count me kicking your ass to the moon and back I don't see what you see!" Tai exclaims as he charges at Hell, closing the distance between the two in less then two seconds.

One mistake that Hell is making right now is not going all out, even after proclaiming that he was excited for this fight against Taiyang in the beginning of. He is barely going times ten right now. Tai plunges his fist into Hells gut, releasing some of the power he had stored up, Hell gets the wind punched out of him but is able to react in time too counter the next punch. He uppercuts Tai just as the fist connects with his chin, and while Tai gets flown into the sky, Hell gets knocked back down into the dirt, but since Hell doesn't feel pain and can recover at inhuman speeds he gets back up first, and jumps into the air after Tai, who opens his eyes just in time to see Hell pounding him back into the ground just like he did to him earlier, as well as his daughter before him. But this time Tai blocks most of the damage with his arms and adjusts his path to push himself right back up and into the air, because fuck physics.

"What the-" Hell gets cut off as a return punch that would have taken his head off if it wasn't for his aura, plus the force of the gravity pulling him back down to Remnant making the force of the punch even harder. Hell flips through the air as he falls and lands hard on the ground.

Tai was going to go for it there but something stopped him, a loud roar and a black and red aura dispersed all of the dust and snow around Hell. Revealing him to be very angry and frustrated now. "Enough with these games, _**Kaioken times twenty!**_ " Hell screams as he charges back toward Tai, the whole area around them is now lit up by a deep blood red. Tai takes a rough hit to the stomach, making him keel over, then het gets a devastating knee to the head, sending him flipping three times before landing on his back, before he can push himself back up, Hell knees him in the stomach again, pinning him down and proceeds to throw his fists at Tais face.

Tai takes this rough beating the best that he can, but before his aura breaks he catches the next punch and kicks Hell off and away from him. "It's now or never I guess… I pissed him off too much." Tai says as he gets ready to let his stored up power explode from him one more time. "AHAAAAAAH!" Tai screams as his yellow aura surrounds his body, flaring even larger than Hell's. Tai gets into a punching position, and slowly his aura transforms into the shape of the head of a yellow Dragon with red eyes.

Hell is caught off guard with this sudden transformation and explosion of power, he gets half excited again, but the other half is of concern, " _Can I really take this on?"_ He wonders to himself. But despite his own concerns he gets ready to launch his own full power attack, intending to punch right through the dragon spirit and end this fight once and for all.

"This is the true power of the Xiao Long's! NOW TAKE ALL OF IT!" Tai screams at the top of his lungs as he thrusts his fist forward, letting all of his power out at once in this final attack, combined with the power of his dragon spirit, and launches it toward Hell.

Hell widens his eyes at the massive yellow Dragon heading his way, but pushes through as he throws his most powerful punch at the spirit, clashing with it head on and coming to a stalemate right off the bat. Hell actually struggles against the beast, gritting his teeth and digging the soles of his boots into the ground as he is slowly pushed back. Tai is in the same position, but he is wounded and tired already, and Hell has limitless stamina. But despite the odds all stacked up against him he pushes past his limits, and with a loud battle roar that sounds like a Dragon, overpowers Hell.

Hell widens his eyes as the Dragon spirit grows even larger in size, and begins to push him back much faster and with more force, he tries to use both arms to push back the attack, but even then it is too much for even him to handle, even with the Kaioken times twenty.

However… he isn't me.

" **KAIOKEN TIMES THIRTY!"** Hell screams, his eyes glow a deep red glow, and his black and aura grows even larger then the dragon, he skids to a stop and begins to push back against the force of the Dragon.

Tai widens his eyes as even the most powerful attack he has ever thrown at an enemy, is begin effortlessly pushed back. He seriously thought he had it there, he thought that he would have been the one to put down this villain. Now he can only hope that he lasted long enough, as the black and red overpower the yellow, the dragon disappears, and the punch connects with his chest…

After the dust settles down from the shockwave, Tai can be seen with his shirt completely burned off, and a big gash in the right side of his chest, and standing over him is a batterted Hell, whose clothes are now ripped and torn, his right sleeve all burned away completely, and his left sleeve burned away all the way up to the elbow.

"Heh, to think I'd need to go that far for an insect like you. Thanks for the practice." Hell backhandedly compliments, turning around and looking in the direction of where everyone ran off to.

"Now to see if they managed to make it to _him_ yet."

 _Minutes later_

After Hell takes his leave, Tai is still on the ground, as he seems to be lifeless and all is lost. He takes a breath, and a very weak yellow aura can be seen around his gash.

A Crow lands next to his body, and it transforms into Qrow, he looks down at his estranged old friend. "You finally let that old trick out again huh? Good on ya." Qrow compliments, placing a hand on Tai's chest.

A trick only very little amount of Huntsman know how to do, he transfers his aura into Tai, giving him enough so that he can heal on his own naturally, but still unconscious.

"That should keep you alive at least. Hey Black! You can come out now!"

"I just got here but alright." Mercury walks out of the forest not too far from where Qrow is kneeling.

"We have to get him to a hospital, even with the aura I gave him he still might not survive from this."

"Yeah I'm _sure_ I can carry two people at once and somehow find a place for them to get healed up at." Mercury sarcastically remarks.

"I'm glad you feel that way, because that is what you're going to do while I go help Atlas get out of the shithole they're in." Qrow says before he goes into his bird form. Not even giving Mercury a chance to protest.

"Oh you fucking CUNT." Mercury shouts to him loudly, but his words are already far out of reach. "... Goddamnit." Mercury mumbles as he adjusts Blake so that Tai can be carried on his other shoulder. "Since when did I become a fucking human ambulance?"

* * *

 **Present, Hector and co.**

"So what are you supposed to be? My evil twin?" I ask in a joking manner, using humor to disguise my terror deep within me.

"Hmm, missing eye, Black leather jacket with a red dragon design, black pants with a white dragon design, and the same face as me, you're definitely him." Hell says in a monotonic tone, ignoring my questions.

"Very original Salem…" I say as I get into mu battle stance.

"We'll help you." Two Members of RNJR, Nora and Ren, declare, standing next to me.

"No, you won't." I say as I old out an arm in front of them, preventing them from getting past me.

"What?! Why not!?" Nora asks loudly.

"If he is as strong as Yang says she is then... you would only get in the way." I repeat the same words Ozpin's said to Pyrrha on that fateful day. Hopefully I don't end up repeating the same mistake he did.

Nora and Ren are taken aback by my sudden deadly serious tone and demeanor. They don't think they have ever seen me this serious, even when I was fighting Tyrian without my Kaioken.

"Smart move, you don't want to end up like Spring over there, or worse." Hell says with a smile.

"Her name is Raven, and I will stop you here and now!" I shout at my evil twin, pointing my fist at him.

"Such meaningless banter, Tai was saying the same things before I silenced him."

"W-what..?" My battle mode is interrupted by the revelation, and I can already feel the sadness and shock welling up within Yang and Ruby.

"What did you do to him!?" Yang shouts angrily to Hell, tears already leaking from her eyes, she falls to her knees and breaks down beside Jaune, she couldn't handle all of the guilt she is feeling.

Ruby has a different reaction, standing up and breaking the connection between herself an Jaune, much to his protest, she is seen slowly walked toward Hell, tears falling from her face with each step, but before she can get past me, I stop her.

"You're wrong, you have to be." Ruby claims, her voice little over a whimper.

"'Fraid not, I think I put a hole in his chest." Hell reveals again, pouring salt into the wound. Even chuckling a bit to make it even worse.

Yang and I wince at the second revelation. Ruby raises her head to stare at Hell, wanting to look away from the spitting image of myself except more Grimm like. Her eyes flickering with white light like a dying lightbulb. But she can't release her power due to fatigue out of not recovering long enough. All she can do is just let her tears flow out of her eyes.

Seeing her cry, and look so hopeless, lights a fire underneath me. My red and white aura flares around me in a mere moment, and I am staring daggers into my counterpart.

As if catching my silent declaration of war, Hell lets his aura flare up as well, his black and red aura complimenting my red and white aura. I gently push Ruby back, and luckily Nora grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her back from me.

Ruby suddenly snaps out of her emotional state, and gets _very_ worried about me. She tries to pry the grip Nora has on her off but she is much too weak and fatigued to even budge her grip, seeing that it is pointless she calls out to me.

"Don't you dare lose!" She shouts to me as she is pulled back to the small huddle of people around Raven. " _I can't lose anyone else… especially you."_

Ren is the only one left by my side, albeit a good distance from me, I turn my head to look at him from the corner of my eye, and we give each other a nod before Ren takes off to join the group. All the can do is watch and hope that I can win. Jaune tries his best to heal Raven, but it is like her aura is refusing to accept his help, on top of that he has to give aura to Ruby so that she can recover enough to be able to use her aura to heal herself and recover her stamina. Yang clenches her fists, wanting to help me but knows after her personal experience against Hell, that she doesn't stand a chance against him, Raven is out of commission, and Rhea is nowhere to be seen, even though she doubts that the young girl could even stand up to the monster in front of me. Ren and Nora are feeling the same way, and Ruby is too distraught to think straight.

"Shall we begin?"

"Shut up."

" _ **K**_ _a_ _ **i**_ _o_ _ **k**_ _e_ _ **n!"**_ We shout at the same time, powering up and preparing ourselves for battle.

* * *

 **AN- Oh god, I spent so much time on this today. So yeah… things happened. I don't want to spoil anything so all I am going to say about next chapter is that it is going to be the most EPIC fight I have ever written. I have been waiting for this for so long!**

 **But alas, life is crashing in hard. I regret to inform you guys that I am going to be busy as SHIT, for the next two weeks. I am going to be working every single day for the next 6 days after Friday, so there goes all my writing time except for a handful of hours I might be able to squeeze in, and then I am going on a vacation, and no promises but I might be able to write out the next chapter of this story. Like I said though, no promises. Next chapter will be primarily Hector vs Hell part one, but before that Winter will be confronting her father.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think! I am open to anything!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	32. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 31

**AN- Whew, finally got some time to write, thank you to my reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Sopher007- Maybe maybe not, you'll just have to wait and see;)**

 **Kagekitsune9001- You don't have to wait any longer! For I have returned!**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Hell even I was worried for Blake, luckily Qrow can turn into his bird form and Mercury had bionic legs. Dramatic things are going to be happening this chapter with those two Schnee's, and I feel like Whitley WOULD do something like that, and Weiss would be pushed over the edge. Jacques is a clever little fucker, but he can't hide forever. To be honest, I catered toward the dragon ball z/super fans and gave Tai his 'Super Saiyan' moment, and had a traditional clash between two very powerful attacks. So yeah, Hell can go Kaioken times Thirty, I wonder how our hero is going to respond to that? o_O. See ya next time. PS. I was wondering how you managed to review twice in one chapter until I realized that you just reviewed the first chapter to give me that second review, can't say I've ever seen that before.**

 **Zeldawolffang- I will, since I have a long way before this chapter is posted, at the time I am writing this that is, it should be high quality. I hope everyone enjoys!**

 **Soda-fiedPsycho- 11/10?! Damn! I must had outdone myself. I can't say that Hell will die like that though, or even if he dies at all ;). We'll just have to wait and see!**

 **Now that I am back and ready to type, I need your guys help. I feel like the title of this story needs to be changed, like I said multiple times I wasn't that serious when I first started this story, and while I can think of one myself, I thought it would be fun to consider your guy's opinions, so please if you have any ideas share it with me!**

 **Now to the chapter you've all been waiting for!**

* * *

Chapter 31- Hope (Battle of Haven Part 4)

 **Mercury**

After Mercury pickedup Tau he has been rushing through Atlas, being careful not to run into any Grimm. As he runs he sees the chaos that has been caused, bodies littering the streets, both civilian and military. The same scenery he witnessed at the Fall of Beacon, though at the time he wasn't that affected by it, now he realizes just how evil he used to be, every corpses he sees just makes it worse for him. But he can't afford to slow down now, he has two injured people on his shoulders and he needs to get them to a medic of any kind, but after that he doesn't know what to do.

"Where the Hell are the soldiers? They have to have some sort of perimeter set up by now." Mercury mutters to himself, but then he rounds the corner of one of the buildings, and sees almost the entire city block completely scorched, not even a body to be scene. He whistles to himself with an almost impressed tune.

"Damn, I hope I am not still wanted around here." Mercury says to himself as he walks down the block, toward the gunshots he hears in the distance.

"You really think they're going to just let you in?" An all too familiar voice asks Mercury from behind him.

Mercury recognizes that voice right away and spins around, staring daggers at the white haired man that he shares blood with. "Marcus…"

"C'mon Merky, for once I am not here to kill you... or hurt you... or anything that might cause pain." Marcus says with a smile on his face as he zips up his jacket. "Pretty cold around here, how are you holding up?"

"..." Mercury remains silent as he keeps staring daggers at the man, he knows that with the two people on death's door he has to keep safe would be targeted right away if he even thinks about fighting. Combine that with the fact that his father is far above him in terms of skill and strength, he doesn't stand a chance right now.

"Silent treatment? Really?"

"What do you want?" Mercury asks, getting ready to go into full sprint in the opposite direction.

"I feel playing an 'Anti Hero' sort of role, so I am going to teach you a little trick." Marcus says as he lets the left part of his body fade into smoke. "You don't know how to do this right?"

"Why would you even think about teaching me that? Or even coming to talk to me after everything you've done?!" Mercury shouts at him, getting increasingly frustrated just by the nonchalant tone of his crazed father.

"Trust me, that part of me that wants to kill you is still there, but the other part of me that is actually sane is also still there. You're a smart cookie Im sure you can figure it out." Marcus says as he lets the left part of his body regain it's physical form.

"... I don't believe you."

"I don't expect you to but you really don't have a choice in the matter now do you?" Marcus says in a much more of a deadly serious tone of voice. "Besides at the pace you're going now at least one of them is going to die."

"If you fuck off I might be able to save them both."

"Now is that any way to treat a father just trying to help his son?"

"If the father didn't kill the sons mother then maybe."

"You're still going on about that? C'mon kid you already got me back for that."

Mercury just takes a cautious step back, he is wasting too much time as it is, and Tai has started bleeding again, despite the aura he has left and the aura Qrow gave to him. Blake is faring much better, but her wound is still healing and bloody to the touch. Mercury's clothes are soaking in all the blood from both of them, making himself look injured, every second he wastes being stuck with Marcus is a second closer to one of their bodies giving out.

"Look, I can tell you're in a rush, so I'll just leave you with this." Marcus says as he starts to fade away in a cloud of smoke. "Let your body become one with your semblance, and you'll be able to travel as a cloud of smoke, along with anyone you have with you. Treasure this moment Merk, because this is the last lesson I am teaching you. Next time I see ya I am probably not going to be able to control myself, so good luck." Marcus says with the first comforting smile Mercury has ever witnessed from him, then with a two finger salute, Marcus flies off in a cloud of smoke.

Mercury has conflicting feelings about this chain of events, he knew his father was crazy, but not THIS crazy. Although in truth he wanted to train himself how to achieve that state, he never thought it'd be Marcus of all people to give him a few pointers about it. But now isn't the time to be thinking about that.

Mercury, focuses as hard as he can with his smoke semblance. First it naturally starts with his feet, and he almost falls over after seeing that his legs weren't where they are supposed to be, slight PTSD takes over as he remembers fighting his father to not take his human legs away, only to fail. After a few attempts he manages to get at least part of his body to turn into smoke, turning his arms into smoke and using the two smoke clouds to carry the weight of Blake and Tai. Now that he still has his legs and doesn't have extra weight on him anymore, he can break into a full sprint, with the smoke clouds trailing behind him with the two people he has been entrusted with saving.

He makes it to the perimeter within just two minutes, and right away is already dodging bullets and Grimm alike. "HEY! IM HUMAN!" He shouts to the Atlas soldiers as he kicks away one of the drooling hybrids.

Upon hearing him they stop shooting around him, and create an opening for him to run through. And he does just that, running right past the soldiers with Blake and Tai not far from him. At first the soldiers are shocked to seem him without arms, and even more shocked when they see two smoke clouds fly in behind him with two injured people, one Faunus with black cat ears, and when blonde huntsman with a big gash in his chest in the shape of a fist. Mercury gently places them on the ground and the smoke attaches itself back to his arms and regain its physical form. Mercury looks around to the idle soldiers looking at him like he is supposed to be dead.

"These two need immediate medical attention! Stop standing there and help them!" Mercury shouts to them, snapping them out of their daydreaming.

After his promise is fulfilled, Blake and Tai are taken to a part of the Atlas academy where they have better medical equipment, Mercury takes a seat on one of the stairs, taking a deep breath for the first time in a long time. In the distance he can see the sun rising back up, meaning that this battle has been going on for at least one day already. But he can relax for too long. For Ironwood has just returned from another one of his rescue missions and immediately notices the gray haired young man, they lock eyes and already Mercury is feeling nervous. The last time he locked eyes with the general is when he escaped the Fall of Beacon with his allies, he even wore a cocky smile on his face. Ironwood narrows his eyes at Mercury and walks up to him, ignoring the calls of his fellow soldiers.

' _Ah Shit.'_ Mercury thinks to himself as he is approached by the general

"Mercury Black, you are under arrest for murder, attempted murder, assassination, identity fraud, and many other crimes you have committed against the people of Remnant." Ironwood lists as he grabs Mercury by the collar of his shirt.

"I surrender." Mercury doesn't bother to fight back, and raises his hands to behind his head. With all the guns pointed at him and him being low on aura and stamina, plus the general being there, he wouldn't stand much of a chance.

"This will take place after Atlas defends itself, you will assist us and I _might_ not give you the death penalty." Ironwood states as he lets go of Mercury. "If he so much as touches any of you, kill him without a second thought, this is an order." He announces to the rest of the soldiers around them.

"You're lucky I don't execute you where you stand Mercury Black, but since Atlas is in a state of mass panic and invasion, we need all the help we can get. Stay here and help defend the school. I am only doing this because you saved two people that are personally close to me, your _one_ redeeming quality as of this moment."

"Save the threats old man, I get it. I already surrendered, I'll stay here and help defend and if it means anything I promise that I won't hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it." Mercury responds.

"Very well. My order stands." Ironwood doesn't take another look back at the young Black, and gathers any present huntsman to go with him the save more lives.

Mercury exhales a breath he didn't know he was holding, and raises a hand to his chest, feeling his heart beating right through it. "Well that was intense, thought I was going to die right there" He mutters to himself as he slowly walks toward the barricade, preparing to provide support by shooting his smoke projectiles.

* * *

 **Rhea**

"Ugh, why do I feel like I've been sleeping for weeks." Rhea mutters as she pushes herself up on her elbows. She realizes where she is and stands back up quickly, a little too fast however and her vision gets blurry, and the results of overexertion taking hold as soon as she stands back up. "Gah." She groans as she falls back down to one knee, her entire body sore and hot to the touch. For whatever reason, she is alone in this room, all the other cots that were set up are empty.

"Now I remember… RJ… the Grimm… I have to go back out there and help!"

"No you don't" A woman's voice calls out from behind her.

Rhea turns around cautiously to entertain the unfamiliar voice, though she can't see the woman's face, or even most of her body for the most part, all she can see is the black boots that are still wet from melted snow and her gloved hands, and the rest of her body is covered by a thick hooded aged white cloak, and lastly she wears square shaped snow goggles around her head to cover her eyes, and her mouth and nose are covered by a black mask of sort. In one of her hands is a long white paintbrush with glowing hairs on the tip. She can feel something resonating from the object, something… magical.

"What is that?" Rhea asks, her gaze fixated on the object in the unknown woman's hands.

"You are the new Fall Maiden correct? Meaning that the previous one has been slain, saves me the trouble of having to do it myself." The woman says, ignoring the young Maidens question.

This catches Rhea off guard, the only ones who knew of her Maiden status was Hector, Raven, and the group of people she was in with in the Bullhead on the way here. No one else in the world besides the evil people she was warned about should know about her, and if that's the case then… Rhea lets her eyes flame and she makes two white fireballs in her hands, prepared to fight if she has to, but right now she is just doing this to look as intimidating as possible.

The woman responds by raising her right hand and pointing it toward Rhea, a pale blue flame appears in her hand, and the temperature of the room drastically cools down to the point where Rhea can't even keep her flames alive anymore, even her eye flames get smaller, she desperately tries to keep her flames burning but ends up having to hug herself just to keep warm, she has never felt so cold in her life ever since she has gained the power of the Fall Maiden. The room they are in even starts to form ice on its walls, floor, and ceiling. What confuses her is that the flame in the woman's hands is blue, which in her mind should mean that it is even hotter then regular red or white flames.

"H-how are you d-doing this?" Rhea stutters as she shivers, trying to keep herself warm.

"Your flames burn, my flame freezes. You could call it a 'Frozen Flame' if you wish. As for the item you referred to in my hand, this is the Relic of Creation, and I intend to take it with me and put it in a place where not even Salem would think about searching." The older Maiden explains, flaunting the Relic by twirling it around in her fingers.

"A-are y-you r-responsible for this?" Rhea asks, trying her best to flame on but the room drops below negative one hundred degrees, she can't even curl her fingers without feeling pain, it is so cold now that it burns.

"No." The Winter Maiden answers simply. "I do not intend to reveal myself just yet, especially since that man who defended Haven is here, I doubt he'd just let me walk away with this anyway." She says as she finally ceases her freezing assault on the inexperienced Fall Maiden. Allowing her to heat herself up with her own hot flames.

"Before I go however, I would not mind to negotiate with the owner of the Relic of Knowledge. But only if he comes alone to find me."

"...Why alone?" Rhea asks as she still shivers, but managing to warm herself up with her flames. "And why come to me about this?"

"To answer your first question, there are some people I… would rather avoid for now. Now for your second question, you are the Fall Maiden, and just from sensing your aura I can tell that he was the one that unlocked it, and from that I can see his true intentions, he wants to stop Salem just as much as I do, so I am willing to give him a chance. But before I let him find me, I want him to own a second relic. Specifically the Relic of Destruction, just because it may give him the answers he needs about his true origins. That new magic that I have been sensing from him has been growing stronger and stronger with every passing second with no signs of stopping. That also intrigues me." The woman explains before she begins to chuckle. "Apologies, I rambled on for a bit didn't I? It was nice meeting you Rhea Anani, I have a feeling that we will meet again." The woman turns to walk away, and gets a few feet away before a fireball whirls past her and hits the door in front of her, she turns her head around and sees Rhea, now literally burning with determination, standing there with flaming hands and eyes.

"I can't just let you go! We'll just be wasting time looking for you if I let you go now." Rhea says as she gets ready for the fight of her life.

"I did not come here to make enemies. Nor did I come here to battle with such an inexperienced Maiden who knocked herself out with her own power, you know all I have to do is summon that flame around you and all those flames will burn out right?" The older Maiden points out. She turns back around and steps right into the flames, the flames move away from her as she takes her step, shocking Rhea as she does so. "Tell him to use the Relic he owns, that is the only way for him to find me." That is the last thing she says as she leaves the room. But before she can get out of earshot she can hear her mumble " _Ugh! Why won't this damn thing won't make me it's owner?!"_ Rhea chases after her but when she rounds the corner the Winter Maiden is nowhere to be seen.

Defeated and ashamed of herself, Rhea drops to her knees and hangs her head. "I got defeated so easily… and I just let her get away with one of the most powerful weapons in the world… RJ is going to be so pissed." Rhea says to herself as she holds herself to fully warm herself back up. After about a minute of doing so she realizes that there is no one around, if she was hurt or unconscious there should be at least _some_ people around right?

"Oh my god…" She realizes where the other people are when she looks to her right, she sees the entire hall frozen, and people stuck to the floor and walls alike, covered from head to toe in ice, leaving only their noses exposed, but the ice is clear enough to see their fearful expressions, and the way their eyes move around, attempting to find the cause of their frozen state. Rhea hurries her way toward them and right away gets started on melting the ice with her hands. She heats up her hands as much as she can, they glow an orange so bright that they look white. She makes quick work of the closest victim which happens to be a soldier and thaws them out. He begins coughing up water and shivers despite the hot hands of Rhea trying to warm him up.

"What happened?" Rhea asks, gaining the full attention of the soldier

"That woman that you tried to chase after… she was the one who did this… I've never seen a semblance so powerful… her flames were… so cold." The man passes out before he can continue.

"She didn't kill any of them…" Rhea realizes, looking at all of the other soldiers, and civilians alike that are frozen and looking at her, begging for her help just by the look in their eyes. "I'll get you all out! I promise!"

And so Rhea went on with her promise, thawing out whoever she can. But her mind can't steer away from what she had just been through,

" _She must have been the Winter Maiden, but who is she? How does she expect RJ to find her if she can hide so well that not even this Salem lady can get to her? AND she has a Relic! What was that when she said that it wouldn't select her as it's owner? Aaaahhh what have I gotten myself tied up in? I'll think about all this stuff later, I guess now is as good a time as any to practice healing..."_

* * *

 **Winter**

Winter has found the bedroom of her father, after traveling throughout the house for a few more minutes and slaying every Grimm hybrid on this floor. She spied on her father while she was pretending to be loyal to him, and when he wasn't in there she went into his room to check for anything suspicious. At first glance it looks like a normal bedroom for an arrogant rich man. But there are a few key items in the room that seem out of place, such as a chessboard, that has had the same pieces in the same squares for as long as she has been there, most likely longer. In this future, you can play chess with someone across the world, and the squares will light up where your opponent wants a certain piece to go or to takes your piece and vise versa.

Winter walks over to the chessboard, and tries to knock over the black king, she does and it doesn't fall over, almost as if it has more weight to it or it is bolted to the board itself. She does the same for the white king and it falls over easily. She arches her eyebrow and picks back up the white king and places it back in its current spot. After taking another look at the chessboard, she can see that the black queen is in position to take down the white king. She figures it wouldn't take much time to test her theory out, and moves the black queen to take the white king, knocking the king down and in its place the black queen. Just as she lets go of the piece the white square it is on blinks twice, and it presses down like a button.

"Hmm." Winter hums to herself as she completes the first step.

Something in the room makes a sound, but nothing in the room moves, letting her know that she is not done yet. She gets back up from her kneeling position and walks over to the bookshelf, a new suspicion fresh in her mind. She sheathes her sword and places a hand on her chin as she looks for a certain fairytale book. It could be any of these hundreds of books that she is certain her father hasn't touched in years besides placing them there in the first place, but then again she doubts that her father would use up his precious time to place them there himself. After looking for a short time she finds the book she is looking for on the top shelf,

"The Story Of The Four Maidens…" She reads the title out to herself as she studies the cover and the summary of the story. "Now why would my father have a children's book in his own room?" She wonders to herself as she opens up the book and begins to read the story.

"So in the end there are four seasonal Maidens, Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Each with their own set of skills and abilities. Hmm." She ponders to herself the possibility of the mentioning of the Winter Maiden having to do with this next step. She leaves the page open on the Winter Maidens description and bio, folds the book, and replaces the book in its original spot and… nothing happens.

"Tch."

She removes the book from its spot once again, and fixes the book, but something catches her eye when she looks back into the now empty hole on the shelf, she sees a symbol of some kind in the shape of her glyph, the wood around the symbol appears to be fresh, so she assumes that is the case because of the first step she completed. In the middle of the symbol is a small blue button. She reaches in to the point where her shoulder is now next to the other books, and is just barely able to push the button with the tip of her finger. As soon as the button is pushed, the wood closes back up around it in a snap. She quickly takes her hand back just in case something was about to trap her arm, and she drops back down to the ground. Once she hits the ground, something on the ceiling opens up, one of the large rectangular tile opens up and a long ladder lowers itself quietly down to the floor. Winter sigh's to herself as she completes the rather trivial trial.

She carefully grabs onto the ladder and climbs as quietly as she can, just in case there are any defences in place or if her father is waiting at the top ready to attack anyone who gets up there with any gear he may have up there with him. But when she gets up there that's not even close to what she had expected. In this secret attic above her fathers bedroom is variety of computers and tech, and right away she spots her father sitting in one of the chairs, facing her. He props his head up on his hand and his suit is all messed up and wrinkled, tie untied and discarded on the ground beside him, his eyes are bloodshot and he is sweating through his suit. He locks eyes with his daughter with a blank stare.

"Daughter." He weakly greets.

"Father, why did you do this? What can you possibly have to gain from all this chaos and blood?!" Winter shouts at her father, pressing the tip of her blade right up to his neck.

"Is it a crime to protect your family?"

"Don't you DARE talk about caring about your family!" Winter yells, getting more and more agitated with the mere presence of her father, and now that she doesn't have to hide it anymore. She can finally let it all out.

"I suppose there is no hiding it anymore, you would be right to say that I did not love either you or Weiss for a long time. But believe it or not there was a time where I did, but when you abandoned your family to chase your childish dream of being a huntress, I practically disowned you, and then your younger sister chased the same dream, and I didn't want to let her go down the same sad path as you are. Let's be honest Winter, you are a slave to Atlas, to do their whatever bidding they are too weak to do themselves-"

"Silence! You know nothing about how I feel so don't you fare even attempt to talk to me like you understand me!" Winter cuts him off, before cooling herself down and returning to her huntress persona her father hates so much.

"Apologies, you would be correct… the reason I let them in, using the virus that this Grimm looking fellow installed into all of Atlas' security system, gave me an ultimatum. Listen to everything he says and do as he says, or he would murder everyone in the building, including Whitley and my estranged wife. So I sacrificed lives but… I didn't think it would be this many. How dumb of me to believe that my household wouldn't be attacked anyway." Jacques weakly explains his motives, rubbing his face as he thinks about what he had done for the sake of his son. Winter remains stone faced, thinking on what he had just said. But she has her duty.

"How could you think that 'This many lives' would not be lost? You opened _all_ the gates for the Grimm to invade, new kinds of Grimm that not even the most experienced Huntsman have ever seen before. It's terrifying out there, it took a lot of willpower to tell myself that the cause of this needs to be reversed. Tell me how to close the gates, I will be here to defend anyone else alive after your actions. Now tell me how to shut the gates."

"..."

"Father, for once in your life do something for someone other than yourself. You feel bad about all the lives that have been lost today? Make it up to them."

"... there is no way to shut the gates, the virus was designed to corrupt and destroy the security systems around every gate. The only way to close them would be to repair the gates physically." Jacques reveals.

Winter was afraid that might be the case. After she is done here it will be time to consider a full scale evacuation to the sea, where the Atlas Navy will be waiting to take them to the closest allied kingdom. She will find the general after she fulfills her duty here.

"For the crimes you have committed against the people Atlas and Remnant alike, and for the war crime of letting Grimm into the city for selfish gain. The punishment for all these crimes is death, and as my duty as a huntress I will carry out your sentence myself." Winter says, getting into her usual fighting stance, only with her blade still just an inch away from her father's neck. "Before I carry out this sentence would you like to you have any last words?"

"... Your mother is still alive, I made sure she had a strong door before I did this. Save her."

"Noted. Weiss should be there right about now anyway"

The only good thing her father has done was reassure her that her mother was safe. After a tense couple of moments of father and daughter staring into each other's eyes.

 _ **SHINK**_

The deed is done

* * *

 **Weiss**

After clearing the rest of the floors of Grimm with her summons, and directing all of the survivors she has found so far to the panic room, Weiss can finally focus on finding her mother. But after going through each room and not seeing any sign of Klein she has become increasingly worried about one of her favorite butlers, he has been more of a father to her then her actual father, and helped her in her time of need more than once. She has to return the favor, and save as many lives as she can.

She knows this building like it is the back of her hand, and quickly finds her mother's bedroom, the room reeks of alcohol even now, but she'd rather smell alcohol then the stench of death and blood. She carefully approaches the strong door, and attempts to open it, but can't because it is locked. After jiggling the doorknob she hears something shift from inside the room, almost as if someone has just fallen off of a chair. She raises her fist and knocks on the door three times, each knock getting increasingly stronger with each hit.

"It's Weiss mother!" She raises her voice so that it can get through the door. "Open the door I have come back to get you out of here!"

"Weiss?" A familiar man's voice asks from behind the door. A quick couple of footsteps are heard the man runs up to the door and unlocks it. "Weiss it is you!" The mustached man exclaims, pulling her into a hug.

"Klein! Thank goodness you are okay. Is my mother okay?" Weiss asks as she gently pushes her butler away.

" ***Sigh*** As okay as she is gonna be." Klein answers, shifting his body so that he can reveal her mother, sitting in a chair facing the fireplace ahead of them. "I came here right away to do what I can to defend her, but she has been unresponsive ever since."

"Mother…" Weiss feels bad that she barely recognizes her own mother. Her long snow white hair is unkempt and everywhere. An empty bottle of wine beside her chair and a glass of it on the small table beside her. She orders her summoned Beowolf to stop any possible remaining Grimm from getting into the room. She walks up to her mother slowly, and kneels down in front of her. She looks like an older Winter, but with more wrinkles in her eyes and overall looking much older. She looks down to her daughter and softly smiles ever so slightly, before returning her gaze back toward the flames and regaining her blank stare. Her icy blue eyes look cloudy now, much different than how she looks in the family picture in one of the halls.

"Mother something terrible is happening right now, I need you to come with me to the panic room." Weiss tries to get through to her again.

"I know Weiss, I am aware of what is happening, I am just waiting for one of them to get in here." Weiss' mother responds, speaking for the first time in ages. She only speaks to one of her children, never to the caretakers or her own husband who comes in here from time to time out of curiosity or to fulfill his… needs with her. Her breath also reeks of alcohol. Weiss can barely believe her mother hasn't drank herself to death already.

"How can you say that?!" Weiss asks out of shock. She knew her mother was mentally ill after what happened on her tenth birthday but she didn't know it progresses this much. She feels terrible for not being able to see her more often and feels partly responsible for her mother's current state of depression.

"Weiss, my darling. I am tired of this all. What I have been doing to myself, the mistake I made all those years ago when I accepted your father into my life, and the way I am now. Atlas is going to fall, and I should to."

"No, you don't! Mother I am sorry that I haven't been here for you but I am here now. Let me save you, please… besides Winter you're the only true family I have left."

Klein hangs his head as he hears these words and feels Weiss' heart become more and more broken. In truth he had tried his best to keep Willow Schnee happy, but alas it just wasn't enough.

"What about Whitley? Despite his imperfections he is still your brother, he has been corrupted by his father, see to it that he does not end up like him please. He used to be so… innocent not too long ago." Willow says with a small but sad smile.

Weiss adamantly stares back into her mother's eyes, despite her mother still looking into the flames. "I will honor your wish, and help him the best I can. But I will **not** be leaving you behind. Even if I have to drag you out of here then I will."

"Hm, I guess it can't be helped." Willow surrenders as she grabs the cane beside her chair, and with the assistance of her daughter shakedly stands up. "I am not much use in battle as I used to be, but I might still have some control over my semblance."

Weiss doesn't mention the complete one-eighty her mother has just made, and just takes advantage of her mother coming around willingly rather then unwillingly. "I have a summon to protect us, don't worry. Klein, come with us please."

"Of course Miss Schnee."

"Be careful Weiss, I feel something big coming this way." That is the last thing her mother says as she is lead through the house, not responding to any of Weiss' following questions or the sounds of Grimm being slain by Weiss and her summons.

" _What could she mean?"_ Weiss thinks to herself as she gets an opening to think in her mother's words. " _Could she mean… No it can't be."_

* * *

 **Hector versus Hell, Part 1**

We clash in a blink of an eye, cracking the ground around us and forcing snow away. Our different color of red auras merging together as we push against each other. Hell has a wicked grin on his face, while I have a look of determination and pure hate toward this copy of me after what he did to my friends.

"Yes! I can feel your hate, it only makes me stronger! HAAA!" Hell screams as he pushes me back, my arm gets knocked out of the way, and I get kicked in the stomach. My aura saves me from any pain and I grab onto his leg with on right hand. Hells eyes widen as I lift him off the ground and slam him face first on the ground behind me, then I lift him back up and slam him on his back where he once was, then I swing him around in a circle and throw him away from the group, just in case he decides to switch targets, then I dash right after him.

Hell digs his hands into the ground and pushes down, flipping himself back onto his feet and skidding to a stop before countering me as I come in with a right hook, he grabs onto my arm and flips me, positioning himself to lock my arm between his leg and hip as he proceeds to beat me down with a maniacal laughter. "Oh you have no idea how long I have been waiting to do this!" He shouts between laughs.

I grit my teeth as I catch his last punch, and power up further to force my arm out of the lock he has it in. "Times TEN!" I shout as I flex my arm and yank it out of his grip. I spin on my back and slam my foot into his side, kicking him away from me and into the ground, making a human sized large crater in the ground.

" **Times TEN!** " Hell yells as he jumps out of the dust cloud that was created. I lunge at him at we clash fists, creating a medium forced shockwave that just pushes and burns away the snow around us. As we push against each other we grit our teeth, Hell decides this is a good time to taunt me.

"I was literally created to surpass and defeat you and the Maidens! I have all your abilities, and I know your fighting style you can't win this fight surely you know this already?"

"Oh yeah? Then why am I kicking your ass so far!" I shout as I push Hell off balance, pushing myself in my times ten state. Hell catches himself with his other foot and grabs my face with his free hand, pushing me back and slamming me into the ground, dragging me through the ground and throwing me back into the direction of the small group.

"Hector! Are you alright?" Ren asks, resisting the urge to run over to me and help me up.

"Im fine stay away!" I bark at him, stopping him before he even takes a step.

Just as I finish speaking Hell lunges right back at me, I barely block the punch in time with my arms in an X formation. We jump away from each other afterwards, I jump a little too close to the group then intended but I stand my ground.

"Why don't we kick it up a notch? This warm up is barely making me feel anything. C'mon I dare you to make me bring out more power then I did against Taiyang." I flinch at the mention of Tai, did he really kill him?

"Hector you better rip his face off." I hear Yang say through gritted teeth behind me.

"... Knolly what really happened?" I whisper to myself so quietly that I can barely hear myself.

In a small blue flash in my eye, I can see Tai bandaged up, and being heal by none other then Rhea, and beside him is Blake, being taken cared of by a normal Medic. I chuckle out loud and smile. Relieved with the fact that Tai, Blake, and Rhea are all okay.

"Apparently you don't hit hard enough because Tai is still alive." I say in a taunting tone, before putting a thumbs up with one of my hands, directing it toward the group of friends behind me.

Hell widens his eyes at the news, but narrows them down as quickly as it came. "I suppose that damned Relic of Knowledge has its perks. Too bad you can't even use five percent of its true power. In truth I wasn't really sure if he was dead or not, I was in a bit of a rush so I suppose that is my fault, but I doubt he'd ever be able to fight again."

Ignoring the last part of his sentence, Yang and Ruby both hug each other, relieved that their father is okay, then look back in my direction. I can't take a chance to glance back in their direction, since Hell is fast enough to catch me off guard even if I let it down for a second. But the thumbs up I give the whole group is enough as a response.

"Jaune, how are the girls doing?" I ask, trying to lower my voice enough so that Hell can't hear me, but of course he catches on anyway.

"Ruby is fine but… Raven is barely hanging on. It's like something inside her is pushing my aura back to me, but the tiny scraps that get through are enough to keep her with us for now." Jaune explains the situation to me.

"Keep it up."

"Okay I've given you enough of a breather. If you won't come to me then I'll come for you!" Hell shouts as he kicks off the ground and toward me at speeds I wasn't prepared for. He kicks me right over my friends and plows right through them himself. Luckily he didn't hit Jaune so he is able to keep his focus on Raven. He is mentally cursing himself for not being to amplify my aura, he just doesn't enough range and with the speed we're fighting at he just can't get a lock on me.

"Ruby are you okay?!" Yang asks as she rushes to her side, helping her back up from the ground.

"Yeah Im fine, but for some reason I can't use my eyes to help him." Ruby says as she gets helped up. While Ruby's aura is restored and her stamina is being recovered. She still can't muster up the power to use her eyes. Going off of the information about the silver eyes Mercury gave her, she assumes that her aura and the 'Silver magic' within her are two separate sources of power, and Jaune can only restore the aura part. She assumes that she needs to naturally recover in that department in order to use them again, but for how long she doesn't know. But she promises me and herself that as soon as she feels her power come back to life she is charging right into the battle to help me however she can.

Back to the fight, Hell has silently raised his power, and is gradually raising it higher, before I know it Hell is fighting at times fifteen while I am still at ten, and I am losing badly now. His power and speed vastly surpasses mine, I try to power up higher but every time I get started I get attacked right away. So I am stuck at times ten for now, but as soon as I get an opening I plan to go all out at times twenty, and fight through the pain that I still feel at that level for an all out attack I made up with Ozpin throughout my mental training.

"What's wrong? Can't keep up? Need a break?" Hell taunts as he breaks my guard once again and takes a decent chunk out of my aura with a vicious knee to my stomach, if it wasn't for Ozpin feeding me aura I would have lost it already. Also throughout the fight I noticed something, Hell has an aura, a pitch black one. So before I can land a fatal blow I need to deplete it. A lot easier said than done.

Hell punches me in the stomach, kicks me in the side of me knee to get my down, and then knees me again in the face. But instead of falling back and getting knocked out I use his own momentum against him and use one of my feet to kick him right in the chin, and up into the air, giving myself the opportunity I needed.

"KAIOKEN TIMES TWENTY!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Unlike the first time I used this level of power, my body doesn't literally get ripped to shred, I managed to get my body durable and tough enough to withstand this power to the point where I don't bleed from almost every opening of my body anymore. Instead my muscles take the full brunt of the force, tensing up yet relaxed at the same time so I can move them for battle, my shorter hair still whips around with the wind waves produced from powering up this far, but not enough to get in the way of anything. Like before, it also turns into a slight darker shade of red at the tips of the hairs, similar to Ruby's hair. Luckily my super heat resistant clothing is hanging on to.

"Yes! Keep raising your power! It'll make it that much more satisfying when I defeat you **. KAIOKEN TIMES TWENTY!** " Hell screams along with me just as he lands on the ground, only his voice seems more monstrous as his power rises. Again our auras merge, only much more massive, with one side being a blacker shade of red while the other being a whiter shade. Hell's eyes glow along with his aura, but his already pitch black hair only gets darker unlike my own. His darker version of this magical ability making its differences clear.

"They went times twenty already? We should move, at that level their battle will be dangerous to even be near." Ren suggests.

"I can't let go of my focus on Raven though. I'm afraid if I stop then she won't make it long without-"

"You… Blonde kid, I'll be fine." Raven cuts him off, barely cracking her eyes open and sees a blurry version of Jaune.

"Mom…" Yang mutters as she kneels down to her side.

"Help me up." Raven demands, though rather tiredly. Yang doesn't hesitate to pull her up from her arm, then getting underneath it to help her up. Jaune keeps the aura amplification on anyway as he stands up with them. But he can't multitask like this for long. This technique he learned through our training only gets him to be able to use this for maybe a few seconds at a time, and he needs to handle it for more than a few seconds in order to get to a good distance away from the fight.

"Urgh, I can't keep this up for long we have to stop." Jaune says, he is sweating buckets despite the freezing air that surrounds them. They didn't get far… they basically went from front row seats to fifth row seats to the fight, and it could still very easily

"No, keep going." Raven orders, trying to lift her head but being too weak to even do that.

"Mom we can't. If we do Jaune won't be able to keep you alive until we can find a way to make you better!" Yang pleads as she begins to gently set her back down to the ground.

"Yang…" Ruby calls to her gently.

Yang looks to her younger sister to not see her looking at her, but instead looking at Raven, she follows her gaze and sees a blood trickling out of the corner of Ravens mouth, despite the aura amplification being done to her. Ruby doesn't want to say it or even accept it herself but… Raven isn't going to last much longer, even with Jaune healing her.

"No…" Yangs eyes begin to shiver as she realizes the harsh truth, and doesn't even try to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes already.

"What's wrong?" Nora asks, still oblivious to the Maidens curse.

Raven cracks her eye open, and tilts her neck to look at the rest of the group, there's no point in hiding this anymore, not when it has progressed this far. "All Maidens die… when they reach a certain age… Im at that age." Raven reveals to them, shocking everyone besides Yang who already knew but kept denying it up until now, she just hangs her head, her hair covering her eyes and finally accepts it.

"Now's not the time to be mourning me… Hector… he won't be able to win with just that level of power, I sensed something from that copy of him… he is hiding something." Raven begins coughing after saying that, and Jaune struggles to even keep himself conscious as he gives Raven every drop of aura he can muster up. To his calculations he can probably last a couple more minutes.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asks after a moment.

"I… sensed him go beyond times twenty earlier… I-" Raven cuts herself off, and coughs up more blood. Her strength is dwindling.

"Don't speak anymore please, we'll figure this out." Ren says, using a handkerchief to wipe the blood off of her face and neck.

Raven turns her head to look at Yang, who is still looking at the ground, tears falling from her face, and reaches out to her with her hand. Yang raises her head and looks at her hand, before gently grasping it with her own. Holding her mother's hand for the first time.

Back to the fight, right after Hell and I power up we disappear from everyone's sight, we snap them out of their moment of silence as we appear for a split second to clash and create a massive shockwave, shaking the area around them and cracking the ground beneath us. I haven't fought someone so equal to me in a long time, excluding Tyrian, the last fight where he had an equal opponent was against Raven back at Haven, only for it to be cut short by the magic of the vault. Every attack we throw at each other are nearly identical as well. Something Hell left out was that he adopted my own fighting style and made it his own, with a few adjustments to it to make it different. But at this high of a level he doesn't care if he fights like me, as long as he wins nothing else matters to him. After forty seven identical strikes he finally switches it up. When I kick with my right leg, he dodges to my blind spot where my missing eye is and punches me in the side of the head. I recover from the punch quickly but he takes advantage of vision impairment and hides himself in my blind spot. This time kicking me in the back of the head so hard that I almost swallow dirt and snow when I hit the ground. I spit out what I have in my mouth and charge back at him, this time making my senses stronger, when he tries to take advantage of my impairment a third time, my hairs stand up on the left side of my body, and I instinctively punch in that direction blindly, catching Hell off guard and striking him in the cheek, forcing his eye closed as I push into it. I bring him and my fist down to the ground with a mighty battle cry as I slam him into the ground again, this time the crater being made is much larger and deeper than before. Hell grabs my wrist and forces my fist off of his face.

Throughout the fight he hasn't even begun to get weaker, always keeping that grin on his face, not even panting heavily, and here I am giving it my all and my body is already is burning up. Soon blood begins to trickle out of my nose, signaling me that the pain is only going to get worse as the fight goes on. I fight through the pain however and plunge my knee into his gut, forcing the air out of his lungs and making his aura strain to keep his body protected. Hell raises his hands to his face, thinking that I was going to begin pummeling him, but I redirect my punch midway and hit him right in the sternum. I even hear a crack when it hits him, that's when I realize something,

" _His aura can't protect him if it is already protecting him in another area!"_

But despite the reveal and the pain I think Hell is feeling, I get caught off guard when he returns the punch into my chin, uppercutting me off of him. I stumble on my feet but recover before I can fall, and block the next punch that comes my way with both hands. "How are you not getting tired?!" I ask him through gritted teeth.

"It's like I said Hector." Hell says as he brings back his fist and kicks me down despite me blocking the kick. "I am superior to you in every way." He says as he axe kicks at me, but I roll out of the way just in time for his foot to only hit the ground. I shakedly get back up, and I begin to bleed more, specifically from my nose and mouth.

"Shut up with that bullshit already." I say as I spit up a blob of blood from my mouth. "Honestly you're such a shitty villain, 'Im superior to you in every way, I know everything about your fighting style,' Hell dude you didn't even try to change the way you look. So stop with the Cliche bullshit lines and fight me until one of us drops dead." I challenge with an annoyed look on my face, bluffing but glad that I touched a nerve.

A visible tick appears on the corner of Hells face, and he narrows his gaze at me, turning it into a death stare. "Cliche huh? You really think I am just a mere copy of you? Just an 'Evil twin' born only to be defeated by the good guys? Face reality Hector, not everything is as cookie cutter as it seems." Hell says as he grows his aura to be even larger than my own. "When I say I am superior to you, I am simply stating a fact." His aura grows even further, and his muscles bulge up more as his power grows beyond mine, shocking me as he goes beyond what I thought was the previous limit.

"I wonder… have you ever considered the possibility of going even further beyond?" Hell takes is slow at first, to make sure I understand what he is doing. I sense his power grow higher and higher, until it stops at a level far above my own. "Behold! **KAIOKEN TIMES THIRTY!** " He yells as his aura overpowers mine, leaving only the black and red aura around us.

Before I can even react he plunges his fist into my gut, shattering whatever aura I had left and blasting me off at speeds I can't control myself in. I flip and roll along the ground until I skid to a stop on my side. I take in a quick breath and try to push myself up but just get kicked in the stomach again, I grind against the ground for several more meters until I hit a tree. I am in pain and ironically the only thing keeping me from breaking all my bones is the Kaioken times twenty I have on myself. I cough up even more blood and bleed even more profusely from my nose. What makes things worse is that I ended up not far from my friends. I widen my eyes and fear fills my mind as worry takes in. The looks on their faces is just pure horror, if I can't beat him… who can?

"AAAGGHH!" I scream in pain as Hell traps my leg underneath his foot, threatening to shatter my knee.

"Hehe, your screams of pain is like music to my ears, I wonder what will happen first. Will you pass out from the pain or will you stay conscious long enough to watch me kill all your precious friends?" He says as he presses down on my knee, I hear a pop and my knee gets dislocated, and my screams of pain only grow even louder as my Kaioken finally gives out, returning me to my base power my body shrinks back down to its normal size and my aura disappears. "As much as I want to kill you now, Salem wants you alive so you get to live for a little while longer, whether you will want to or not."

' _Hector, I know it hurts but you cannot let him get away.'_

" _I fucking know that Ozpin!"_

Hell begins to walk toward my friends, much to my horror. Yang, Ren, Nora, and Ruby all get ready for a last stand. Standing beside each other and getting all of their weapons ready. They tell Jaune to stay focused on Raven. But I know that they won't stand even the slightest of chances, especially without Ruby's silver eyes power.

I try to push myself up on my good leg, but as soon as I put the slightest amount of weight on my bad leg I fall back down. "Damnit!" I say, punching the ground out of frustration.

I look back up and get horrified at the sight. Everyone is already defeated, Ren's blades are destroyed, and he lays on his back unconscious, Nora is not far from him, the staff of her hammer bent and out of her grasp, she lays on her belly in an awkward position, bleeding from her side where she was punched. Yang is on one knee, her bionic arm damaged to the point where she can't use it. Her flames flicker out and she falls to both knees, unable to fight any longer. Jaune can only watch in terror as is friends was picked off one after another, and Raven strains herself trying to get up, her Maiden flames barely flaming around her eyes before going out when she falls back on the ground, and lastly I see something worse. Ruby… is lifted off the ground by her neck, trying to pry Hell's fingers off from around her neck. Her eyes are shut closed, and Hell looks at me with a smile on his face.

A blinding white light comes from Ruby's eyes, and Hell is forced to let her down to protect himself from the burning power of the Silver eyed warrior. Ruby stares him down with every ounce of power she can muster up, and uses her speed and newfound strength to roundhouse kick Hell right in the side of the head. But despite being burned and stunned by her power, Hell doesn't even budge from the kick. His clothes got burned away and for the first time in his life he is feeling pain. He drops to one knee not from the physical attacks but from the silver eyed glow. Hell looks at Ruby with the best 'begging for mercy' look he can give. Making himself look like me as much as he can.

Ruby doesn't want to fall for it, because she knows it is a trick. But does hesitate for just a moment, and her eyes flicker as they were just minutes ago, drained of their power. Ruby grabs her head as she gets a head splitting migraine, and falls to her knees, barely able to bear the pain.

Hell takes deep breaths as he stands back up, steaming and very angry with the way he was almost defeated just now. "You little bitch… haha… almost got me there. Salem wants you dead or alive and just between us, I might have taken you alive if you didn't pull that stunt" He says as his aura regains its intensity.

I pop my knee back in with a loud pop, which makes me groan in pain, and I force myself back onto my feet. Angrier than I ever have been before. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" I scream at the top of my lungs, stopping Hell in his tracks right before he can grab Ruby.

"Oh you're still conscious?"

I slowly walk toward him, my head facing down as I fume with unyielding rage. For all I know he might have just killed Ren and Nora, and my aura is returning to me despite my lack of aura to block out the pain for me.

"Come on now this again? I have no more quarrel with you- Eh?" Hell stops in his tracks as he senses something coming from me, something unfamiliar, he never felt something like this before. So much… power.

"You said you were built to defeat me… That you are better than me in every way? Well let me tell you something…" I begin as I raise my head to reveal and ocean blue color, but it isn't coming from Knolly this time. "You were built to defeat me at my best? Then I am just going to have to go beyond that! I'll go so far past my limit that I'll force you to surrender! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I begin to scream louder then I ever have before.

* * *

 **Rhea**

"Wuh?" As she is healing people who need the medical attention, she suddenly senses a spike of power just blowing up somewhere nearby. Nobody else can sense it by the looks of it, but it reeks of magic that she has never felt before.

"Is that… RJ?"

* * *

 **The Summer Maiden**

"Hm?" The Summer Maiden senses something that makes her move away from a piece of meat on a bone that she was enjoying so much by the fire she made. She senses a spike of powerful magic coming from very far away.

"Ooo that feels fun already, hope that comes around one of these days. This place is getting boring." She says as she gets excited.

"Damn it now I have to go kill something to calm my excited nerves."

* * *

 **The Winter Maiden**

"What the?" The Winter Maiden questions, stopping on her path back to her hideout as she feels a spike of magic as well.

"Hm, who else could that be but you… Hector Rivers."

* * *

 **Salem**

" **Guh, what is this?"** Salem asks no one in particular, something catches her attention. Magic that even she didn't know existed just powerful spike up, she looks through the eyes of her servant Hell to see me in the center of it, and she grits her teeth.

" **What is this? It's a mixture of both Light and Dark magic but it is also something else…?"** Salem wonders as she scratches her chin, then smiles.

" **You seems to be getting more and more impressive by the day. I look forward to our future encounters"**

* * *

 **Me**

I scream and growl as my power far exceeds that of my original power from just before, and instead of the usual blood red color my aura takes on, I take on a royal blue colored aura, and the pain just seems to rise along with my power but I am so entranced my rage and adrenaline that I don't even notice it. And finally I scream out the limit breaking power I forced my body through.

"KAIOKEN TIMES SIXTY!" I scream at the top of my lungs. My new **blue** aura covers my whole body, and I get so hot that even my jacket can withstand the heat, but my red undershirt manages to keep it together, I never felt more powerful than I ever have been before. And Hell has never been in so much awe. Instinctively he takes a step back, away from Ruby and the others.

"I wonder Hell…" I say under my breath before I move so fast that he can't keep up with me and grab his throat. He struggles under my grip and gags from the pressure wrapped around his neck that not even his powerful aura can defend him from.

"Can you feel fear?"

* * *

 **AN- WOOOHOO I managed to finish this right before I have no access to my computer at all for an entire week! I loved writing this chapter, I think you all must have loved reading it as well (I hope). I kept the other character arcs shorter because of obvious reasons. Now that I managed to get this out to you guys and leave it off on a kinda cliffhanger, I wonder how you guys will be taking this.**

 **Just… holy shit guys. Times Sixty? I spent an HOUR trying to figure out a good multiplier for Hector to push himself to. I was thinking of putting it up to a hundred, but thought that was a bit TOO much. Tell me what you guys think!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think! I would love to hear all of your thoughts!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	33. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 32

**AN- Soooo… I know how I said two weeks and all. But it turns out I get like a couple of hours a day to write, or play video games, or go on a waterslide or ride a horse, you guys get it. When I am writing these I am tired as fuck, but I love to write so I limit myself to like two thousand words every session and then I sleep. So take what I said the chapter before with a grain of salt. But be happy that I get the chance to write this out for both you guys and myself. The Atlas arc is starting to come to an end, this has been the longest arc so far besides the long ass traveling arc I made.**

 **Also… jesus guys. 170+ followers?! AND 23,700+ views? What the HELL?! If you told me that this story would blow up like this when I first started writing it I would have laughed and not say anything because I would think it would be some sort of sarcastic joke.**

 **But seriously, every single one of you, rather a guest or not.**

 **Thank you from the bottom of my heart…**

 **Not since that is out of the way, let's get to the REVIEWS!**

 **Sly Marbo- Same, the whole chapter.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Im glad you enjoyed last chapter :). I have an idea for when it gets to that point of the story finale, so look forward to it, it is going to be something I bet you wouldn't think about. I look forward to your next review.**

 **Soda-fieldPsycho- Soon my friend, soon… Thanks for the review and i am glad you enjoy the story!**

 **Sopher007- No problem man, I know you and many others are dragon ball fans. While Hector is a human, that is the closest to a super saiyan he can get. So there ya go. Thank YOU for reading and enjoying the story for so long.**

 **ChaosDeathscytheEnd- There will be a new name for the Kaioken when it goes into its blue state, read the chapter and you'll see what it is. The rest was covered in the PM response. Thank you for the review and I hope to see you after this one.**

 **Kage-kitsune9001- I'll consider an idea like that, thank you for enjoying the story and I hope to see you in the next one!**

 **Astra- Haven't seen you in a while! Welcome back. I feel the same way about the Pc layout so I don't blame you for wanting to read it on your phone instead. I read your review multiple times already and I love how you go in depth with everything that happens every chapter. You are right on some things but wrong on a lot more, the Marcus thing is something you're right about though. Don't tell anyone. Yeah I'm good with Cliches, but with I have planned out I think I am going to surprise everyone with. Just wait for it :). I look forward to your next review!**

 **As you can see I have shortened my responses to the reviews, I just felt like it.**

 **Now this may come to a surprise for some of you but I have started yet another story, this one is titled "RWBY: The Blind Huntsman" by the title you can see the main plot of the story. I've been thinking about this story and started writing since even before this one, it is going to be my next focus once this story is finished. Go see if you like it!**

 **Now lets get onto what I am sure is a well awaited chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 32- Destruction (Battle of Atlas part 5)

 **Hector vs Hell finale**

"Can you feel fear?" I ask menacingly, tightening my grip around Hells neck as my sharp burning blue aura flares around me and easily overpowers Hells.

"A-ack!" Hell chokes out, barely able to pry off even a single finger.

"I'll take that as a yes."

I lift Hell further up in the air and slam him into the ground so hard that I am willing to bet Salem could have felt the shockwave from her tower. What the shockwave does do is push Ruby away and back toward our friends. A large crater is formed with Hell and I in the center, and Hell's pitch black aura shatters from just the first blow. His aura literally melts off of his body, leaving black goo outlining his body, making him much weaker already.

"RAAAAGGH!" I roar as I throw my fist into his face, deepening the crater and causing rocks to fly around us.

Ren and Nora finally regain consciousness just as I do that, they are weak, bruised, but mostly uninjured besides a piercing headache for Nora when her own hammer was used against her.

"Ugh, Ren what happened?" Nora says as she pushes herself up to a kneeling position.

Ren rushes over to his best friends side and helps her up, before finally laying eyes on the scene before him; me viciously beating the shit out of Hell with a dark blue aura instead of my usual red.

"I wish I could tell you." Ren answers her question honestly. "But it looks like he has this under control, let's get back to the others."

Back to the fight, if you call it one at this point. As I beat Hell into the ground, I get a warning from Ozpin.

' _Hector! You are already out of aura and I can't give you mine for whatever reason, any longer and it won't be long until your bones start to break.'_

But his verbal warning has fallen on deaf ears, most likely because of the overflowing amount of unfamiliar magic he is desperately trying to suppress on his side. The next time I throw a punch, Hell just barely manages to block it by using both of his hands, and wiggles himself out of my grip just in time before I used my other hand to punch the ground, getting half of my arm into the ground before I effortlessly pull it out of the stone. When I look toward Hell who has just flipped himself back onto his feet, bruised and bloodied with black marks on his face and a trail of blood trailing down from multiple parts of his face, actually have a much different look on his face. _Worry,_ and _self doubt._ Emotions Hell has never felt before in his lifespan.

I start to slowly and methodically march my way toward him, my hair taking on a blue tint this time, and a trail of blue magic flowing out of my injured eye, looking more like a mark then a tear. All of my muscles are flexed to beyond their limits, but somehow still flexible enough to use in a fight, the grooves between my muscles also gain a red tint, basically me looking like a death machine.

" _Mother did say all I had to do was distract him…"_ Hell thinks to himself as he clenches his teeth and takes a step back. His red eyes shake, along with his hands. He shakes his head and throws away any unnatural thoughts for his kind. " _He is the same as me! Anything he can do, I can too!"_ Hell tries to power up to even higher then me, but can't even get past thirty five, that as far as his limits can be passed.

"Haha, what's with that look on your face?" My deeper echoing voice asks Hell.

Hell frustratedly groans and gets back into a fighting stance. "I'll beat you within an inch of your life in this state!" Hell declares as he lunges at me, but his efforts are futile, and I make sure he knows it by just taking the punch, not even flinching or blinking my eye when my hair whips around from the force.

"Wanna know why you can't go any further?" I ask as I grip his wrist, ignoring the trail of blood that begins to leak out of the corner of my mouth. My body is feeling so much pain that I am just beginning to feel, but I ignore it. Most of the damage is internal rather then external this time.

I twist his wrist, forcing him to his knees, and grab his face to make sure he is looking me in the eye. "You have no soul, no true motive. You're just an empty husk that Salem has wrapped around her finger that happens to look like me." I say to his face, making him angrier with every word I say. "But don't worry, you do make a good punching bag at least." Those are the last words I intend to say to him, the next thing I do is pull his head into my knee, hitting him nose first and launching him out of the crater and into the air. Hell soars through the air uncontrollably before finally hitting the ground, hundreds of feet away from the last time his feet was touching the ground. Luckily for him he doesn't feel the pain and gets right back up, with more anger than he can ever hope to describe. But his thoughts are cut off when he feels a foot kick him right in his temple.

"F-fast!"

His exclamations are cut off when he he feels another foot connect with him, this time into his spine while he is still in the air, and again, and again… and again. Between every kick I can feel my leg threatening to snap in half with every kick, I grunt with every impact my foot makes with Hells body. This continues for thirty uninterrupted kicks, each one in a different part of the sky. The last kick directs Hell straight into the ground. He struggles to lift himself off the ground this time, actually feeling… pain, and fatigue.

"How is this possible?! Not only is he leagues above me but… but this pain." Hell's angry tone of voice darkens into one of fearfulness, which is highly uncharacteristic of the Grimm, especially one such as himself.

I touch down with the ground, my heart is beating so fast that it hurts, and I am running out of adrenaline to suppress the pain of my insides being torn apart, my body steams red, the steam being my blood and trails off of my muscles and through my clothes. But that is not all, I am feeling sleepy of all things. Like I am about to pass out any second now despite the amount of pain and adrenaline I still have flowing through me. I've been out of aura the second my knee connected with Hells nose, and I moved at speeds that even Ruby had trouble keeping up with, and she just learned that she can now move at the speed of sound herself. Meaning that I am faster then even that in this state.

"This is not good." Ren says, feeling the opposite sensation then everyone else in the group. Everyone has been cheering me on, estatic of how far I pushed myself passed my limits and even their expectations of what my maximum potential may have been.

"How isn't this good? He is kicking his butt!" Ruby points out like its obvious.

"No, that isn't what I meant. What level of power is he at?" Ren asks, making everyone instantly realize what he is referring to.

"I think it was Sixty, give or take." Yang answers for everyone. She was the only one at the time besides Jaune who was conscious enough to be able to hear what I screamed when everything went blue.

"Sixty?! My god... " Ren says, holding a hand in front of his mouth.

"What?! What is it?!" Ruby asks loudly, her cheerfulness transforming to worry in an instant.

"His previous maximum was times twenty, imagine what he went through at the battle of Haven and multiply that by three… that is what will most likely happen whether he wins or loses this fight." Ren finally clarifies.

Everyone's blood runs cold after hearing this. They all remember what happened to me after my fight with Cinder all too well. If something three times as bad happens after this… Jaune doesn't even have enough aura to heal all of that, since he has been doing his best to keep Raven alive this whole time. Even if he did they reluctantly doubt that even that would be enough for me.

"Wait! Doesn't that other girl, ugh what was her name… RHEA! She has healing powers right?! If the worst does happen then we can go get her." Nora of all people figures out what may be the best solution to their closest problem.

"That… actually may be our best course of action to make, it's not like we are doing anything over here anyway." Ren adds to that with an impressed look on his face.

"I'm the fastest, I should go ahead of you guys." Ruby declares, surprising everyone there. But no one dares to protest against her.

"Very well, then Nora and I will help defend the city. Blake must be there as well, it would make the most logical sense for her to be there since she is not here with us." Ren says with a nod that is reciprocated by Ruby and Nora.

"What about you Yang?" Ruby asks her sister who is still staring blankly at the fight ahead of them.

"Oh… I'll stay here. I have to be here in case…" She trails off, her gaze shifting back to her mother who is barely clinging on to life.

"I understand, let us know if you need us back and I'll come running." Ruby says with a cheerful smile, before she disappears in a flurry of rose petals, her figure is completely hidden by red as she sprints as fast as she can toward the city fighting for survival. By the time she knows it she is already several hundred feet away.

"She has gotten much faster." Ren points out. "Okay Nora, let's get to work."

"Can I ride an Ursa again?"

"I'll let it slide this time."

"YAY!" Nora exclaims as she starts running toward the city at top speed, literally leaving Ren in the dust.

Ren dusts himself off, then looks back at Yang. Gives her a small nod and smile, and runs off at a highly above average human top speed for a regular person.

Yang moves back to Ravens side, but fixes her gaze on what is transpiring between Hell and I. "You better tear him apart, or else I will, I don't care if I have only one arm working." She seethes with anger as she remembers what happened just before her father and friends came to their rescue. Hell almost effortlessly plowed right through them. Even tanking through Raven's last ditch effort final blast and everything she threw at him, in the end they just barely broke his aura, which came back as fast as it left him. She won't lie to herself. She is enjoying the more brutal side of me right now.

* * *

 **Mercury**

Mercury has been doing whatever he can do assist the Atlesian military, while he is pretty sure the last couple of bullets that has bounced off of his back was more than a mere friendly fire, if it could be called one, as mistakes. He has learned to show restraint, and refuses to retaliate against the Atlesians that have more than an understandable grudge against him. Some of the soldiers there fought at Beacon when it fell, and couldn't help but notice a gray haired man that looked exactly like him murdering innocents and other soldiers alike with a psychotic smile on his face.

Mercury doesn't feel like these men would be as kind as RWBY who took him in. But luckily his aura still remains strong enough to fight while dodging bullets. He is fighting alongside Ironwood and his squad of huntsman, despite being ordered to stay at the barricades and defend them, but that doesn't fit Mercury well in the slightest. He feels the need to prove himself so that he isn't immediately thrown into a cell for the rest of his life with almost zero chance of being able to see the sun again or being shot on sight. But other then that he wants to turn over a new leaf and what better way to do that then saving lives?

"Hey Ironwood! To your right!" Mercury shouts as he takes a glance toward Ironwood. An Ursa Major almost made the general its dinner if it didn't take a smoke projectile right in the teeth, knocking it back and giving the general the opportunity to grab it by its neck with his iron arm, and throwing it into a building where it was promptly fired upon by dozens of assault rifles, killing it quickly before it got the chance to recover.

As the Ursa dissipates away, he looks at Mercury with a stone cold face. Honestly it's better than the death glare Mercury was getting before, and he smiles back at the general with a mock salute with two fingers before asking, "Well, are you going to say thank you?" He is pushing his luck a little too much right now…

"Shut up and continue fighting, I will make a mental note to remember your unexpected actions." Ironwood says as he fires at a Grimm hybrid that almost snuck up on Mercury, shooting it right between the eyes.

"You're welcome." Ironwood slyly says as he holsters his weapon.

"He's warming up to me, I can just feel it." Mercury says as he continues the battle alongside the general.

* * *

 **Rhea**

Luckily Rhea managed to pass off her magical healing powers as a normal healing semblance that just happens to be very effective, even more lucky that the medics were the only ones who didn't see her blow up an entire city block of Grimm with scorching white flames. She ran into Taiyang and Blake by chance out of the hundreds that have been injured by the Grimm, she recognized Tai by his blonde hair and cargo shorts he is known for wearing, and nearly broke down when she saw him in his broken state. She quickly thawed out everyone who was frozen, and luckily they just thought that the woman they encountered just had a very powerful ice semblance that for some reason looked like flames anyway.

With Rhea's powerful healing magic that she has gotten better at every time she healed someone, Tai actually regains consciousness. The hole on his chest fully healed but with heavy scarring.

"Am I dead? Because if I am then heaven is pretty shitty." He says as he feels out his new scar.

"I can assure you that you are indeed alive Mr. Tai." Rhea says in a cheerful relieved voice.

"Rhea? Oh so I am alive, guess that one day of training paid off huh?" Tai says with a chuckled as he pats Rheas head.

"Ugh, my back hurts." Blake mumbles from beside them, she is laying on her belly, since all of her major wounds are on her back, luckily for her, the wounds underneath her bandages have also been fully healed by the young Fall Maiden.

"Oh uh, I don't know your name cat lady." Rhea says as she moves away from Tai and across from him to Blake.

"Oh it's you. I'm Blake, were you the one who healed me?" Blake asks with a small smile on her face as she lets her head rest against the not so comfortable pillow. "Im Blake by the way." She adds.

"Hows your back Blake? I did accidentally burn a bit of it, I hope you don't mind that." Rhea says with childish smile, happy that her work paid off and everyone she has touched is okay for the most part.

Blake resisted the urge to yell 'what', instead nervously smiling and stuffing her face back into the pillow, hoping what the young Maiden said was just a childish joke.

Her rest is cut short however when a blur of red slams into Tai, hugging and crying.

"Ohmygodyou'reokay!IloveyousomuchbutHectorisabouttodiesoImtakingRheaovertheretohealhimokayBYE." Ruby stammers out so fast that no one besides Tai is able to understand her without even taking a single breath in between.

"WHAAA?!" The next thing they know the red blur disappears and Rhea is gone with her, her surprised scream being muffled by the distance they travel in a short time.

Blake props herself up on her elbows and looks at Tai for confirmation that what just happened actually happened.

"She said that she is glad that I am okay, she loves me, and that Hector is going to be hurt and that she needs to bring Rhea with her." Tai translates for her.

"You understood all of that?"

"Blake right? I raised her, of course I know how to understand her when she does that."

To be fair that does make a lot of sense.

* * *

 **Hector vs Hell finale part 2**

I suddenly stop in my advance toward Hell, and throw up whatever contents I had in my stomach earlier the morning before, along with an uncomfortable amount of blood along with it. Which surprises Hell, and Yang.

"This is my chance!" Hell yells as he dashes at me, intending to take advantage of my sudden weakened state. I barely look up in time to react to his punch my flicking my neck to the side just in time, and kneeing him in the gut hard enough to knock the air out of him again. When Hell gets knocked back and rolls along the ground I wipe my mouth of the leftover stomach acid. I clutch my heart with my left hand as I dash after Hell, that's when I notice finally that Ivory is basically completely destroyed, as well as Ebony on my right hand, but I have no time to be thinking about that, I need to end this fight quickly before my body gives out.

On the inside Ozpin has given up on trying to contact me, and has been getting to work on repairing my body internally. My body has no aura left, and for some reason it isn't even attempting to feed on Ozpin's own aura. Instead he feels it draining my very life source (AKA Soul) in order to power this new blue Kaioken form. Thus shortening my life span and can very easily cause irreparable damage to my brain if used too much in one go. My body, being part mortal and part something else as Ozpin has realized throughout this fight, is not accustomed to this much strain as of yet. He makes a note to make me only use this in cases of extreme emergencies, as soon as he is able to come into contact with me again that is.

The moment my fist hits it's mark, I can feel every bone in my right arm snap like a twig. Causing me to scream in pain and clutch my arm while Hell is once again forced to eat dirt. My blue aura flickers from blue to red before turning back to blue. Even the natural alarm system my body has in store is screaming at me to stop and relax, but I can't rest until this enemy is defeated. So I pour every ounce of power I have left and store it in my right arm, in turn that arm begins to glow a bright blue, my veins bulging out as a deep bright red color that could rival the color of the eye of a Grimm.

Hell dashes right through the dust cloud that was formed after being forced back into the dirt. He saw my aura flicker with colors, and saw it as his chance to turn the tables once again into his favor. Multiple bones are fractured and some are even broken, he is bleeding everywhere, and one of his eyes are forced closed by the swelling caused by my right fist. But immediately regrets his decision as he spots all of my blue aura wrapping around my left arm, while my usual red aura flames around the rest of my body.

"Oh… **fuck**."

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I release my first ever blast, which is a swirl of a dark ocean blue and blood red. The blast quickly overpowers Hell and blasts him toward the forest, and grows larger in size the farther he goes. Hell screams the farther he is pushed back, until he cant scream no more and passes out from the burning pain he feels all over his body. I keep feeding the blast until I no longer am able to keep that arm up, much less provide power to it. My arm falls limply to my side along with the other. I resist the urge to fall over and pass out, because I have one more thing to do, and that is to check on Raven and Yang. I take one last look at where my blast traveled, and widen my eye when I see the massive scorching opening the size of a train give or take, of what used to be all forest.

"Hehe, so _that's_ how it feels." I mutter as I begin to fall over, despite my efforts to keep myself conscious. But instead of hitting the ground, I am lifted off of the ground in a piggy back position.

"Y'know I was waiting for my opening, but then you went ahead and did whatever THAT was." That voice is unmistakable.

"Qrow… The fuck have you been." I say with a small smile as I almost pass out against his back. I do let my head slump against his shoulder however.

"Heh, good to see you to kid. But you have seen some better days." Qrow says as he begins to jog toward his sister, niece, and that blonde guy he still hasn't bothered to remember the name of.

Seen better days is being nice to me. My left arm is shattered, and my right arm muscles have literally been burned out, as in black and flaking off. And that is not even including all the internal damage I without a doubt have. My heart is beating, albeit barely enough to keep me alive. My lungs are slightly scarred luckily on the outside, but it still makes it difficult to breathe. The last thing I am able to identify is almost every bone in my right arm is now be described as so malleable that it can be called dust. Other then that my head is just very hot.

' _Are you finally calm enough for me to talk to you?'_ Ozpin asks me in a somewhat exhausted tone, honestly the most tired I have ever heard him.

" _Whats up Oz?"_ I ask internally.

' _Well your aura more depleted then I have ever seen an aura depleted, no doubt that it will take days for it to fully regenerate after that little stunt you pulled. All the internal damage that I can't even begin to describe to you, and finally the most worrying thing of all… since you ran out of aura and refused to use mine as a backup source, your new blue power took power from a very delicate power source; your soul. Your lifespan is shortened by four years by my approximation.'_

" _Oh… well at least we won."_

Ozpin can't help but chuckle at my nonchalant easy going nature, especially after hearing news like that. ' _Yes at least we did win. But I highly recommend extreme durability and strength training to lessen the consequences of utilizing such an ability. Also you should only release that power during only extreme emergencies and-'_

" _Ozpin… shut up. I get it, glad to see you're so worried about me but we still have things to do."_ I cut him off gently as I raise my head off of Qrow's shoulders and widen my eye along with his. Raven doesn't looking like she is doing so well.

' _...You know what is going to happen correct?'_

" _You don't know that."_

' _Hector. I created the power of the Maidens, and she is out of time.'_

" _Then just go back to your time out corner while we comfort her in her final moments."_

' _You are very kind, even to those who are not deserving of it.'_

" _THAT'S ENOUGH."_ I cut off our connection with a shake of my head with the last ounces of power I have left. _Damn it since when was he so cold?_ I think to myself as I am set down gently on my feet. Before I knew it we were already beside Raven, Jaune, and Yang.

"So what'd I miss?" I say as I fall to my knees beside Qrow, not able to find the strength to keep myself up anymore.

Jaune is sweating, and is visually fatigued, his face is red and his arms are shaking, he barely has any aura left and is literally running on fumes. "Y'know, not much, I should be saying that to you though, I barely saw anything besides explosions and a big blue and red blast." Jaune says with a weak chuckle. I would pat his back, but both of my arms are useless right now, the only thing keeping me conscious right now is just my willpower anyway and probably Ozpin's aura doing its best to repair my highly damaged body.

"Yeah, Hell isn't going to be getting up anytime soon." I say with a weak chuckle of my own as I turn my attention to Yang. "How are you holding up?"

"Im fine. Good job on ending that bastard." Yang responds without looking at me. I understand why though, taking the situation we are in into account. The next person's eyes I look into is Raven's who is conscious but very weak.

"You won?" She weakly asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

I already feel the urge to cry, I just nod and smile as I manage to lift my burned arm high enough to give her a thumbs up. "Yup, I took a page out of your book and blasted him with everything I had."

"Heh, I know. I felt it from here." Raven points out, actually managing to put a smile on her face. "Good job, and… thank you, for giving me a chance to redeem myself."

That's where I let go my restraints and let a tear fall from my eye and trail down my face, my voice is choppy, but understandable. "Anytime."

"Why am I the only one that doesn't know what is going on?" Qrow asks the group in a rather bitter tone. But understably so.

"Ozpin here hid something from all of us until the last second," I begin to explain as I wipe my eye. "All Maidens die at the age of fifty, no exceptions. I assume since you're twins that you know how old she is right now." I finish my short explanation.

Qrows eyes shake as he uncharacteristically begins to panic, trying to think of a way to save his sister's life. "Is there anything we can do to prevent this? Anything at all? There has to be some way to save her life even when she is at this age." Qrow says as he grabs his sisters open hand, not even caring to hold back his own tears.

"I didn't know we were still family little brother." Raven points out with a sly smirk, despite the state she is in.

"T-that was an in the moment thing… I'm sorry I said that." Qrow says as he brings her hand up to his chest.

"I'm sorry too… about everything, leaving you and going back to the tribe, not being there for you when Summer died. Just everything… I am a terrible twin sister."

"Yeah you are… but I love you anyway, throughout everything we've ever been through. Heh, I still remember how scared Tai was of me when he was going to ask me of all people for my blessing to marry you." Qrow remarks with a sad chuckle.

"It was hilarious. I… love you to little brother, don't cry on me it's starting to bother me." Raven jokes as she wipes away a single tear from Qrow's face.

For the first time in a _very_ long time, the Branwen twins shared a genuine laugh together. One that wasn't forced or faked. Better late than never I suppose.

Now, last but certainly not least, Raven turns her head to her daughter, who has been clutching her hand this whole time. Rather awkwardly since it is two left hands intertwined with each other, but that doesn't make it any less heartwarming for either of them.

"Yang…" Raven calls out to her estranged daughter, the young woman she barely even thought about for the past eighteen years until just recently for the past couple of months.

"Hey, mom I uh… I don't really know what to say right now." Yang chokes on her words as she tries her best to resist the urge to cry. "I just… never got the chance to know you like I wanted to."

When she forces herself to open her eyes she can see that her mother isn't even attempting to hide her own sorrow, letting the tears flow freely and down her neck and being absorbed into the ground.

"I know, Yang… I am sorry… so sorry. I was blinded by what I thought was right, and before I had a chance to fix anything that I broke it was too late. My biggest regret is leaving you behind. But I want you to know that…" Her voice trails off as Jaune's semblance finally gives out, he falls on his side, passed out from over exertion, and all the pain he has been saving her from have resurfaced. Causing Raven to groan in pain, and see dark spots in her vision. She almost passes out from the pain right then and there if it wasn't for her pure willpower.

"M-mom?! What's wrong?!" Yang begins to panic, moving her hand from her mother's hand to her head, letting it rest against her lap.

Raven forces her eyes open and stares into her daughter lilac orbs. She says three words she has never told her daughter before, but felt the need and desire to before it was too late.

"I love you." Raven says as she gently caresses her daughters face, finally accepting her into her life before it would become impossible to do so.

Yang breaks down after hearing those words. The gift she didn't know she wanted to hear so badly until received it. "M-mom, I-i- please don't go!" She hysterically shouts, hugging her mom. "Please… I just got started to know you… I love you to." Yang finally says back.

Those are the last words Raven hears. She succumbs to her wounds and shits her eyes. Finally at peace with herself.

Along with Yang, Qrow and I also allow ourselves to be emotional. I have never felt so sad since I have been here. I barely knew Raven as much as anyone else, but my kind nature prevented me from pushing her away when she needed help the most. Although we weren't friends for long, she was one of the best I could have asked for.

I can't even imagine what Qrow and Yang were feeling, but once this is all over I make a note to be there for both of them, whether they wanted me to or not.

But life is full of surprises, and a bit of information we all seemed to have forgotten until now. Raven's body shoots out a red beam of pure aura into the sky, only for it to come right back down and enter Yangs.

"Oh… that." I say as I quickly realize what is happening, along with Qrow.

"Yang was the last person that was in her thoughts." Qrow mutters out loud.

"What's happening?!" Yang asks as she feels a surge of unfamiliar power surge through her. Her eyes turn red to match the color of the Spring Maidens eye flames when she was powered up. Before we knew it, Ravens body was completely gone, faded away in a similar fashion as Pyrrha's when she was killed by Cinder, and before us was Yang Xiao Long.

The new Spring Maiden.

"Okay… now I'm done. Oh gosh..." Now that I am emotionally weak as well as mentally and physically, I finally pass out from the combined effects of exhaustion, illness, burns, internal bleeding, head trauma, injured knee, and a heavily damaged soul. I fall backward and my eyeballs roll to the back of my head, the last thing I hear is my name called out as Qrow misses the collar of my red undershirt, and I am knocked out as soon as I hit the dirt.

* * *

 **AN- This is a much shorter chapter I know, but I didn't feel the need to continue this chapter after all of that up there, and I don't want to force myself to keep writing just for the sake of longer chapters, hopefully you guys understand. Honestly… I got really sad after writing out the part with Raven, I didn't really want to kill her off but some things just happen when you are writing a story.**

 **It's official now, Yang is the new Spring Maiden, did you guys expect that to happen? Be honest now.**

 **A lot of answers are going to be needed next chapter, and something is going to happen I KNOW none of you are going to expect. Just wait for it.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter! I look forward to seeing all of your reviews after this one is posted. I'll see you guys in the next one!**

 **As a reminder I have started a new story, The Blind Huntsman, just click on my name and it should be there. That idea has been in my head even longer then this whole story has been, I'm glad to finally be getting started on it.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	34. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 33

**AN- Thank you to my amazing reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Cinderfall201- You will see Hells fate in this chapter, so that question will be answered. I was starting to like Raven to :( She will be missed. But yes! Yang is the Spring Maiden finally, I've been planning that for so long.**

 **Soda-feildPsycho- I must have made you really sad last chapter with what happened if you didn't put your usual short story for me. Feel better man. But thank you for the review.**

 **Bwburke94- It was planned for a while to give Yang the Spring Maiden powers, but I will admit that I didn't plan for her to get it so early, but the more I thought about it as I wrote last chapter I felt that it actually wouldn't make a huge difference if I gave it to her at that point. Lets see if you think what I have coming up was foreshadowed ;). Thanks for the review.**

 **Zeldawolffang- Me too man, me to. R.I.P Raven.**

 **Justus80- I just played that song while reading over the Raven death scene, and it actually was pretty good, really added to the feels. I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Hell got what he deserved, and to that other thing, you'll see. Yang being the Spring Maiden is ought to bring some development, now Hector has to train TWO Maidens, poor Hector man. I hope you prepared yourself for my surprise, I'll just leave it at that. Thanks for the review.**

 **Astra- Well I was also up ziplining at about 300-400 feet in the air and I am not exactly fond of heights, so it goes without saying it was a pretty fun time. And wow… thanks for the praise man, I do work hard on every chapter and I just can't seem to stop once I get an idea going. You've been doing fine with reviews so don't worry about that. She's Nora man, thats why she forgot for a second. Rhea is best healer, doesn't matter if she only practiced one time before… Mercury is best companion, much better than Lydia from Skyrim, AND he has robot legs. Why you gotta burn Hector like that? He already burned himself with about fourth degree burns (exaggeration) on his right left arm. Also one of these chapters, which is far as fuck away… I will explain fully Hectors origins, quite a twist actually. It was either four years or twenty, so unless you want Hector to die at the age of sixty or forty I went with four, besides, do you really think that is going to be the only time he uses a Kaioken of that level? Raven… poor Raven, Sad face. I could do that thing with Knolly that you said, but then it wouldn't make the story fun now would it? Besides he only has 5% of its power, so there are heavy limits to it. Thanks for the review! I am still waiting for you to start reviewing Blind Huntsman by the way.**

 **And there we go, all those are out of the way now. For those who have been reading this story thank you very much. I have other stories that are trying to get on their feet and gain a following, if you could spend some of your time giving them a shot I would greatly appreciate it. I have two other stories going, figured I could advertise my own stories with my own story… if that makes sense, am I allowed to do that?. Ignore that. Thanks for reading!**

 **And now on to the show!**

* * *

Chapter 33- Never Give Up Hope (Battle of Atlas part 6)

 **Hell**

Hell has been blasted several miles away from the battlefield, his body is left in a burning crater with a multitude of wounds on his scorching body. His clothes are completely burned off, leaving him naked, and in a humiliating position. But his heart still beats, although almost all of his organs are pretty much destroyed after the many devastating blows delivered by myself, and that's not even including the broken bones that he has in his body. But despite all of this, he regains consciousness, and rolls over onto his back, taking in deep raspy breaths.

"Hah - Hah - I'm… still alive?" Hell asks himself as he opens his Grimm colored eyes to see a storm brewing above him.

" _ **Yes. Yes you are."**_ Salem's voice answers for him. " _ **You did a great job distracting all of the powerful warriors and draining them of all their stamina. While you failed at taking either of the Maidens or killing Hector. You've completed your primary objective."**_

"Im… sorry. I've failed you… but now is as good a time as any no?" Hell asks as he manages to push himself up to a sitting position.

" _ **Yes, there is no need for Atlas to remain a thorn in my side with their advanced technology and what not. Release it, and level the whole kingdom. And return yourself to me at once."**_ Salem demands, cutting off the connection herself.

"Yes mam." Hell answered without hesitation just as the connection is cut off.

* * *

 **Yang and co.**

"What's happening to me?!" Yang shouts to her uncle and I as we are blown away by the force of the wind created by her being unable to control her newfound power.

"Yang! You need to calm down!" Qrow screams at her over the skin ripping winds tearing at his aura, he stabs his sword in the ground to anchor himself, and hooks his arm underneath my armpit to get a better grip on my body. "You're the new Spring Maiden! Calm down before you kill us!"

"I… I…" Yang is at a loss for words as she feels the power flow through her, it's different from aura, very different, much more powerful. But she is too emotional after witnessing her own mothers death to get a grasp of her own power. "I can't!" Yang yells back as she falls to her knees. Jaune is barely able to keep himself from being blown away. But he is out of aura and very weak right now, if anything short of a miracle happens then he may get lost in the storm.

"Shit. You chose a real bad time to pass out bud." Qrow mutters to my unconscious body. If I was able to stay conscious just a little while longer, I might have been able to calm her down myself, since I could relate to having overflowing - and sometimes uncontrollable - power. "What do you mean you can't firecracker! You're _Yang Xiao Long,_ are you telling me you can't control your own strength?!"

"Ergh." Yang falls onto her hands, and the wind speed seems to have died down a couple of notches.

"Alright, progress." Qrow says to himself, he is also under immense emotional pain due to the loss of his sister. But right now he needs to play the uncle role and save his niece from herself.

"Just calm down! Please Yang, you're going to end up killing us, do you want that?!" Well he could have worded it better at least.

"No…" Yang mumbles, her voice below even that of a whisper. She is trying her best, and it is working ever so slightly, the winds seem to die down and the yellow lightning that was striking the ground fiddle away into the clouds.

"Good! Just like that," Qrow said as he was able to regain his footing, and able to resist the powerful winds without being blown off of his feet. "I'm going to come over there okay? Im bringing Hector with me." Qrow takes his sword, and holsters it at his side, just in case he needs to bring it out again to save himself.

Yang takes deep raspy breaths in an attempt to calm herself down, her eye flames are still burning hot, but at least she is calming down. Finally, her trembling seems to stop, and the storm downgraded back to a cloudy rainy weather. Finally gaining some control over her power, she lets her body slump down against the wet dirt beneath her, exhausted emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Qrow makes it Yang, kneels down on one knee, lays my body down beside hers and then lifts her face out of the ground. "You okay firecracker?" Qrow asks as he lets Yang's head rest on his knee.

Yang eyes remain shut, and her facial expression is one of just pure sorrow. She grabs Qrows shirt and stuffs her face into his chest, letting her emotions run wild. "Mom…" She keeps muttering as she cries.

Qrow can barely keep it together himself, but he needs to be strong until this day is over at the very least. "I know Yang, I know." Qrow mutters, attempting to comfort her, but can't hide his own choking voice resulting from his own emotionally weak state.

"Q-Qrow." Jaune calls out to him as he limps toward him, finally able to move on his own after a very short recovery time.

"Hey hey hey, don't strain yourself, you have no aura left and I bet you are barely able to move those muscles." Qrow points out, holding a hand out to him, motioning for him to just sit down.

Jaune listens to Qrow, and gets within arms reach with him before letting himself fall back into a seating position. "D-did we win?" He asks, a bit lethargically but managed to make the words comprehensible.

"Well, this kid won, that's for sure." Qrow answers with a short chuckle as he gestures to me with his head. "But don't get too excited, we still have a city to save." Qrow says, looking toward the smoking city.

"I hate to ask this… but do you think that's still possible?" Jaune asks with a sad tone.

"Don't start doubting yourself, with all of the major threats down, all we have to worry about now is simple Grimm. It's still winnable, we just need to help." Qrow says as he begins to stand up, Yang gets up with him, but is visibly shaken.

As they get up, I groan, almost like I am waking up, which surprises all of them, since they expected me to stay down and unconscious for a much longer amount of time.

"Woah woah woah, Hector you are in no position to do _anything_ right now." Qrow says as he kneels down beside me this time.

"Qrow…" I call out to him, grabbing the collar of shirt with my burnt arm to help myself up to a kneeling position. I stare into his eyes, with my now blue one that still hasn't returned to its usual color. "Something's coming…" Are the last words I say before I fall into him, unconscious once again.

"Well that's just fucking ominous." Qrow mumbles as he lays me gently back to the ground, then looks back to Yang. "Are… you okay to keep fighting?" Qrow asks slowly and hesitantly, feeling like he has to walk on eggshells around his niece.

Yang clenches her fists closed, and finally opens her eyes to reveal that they are still red, now permanently red due to inheriting the power of the Spring Maiden from her late mother. "I need to release some anger." Yang half seethes half declares.

"Well, there's a whole city of Grimm for you to let loose on, just don't over do it." Qrow says, not wanting to place himself in front of Yang's 'venting of her anger', if anything he needs to release some himself.

"IM BACK!" Ruby shouts as she appears in a flurry of rose petals, along with a girl that Qrow doesn't recognize. Ruby huffs and puffs as she bends over and places her hands on her knees. "Sorry I took a while, what'd I mi-" She cuts herself off as she sees the big blue flaming gaping hole in the forest ahead of her. She widens her eyes and her arms go slack in front of her.

"He won, if that is what you are hoping to hear." Qrow tells her with a shake of his head.

"He did that!? Wow." Ruby scratches her head in wonder.

"Where am I?" Rhea asks, finally able to regain her ability to speak after being taken against her will.

"Who is this?" Qrow asks, finally noticing the unfamiliar girl.

"Oh, this is the new Fall Maiden, say hi Rhea!" Ruby pats her on the bag for encouragement.

"H-hi… Wheres RJ?" Rhea asks, concern laced in her voice, she still feels that sensation she felt not too long ago. An overflowing amount of power that even she felt was too much for the user to handle. "I sensed him pushing himself a little too much."

"Hey to you to Fall." Qrow feels that he is way too old for all these new revelations. First Mercury becoming a good guy, and now apparently the new Fall Maiden is here, and she is a young girl no less, even younger than Ruby was when she entered Beacon for the first time he is willing to bet. "And RJ? I thought he hated that nickname."

"Im special." Rhea says with a shrug. "So where is he?"

"He's uh… not doing so well." Qrow honestly answers, stepping out of the way to let them see the state I am in. Both my arms look mangled, several lacerations, Ebony and Ivory so broken that all they can almost see my entire hand through it on my right hand, while my left hand Ivory is just completely gone.

Rhea runs to my body right away, while Ruby can't even bear to look at me. Not wanting to risk losing sight of what has to be done, she got me help. That's all she can do for me right now. She looks away and then to Jaune, who is still sitting down with his face in his hands. Jaune feels extremely guilt for the death of Raven, not being able to hold out long enough until Rhea got there. He feels responsible for letting Raven die, but Ruby doesn't know that yet.

"Where is Raven?" Ruby asks in a soft voice, not able to see her body anywhere.

Qrow and Yang wince at the question, and Jaune stuffs his head even further into his hands. Ruby isn't oblivious to the meaning of this tense silence, and her eyes shake as she realizes that Yang's mother passed away before she was able to get back in time with help. She turns to Yang with tears in her eyes, and jumps right into her with a hug.

"I'm so sorry Yang." Ruby apologizes, feeling terrible about what happened. "I couldn't get here fast enough… it's my fault."

Yang widens her eyes at her sisters apology, and places her hands on Ruby's shoulders and making her look into her own eyes. "None of this is your fault. Being a Maiden has its pros and cons, one of those cons was dying at age fifty, she was fifty." Yang explains to her, regaining her strong personality. "I've been emotional about it for too long already considering our situation. I need you to be strong with me. Besides, your man over there was the one who defeated the bastard that killed her." Yang somehow manages to squeeze in a tease in her inspirational speech which everyone listened to.

Yang blinks, but when she reopens them, her eyes begin to flame red again, matching her new eye color. This shocks Ruby, since having eye flames can only mean one thing.

"You're a Maiden?!" Ruby asks, a mixture of excitement and horror considering that Yang won't be able to live a full life now. Also not able to register the tease due to her shock.

"There's no time to explain it." Yang answers, removing her hands from her younger sisters shoulders and turning toward the city. "We can deal with our feelings when this battle is over." The storm that was just ripping through the whole kingdom returns, instead the lighting seems to only be focused on Yang this time, and it doesn't hurt her in the slightest, if anything, it just excites her.

"Yang, you can't control your power yet." Qrow points out. "What are you planning?"

"I'm not planning to control it, only to direct it." Yang answers, her voice is sounding more menacing than ever before.

 _Probably shouldn't have told her to let it loose…_ Qrow thinks to himself as he tries to find a way to explain to Yang that she would take out plenty of Grimm, but if she lets her power go wild and indiscriminately, she would end up causing heavy casualties on both sides. "Yang… I know I told you to let it loose before but now that I can think about it more clearly, you won't just be killing Grimm if you go in there right now."

"Then what do you want me to do!?" Yang questions, waving her good arm for emphasis. "My mom's dead, my dad's down, Hector's down, Rhea here is out of energy left to fight with, Jaune has no aura left, Weiss and her sister are god knows where, I doubt Ruby is able to use her eyes anymore today after what just happened, Ren and Nora are in the city fighting for their lives, and lastly we don't know _where the fuck_ Blake and Mercury are. So tell me Qrow, what can do we do?!"

"W-well uh… I-I h-healed Blake." Rhea points out, stuttering between her words out of nervousness and fear toward the new Spring Maiden.

Yang doesn't bother to acknowledge this, and continues staring a death glare at Qrow. Rhea turns her head down back toward my body, returning her focus on healing my wounds, but even her healing magic is not enough to heal me quickly, but she tries her best nonetheless. The small lacerations and bruises are healed, and she goes to work on my right arm, but there's some damage that can't be fully healed, even with magic.

"Yang… what are you doing?" Ruby asks before Qrow can think of something to say. "This isn't you. You are talking about not only exposing the power of the Maidens to the world, but killing innocents like they don't matter." Ruby continues, getting closer to Yang as she speaks. "You can't go in there guns blazing, we need to evacuate-"

Suddenly, and ear piercing screech almost deafens everyone, a screech that everyone at Beacon recognizes right away. The main reason Beacon fell in the first place.

Above them, a white and black Grimm dragon flaps its wings overhead. It looks exactly like the one that was at Beacon, but mainly white instead of black, with black bone plates as armour, basically the colors are reversed. The group beneath it is so shocked by the appearance of yet another Grimm dragon, and almost don't notice the big black drops of goo that fall from its hide, and land not too far from them.

Out of the puddle, a Grimm Beowolf paw reaches out of the goo and pulls itself out. The freshly born Beowolf looks around as if it is lost for a moment, before locking eyes on the group ahead of it. It roars angrily and charges at them, now knowing its true goal.

* * *

 **Ren and Nora**

"What WAS that?!" Nora exclaims when she is finally able to remove her hands from the sides of her head.

"Oh no…" Ren mutters as he instantly recognizes that deafening roar. "Nora, we need to get everyone out of here."

"But Ren-"

"NOW!" Ren shouts at her, catching her off guard with a very rare loss of patience. Ren doesn't even look at Nora for more than a couple of seconds before he starts running around the immediate area, telling everyone to get to the school before it's too late. Just as he is doing so, blobs of black goo lands on the ground, and a variety of Grimm all claw their way out of the goo, snarling angrily and dripping with the black liquid.

Just as one of them crawl out of the goo, Nora's hammer ends it's life before it can realize what is going on. Crushing it's skull against the pavement.

"Great, first a storm that ended and came back, and now another dragon, what else does this day have in store for poor ol' Nora?" Nora asks no one in particular as she lifts her hammer up off the ground.

"Nora, this is no time for messing around!" Ren's tone makes her wince, but she understands the situation. "Hey you! Get to the school, they have transport to get you out of here." Ren yells to a nearby soldier.

"But we can't just leave our home!" The soldier yells back.

"If you stay, you will die, and the city will fall anyway. So live to fight another day!" Ren shouts as he shoots down a Griffon.

The soldier winces at the logic, and realizes the harsh truth of the situation everyone is in. He shakes his head and orders the soldiers around him to fall back to the school for evacuation. The surrounding soldiers reluctantly follow the orders. Just as they are retreating however, a horde of Goliaths start trampling anything that is in their path down the road. Crushing both Grimm and people alike with its weight.

Ren pulls Nora back, and starts running away from the threat.

"What are you doing?! We have people to save." Nora points out as she tries to break Rens unexpected strong grip.

"How are you going to be saving people from _that_?" Ren asks without looking at her.

Nora takes another look at the chaos Ren had just saved her from. Buildings are destroyed, collapsed, and whatever soldier or civilian that was left on the other side of the rubble that Ren and Nora narrowly avoided. She can hear the screams of the ones left behind as they are being massacred.

Nora didn't even realize it, but her aura is also down in critical levels, if she really had stayed behind… she doesn't even want to think about it.

Ren uses his semblance on the both of them. Masking their emotions and turning the color of their clothes and body features black and white. He did this just in time, right as he spotted even more puddles of nothing but black goo on the road ahead of them. Rendering himself and Nora invisible to the Grimm. Nora almost shrieks when she turns around to see a Beowolf stomping toward them, but Ren slaps a hand on her mouth to silence her before any sound can come out of her mouth.

The Beowolf sniffs them, and snarls a little bit, but doesn't make any aggressive movements toward them. Instead turning around and running off in a different direction toward a more negative source of emotions coming from a group of civilians and soldiers not too far away.

"Nora, we have to be quiet." Ren whispers to her as he removes his hand from her mouth.

Nora nods after the hand is removed, and the two closely hold on to each other tight as they make their way past corpses, and Grimm alike. The scenery makes them want to throw up. But they can't afford to in case the Grimm use that opening to see through Ren's semblance and attack.

As they move cautiously through no mans land. They can hear the sounds of fighting not too far away.

" _Hey! Ironwood! I think it's time for a tactical retreat?!"_

" _We'll worry about that when we are not surrounded Black!"_

"General Ironwood?" Ren mumbles so quietly that only Nora can hear him.

As they get closer to the source of the sound, they begin to see the evaporating bodys of Grimm of all kinds, even a Goliath here and there. The fog begins to clear up as they see two familiar people back to back with each other, clothes torn, and injured. They recognize the general right away, as well as one of their enemies that managed to escape Haven after the battle, the one they know as a backstabbing, cocky, arrogant and downright annoying human being named Mercury Black. But they never would have expected him to be fighting alongside the general of the Atlas military against the Grimm.

Mercury and Ironwood have been cut off from the rest of their squad after a herd of Goliaths trampled through way through the city, and of course they were the only humans in a Grimm infested city outside of the school that were near each other. They reluctantly allied with each other and have been keeping each other alive for who knows how long. Ironwoods top is nearly torn all the way off, revealing his cyborg arm and part of his torso. Mercury managed to keep his own top in decent shape, but his pants are ripped after so many kicks he delivered to the monsters that were after him. So ripped in fact that his bionic legs are now visible to anyone around him.

Nora and Ren are shocked at first to see this unlikely alliance, but come back to their senses quickly once they hear Grimm in the distance coming their way. Ren finally make himself know.

"Mercury! General Ironwood! Over here!" Ren calls out to them, deactivating his semblance to make himself more visible.

The two that were called snap their heads in the direction of the sound, elated to hear another voice other than their own. Mercury doesn't even care that these two might just kill him when they get out of here.

"Get close to me!" Ren exclaims, holding his hand out to them.

Without even responding, Ironwood and Mercury run up to them faster then they could think. They don't even know if it would help them at all by being close, but four huntsman is better than two.

"I've never been so happy to see you two." Mercury greets as he gets close to them.

"Something I can actually agree with you on Mr Black." Ironwood says as he catches up.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Nora asks bitterly, grabbing Mercury by his collar and pulling him close.

"Would you believe if I said I was turning over a new leaf?" Mercury asks in a half serious, half sarcastic tone.

"I don't think you want me to answer that." Nora threatens.

"Ms Valkyrie there is no need for hostility toward, I can vouch for Mr Black. He has been fighting with me for some time now, and has had plenty of opportunities to end many of my men's lives as well as my own." Mercury is stunned by the General actually helping him out and potentially saving his life. "While that does not completely erase his previous crimes, I believe he is better as an ally then an enemy right now." Ironwood finishes, ending his little speech with a nod toward Mercury, which is quickly reciprocated.

"Very well." Ren says with a sigh.

"I guess I won't break your legs… yet." Nora relents.

"Wow, uh… Thanks Ironwood." Mercury says as he scratches the back of his head.

"No thanks is needed. It might make me change my mind about you."

Before the conversation can continue, the growls and snarls of Grimm get even louder, judging my how close the sound seems to be, they have only seconds before they get attacked again.

"I hope you two have a plan, we're pretty low on aura as it is and I don't know how much longer the old man can last." Mercury says as he gets back into a fighting stance.

"You keep pushing your luck…" Ironwood mutters as he gets aims his revolver in the direction of the thunderous footsteps.

"Wait, there is no need to fight." Ren said as he placed his hands on both of the backs of the two men in front of him. Nora holds on to his wrist as he does so.

Before the two men can question what he is doing, they turn black and white, as does Ren and Nora. Before they realize it the Grimm are all running past them, ignoring them even though they are in plain sight.

"What is this?" Mercury asks, astonished with the fact that the Grimm are completely ignoring them.

"It's my semblance." Ren answers. "I can mask negative emotions, and when I do I am practically invisible to the Grimm. I can use it up to four people, before I start to get exhausted. So please, let's not waste any time."

"Incredible, this semblance has so many possibilites to it." Ironwood wonders as the last Grimm runs past him.

"Huh, glad we ran into you two when we did." Mercury adds.

"We need to get back to the school, Mr Ren, can you hold out for about ten more minutes?" Ironwood asks, looking back at him.

"If we get moving now yes, everyone hold hands, it would make it easier for us to travel."

Everyone does as he says, with Ironwood in the front, Mercury coming in second, Ren behind him and lastly Nora at the end. The General leads them through the streets, shortcuts, and through some undestroyed buildings. During this, Ren and Nora decide that nows a good a time as ever to question Mercury about his intentions.

"Mercury." Ren calls to him.

"Hm?" Mercury turns his head slightly, not quite looking at him but letting him know that he is listening.

"What are you doing here?" Is Ren's first question.

"I was actually helping Ruby and her team get here." Mercury answers honestly.

Ren and Nora both arch their eyebrows at this, not really believing him since its Mercury, but also intrigued, thinking about how the General vouched for him earlier.

"For how long?" Ren asks.

"A few months, honestly didn't keep track. They gave me the same interrogation you're giving me now. I know it's not going to happen anytime soon but… you can trust me now, I'm not the same person you knew at Beacon and for whatever it might mean, i'm sorry I betrayed you, and for what I did at Haven." Mercury says with genuine regret and what slightly sounds like hopefulness for their forgiveness.

Ren and Nora look to each other, silently asking what the other is thinking about this. Nora closes her eyes and nods her head. Ren nods back and turns back to Mercury.

"We'll trust you for now. But the final decision of whether or not you will stay around is up to our leader, Im sure you know who that is."

"Yeah, the one who killed Cinder, I won't bother making an enemy of him." Mercury responds with a single forced chuckle.

"We're almost there, but we are going to be coming across a lot of Grimm, and probably will end up in the crossfire, I suggest we sprint the rest of the way there when the time is right." Ironwood says before they can continue their conversation.

"Okay, I'll try to keep my semblance up without making contact with you for as long as I can, but once you see color on your body again, run faster." Ren warns.

"Understood." Everyone responds in unison.

"Alright it should be around this-" Ironwood stops in his tracks, eyes wide and a shocked look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Mercury asks, the first to notice he change of demeanor.

"The school… its…" Ironwood runs a hand down his face and slides against the wall to the ground, looking utterly defeated.

"What's wrong?!" Nora asks next, a bit of panic setting in as her past trauma at Beacon catches up with her.

"Holy shit." Mercury says as he peeks around the corner to see the state of the school. Over the sounds of fighting and chaos all around them, they didn't hear what happened. "That dragon made it here before us." Mercury reveals as he joins Ironwood at his side.

"W-what? No that can't be true that-" Nora cuts herself of as she goes to see for herself, she rounds the corner, and widens her eyes with shock. "Oh no…"

What she sees is horrible, the barricade that was set up is destroyed, with Atlesian soldiers and huntsman alike dead in its wake. Some with missing limbs, and some unrecognizable. The school itself has the dragon tearing away at it. They can only hope that at least some of the people inside were able to evacuate the area.

"No… Not again…" Nora falls back onto the ground, burying her face in her knees as she feels hopeless.

"We need to get out of here, back to Hector and the others." Ren says, barely able to keep it together himself.

"And how much aura do you have left buddy?" Mercury asks.

"..." His silence is enough of an answer for him.

"We're on borrowed time, nobody has aura left, and we're in a Grimm infested City of Grimm. Lets just face it guys, we're screwed."

Everyone remains silent after hearing his words. They don't want to believe it, but that is the most logical outcome for them. Possibly in the next few minutes, or hours, or however long it takes for a Grimm to kill its prey after it gets bored of torturing it.

They all sat down together, and waited for death to come to them, Nora hugs Ren's arm and pulls him close. Ren, who usually isn't as affectionate as his childhood friend, does the same, but he looks into her eyes while doing it. They think they are going to die, so it's time to reveal the same secret they have kept from each other.

"Nora, as long as I've lived, you were always the beacon in the dark for me. I thank you for being by my side for so long." Ren sounds emotional as he says this, and even looks it to.

Despite the situation, Nora blushes heavily. "Renny I… you did so much for me, dealt with me for so long, even though I know I could be annoying at times, you saved my life. And never once complained about how I act. Ren I…" Nora trails off, looking down into Rens chest rather then his pink eyes.

"Nora, how obvious do you think I am?" Ren asks in a amused tone.

"W-what?"

"You really think I couldn't tell that you had a crush on me?" Ren asks, a small smile on his face as he gets a little red himself.

"Are you two doing this now? In front of me of all people?" Mercury asks, placing a hand on his forehead and averting his gaze. "And for the record I could tell to."

"Y-you did?" Nora asks, completely ignoring Mercurys little quip.

"Ironwood, just so you know, I wasn't lying about changing." Mercury says to Ironwood.

"The only remedy for me on this horrific day is that I don't have to spend it alone with you." Ironwood replies. "Now be quiet, and let them have their moment."

"Wow… dick."

"Ignoring them, yes, I did. You really didn't make it hard to tell." Ren answers Nora finally.

"Then why didn't you do anything about it?" Nora asks, a bit irritated now that she knows that Ren knew this whole time.

"I was nervous. I didn't know how to approach you about it, I was going to but then… the fall, and then Haven, and all these crazy adventures… But I suppose now is a good time as any." Ren explains as the black and white aura around the four begins to flicker back to their usual colors.

"What do you mean?" Nora asks with an embarrassed and nervous laugh.

"The feelings you have for me are… mutual." Ren confesses, now blushing heavily just as much as Nora. This is the first time Nora has seen him so bashful, or any kind of red besides the times he was sick or fighting.

But then, Nora's eyes light up, and she literally throws herself at Ren. "Awww~ I knew you felt the same way!" Nora exclaims, unintentionally drawing the attention of nearby Grimm, but no one really cares at this point.

"N-Nora!" Ren whisper screams, aware of the fact that his semblance is running out of power.

Nora silences herself and holds Ren's face, which is still red. She leans to kiss him but…

"RAAAAAAHHH." A battle cry is heard as lighting and hail strikes any nearby Grimm around them.

Good timing, because Ren's semblance has just ran out of power. The four regain their color and all jump to their feet to see the Grimm being slain left and right. They didn't even know they were surrounded.

"What is going on now!?" Nora shouts as the group takes cover behind the wall as sounds of fighting take begin to sound out.

Then, a flurry of rose petals stops in front of them, with three people. "Hah… Hah… I'm never running while carrying three people ever again…" Ruby huffs, bending over and leaning on her knees for support.

The people she had with her are myself, Jaune, and Rhea. With Rhea and Jaune the only ones being conscious.

"R-Ruby?!" Ren, Nora, Mercury, and General Ironwood all say at the same time.

"Hey guys… Hah… little help?" Ruby says as she falls to her knees.

As if on cue, Qrow lands beside her, slashing away at a creep that lunged for her right as she fell to her knees. "I did tell you to take it easy right?" He asks as he helps Ruby back to her feet.

"Yeah… But look who I found!" Ruby exclaims happily, presenting the four people that had given up hope.

"Huh, was wondering if you died or not Merc, and Jimmy of course." Qrow greets in his own way. Resting his sword atop his shoulder.

Mercury shakes his head, but smiles at the last minute rescue. Ironwood smiles despite being addressed in an informal manner, and Ren and Nora are just happy to see some familiar faces.

"BLEEEH." Rhea throwing up catches all of their attention "Ruby, please warn me before we start running at the speed of sound from now on." Rhea says as she wipes her mouth.

"My shoes…" Jaune complains, but sadly unable to move since my body is on top of his. "Hector is a lot heavier then he looks… please help." Jaune says as he struggles to push me off of him. Rhea helps lift my body off of him and the whole group settles around the silver eyed warrior and young Fall Maiden.

"So if you are all here… where are Yang and Raven?" Nora asks hesitantly.

"Raven died." Qrow answers right away just to get it out, shocking everyone with the revelation. "Her last thought was of Yang, so she is the new Spring Maiden." Qrow finishes, hiding all of his emotions perfectly now.

"Y-yeah… a lot of stuff happened. Hell has been defeated so we don't have to worry about him now, but Hector hurt himself pretty bad, we don't know when he is going to wake up so we have to keep him safe. Rhea has been doing the best she can at healing him but the damage is so surreal, it's going to take a while but if she keeps going at it I think he can be on his feet again soon. And Yang is… releasing some anger right now." Ruby explains, not able to find better words for the last part.

Right on cue once again, Yang lands beside them, eyes flaming along with her hair. Also not with a angry look on her face. "Glad you're all okay." She says, looking toward the four people that were saved just now, then locks her gaze on Mercury, who is staring at her with pure awe. "Even you Mercury." Yang adds.

"Y-yeah." Mercury nods. "The feelings mutual."

"So what is the plan Rubes?" Yang asks, crossing her arms and barely restraining herself from getting right back into the battle. "I got us maybe a minute or two by just going wild."

Ruby looks down, and then to the rest of the group, even Qrow and Ironwood, looking to her to see what they should do despite the experience gap. Ruby looks to Ren and Nora, who give her a nod. Then to Rhea and Jaune, who laid me against the wall with Rhea doing her best to heal me with her flames, while Jaune lays against the wall next to me. She looks back up to the rest of the group, and puts on a serious face.

"We are going to save this kingdom."

* * *

 **Salem**

In her throne room, Salem smiles to herself while looking into a red transparent globe, seeing the sorry state I am in as I lay against the wall.

" **Oh Hector, I can't wait until you learn the truth about yourself."** Salem says with a smile and licking her lips in a very disturbing fashion.

"My lady," Watts calls out as he runs into her throne room and immediately gets down on one knee. "I have urgent news."

" **Ah Arthur, I wondered when you would return. Tell me this news."**

"Hazel was unable to restrain the Winter Maiden, and she was able to retrieve the relic herself before making her escape. But please do not blame him for failing, there was many obstacles he had to face in order to just get to her." Watts reveals the first part of his urgent news.

" **Hm, I suppose you would be correct. Very well, Hazel will not be punished for his failure."** Salem rests her head atop her hand, and sighs quietly, disappointed that her excited mood has been cut short. " **Anything else?"**

"Yes actually, and this is much better news I promise." Watts says with another bow of his head. "I've managed to locate the Summer Maiden."

This peeks Salem's interest, and she looks down at her underling with an approving smile. " **Have you now? I'll have Hell go right after her as soon as he is fully healed."**

Without a word, Watts gets back up and bows his head one final time. "In the meantime, I will work on a way to make Hell more powerful, if his current incident is of any indication for a needed upgrade."

" **Very well. Now leave me."** Salem says with a wave of her hand.

Watts leaves the room right away, and into his laboratory that he used to help create Hell to get to work right away.

Now that Salem is alone, she plans to do some scheming herself. She stands up from her throne, and smiles down at the red globe before her which is still showing my body.

" **Perhaps it is time for me to get a little more… involved."**

* * *

 **AN- Well isn't that fu$$ing ominous. Here is the next chapter for you guys, I hope you enjoyed it! So yeah, Atlas arc may be ending either next chapter, or the one after that, It depends how the pacing of next chapter is. Honestly though, this arc has kinda dragged on longer then I'd like it to be, so it may be a little fast paced next chapter.**

 **Letting you guys know now, once September 4th comes around, I am going to be going back to school. The reason I was able to get these out so fast, be it this story or any of my other ones. Was because I had no school, so on my off days from work I'd be able to write all day. To dash any concerns out, my stories will still be updated, but will be much slower, I might be able to get out one or two chapters a week, on which stories I don't know. So bear with me please, sorry for the bad news. College is always a bummer to talk about for me.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far! Questions? Comments? Ideas? Concerns? I am all ears to any and all ideas!**

 **Before anyone asks, yes I did see the Volume six short of Adam. I really liked it, he will return one of these days in this story, depends on if the plan I have for him works or not in my head, but he will be back.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	35. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 34

**AN- Welcome back everyone to potentially the final chapter of the Atlas arc! Thank you to all that reviewed last chapter!**

 **Soda-fieldPyscho- FFFFFFFFFFFFF, XXXXXXXXXXX**

 **Zeldawolffang- Don't worry, you are forgiven. Thanks for the lookout however.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Yes, this is a different dragon, no Hell did not create it. He merely, 'Woke' it up in a way. And Hell's fate will be covered fully in one of the future chapters so I can dispel any confusion anyone may have after last chapter. I just thought that if Ren and Nora were going to FINALLY tell each other how they feel, it would be before they die, because we all know they aren't going to get it done before if all of Beacon and Volumes 4 and 5 weren't evidence enough. Well Hazel shouldn't have played with fire, in this case, frozen flames. But once we dive more into the Winter Maiden and her history, EVERYONE is gonna be shocked, and that is all I shall say. Summer Maiden on the other hand, is going to have her hands full on the other side of the world. Adam, oh boy, Adam. Have I got an idea for you :). Thank you for the review!**

 **Kage-kitsune9001- Hell yeah they are going public soon. You think Nora is good at keeping secrets? Thanks for the review.**

 **Cinderfall201- Like I said before, and i'm sorry. But Super saiyan is not going to be a thing in this story. I might write a crossover one of these days between DBZ and RWBY, but not now. So for now, Tai's last stand against Hell is probably the closest to a super saiyan you're gonna get, and if you want to be technical about it, then Kaioken times 60 is actually greater then the multiplier a ssj1 gives you, if you want to look at it that way. I think Sienna is already dead, Adam did kind of stab her through the gut and left her to die. If the demand is there I might bring her back but with the way the White Fang are right now. Not likely. Thanks for the review and for the support!**

 **Astra- Nothing wrong with being a gamer, basically what I do when Im not writing or working, not a lot of fleshy friends but I got a lot of digital ones. And huh, never really thought about that, Mercury having rocket launchers for legs would be awesome. See now you gave me an Idea and I can't wait to put it down for next chapter. Gotta put some humor in there somewhere sometimes, the last couple of chapters have been deathly serious, given Hell being a dick and all that. Well, two Maidens, a Silver eyed warrior, two cyborgs, a dusty old crow, and renora all up against a dragon. Let's see how this plays out, maybe Hector will wake up, and maybe not. Yeah, Renora is finally canon, in this story at least, and Jaune finally faced the karma of throwing up on Yang's shoes all those years ago. Well well well, about everything else you said, you will just have to wait and see, *Menacingly rubs hands together* I promise nothing bad will happen *Maybe*.Thanks for the review!**

 **And now to the story!**

* * *

Chapter 34- Final battle (Battle of Haven part 7)

"Okay, so how are we going to take that dragon down again?" Mercury asks.

The whole group right now is huddled up in the same spot, with Yang and Qrow making sure no Grimm can get near them so that they could focus on making this plan.

"Oh yeah, you weren't there at initiation. What I mean by 'do the same thing we did at initiation' I mean that we are going to cut its head off." Ruby explains again in english this time.

Mercury blinks once, then twice. "You do realize that this thing is a LOT tougher, and a LOT bigger than a Nevermore right?"

"How'd you know it was- nevermind, but yeah, which is why we _all_ need to hit it at once in the neck as soon as we get it in a good position." Ruby says, pointing a thumb behind her and toward Hector's almost fully healed body.

"Yeah, I don't think he is going to wake up anytime soon Ruby." Mercury points out. "You guys don't know it, but we literally _saw_ his power rise from all the way over here. That blue light could have been seen anywhere."

"Well that's why we have Rhea here!" Ruby exclaims, pulling Rhea into a one armed hug.

"Ah!" Rhea exclaims after being caught off guard. "Why me?"

"Becaaaauuusee. You two have some connection to each other right? I could tell by the way you hanged around him." Ruby points out, embarrassing the poor Fall Maiden.

"He did unlock my aura…" Rhea mutters quietly.

"Exactly! So enter his mind, and wake him up."

"What? That is a _lot_ easier said than done!"

"So, as she is doing that, we are going to clear out the area." Ruby declares next, ignoring the whining of the poor girl beside her. "General, is the area clear of… y'know, alive people? We might be getting a little messy…"

The General perks up after being addressed. "It sounds like a solid plan, and I would be surprised if there were any people left, but I can't rule out there being none." He answers honestly.

"Hm… okay here is what we're going to do. Mercury!" Ruby shouts while pointing at Mercury, even though she already had his attention, he nearly jumped after being addressed so abruptly.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You are the fastest one here besides me, go save anyone who is in trouble." Ruby orders, not giving Mercury a chance to refuse.

Mercury sighs. "So back to being a human ambulance?"

"Yuh huh!"

"Great… I'll get started right away." Mercury jumps out into the fray right away, and runs right into the school that currently has the dragon tearing it apart from the top.

"I suppose I should go help him, I have faith in you all to pull whatever you have planned off. I'm afraid as I am now I won't be of much help in taking down that thing." Ironwood says before he runs off after Mercury.

"Okay, that just happened. Next, is Ren and Nora." Ren and Nora perk up at the mention of their names. "You two are going to be responsible for finding a weakness… okay mostly Ren will be doing that, Nora just make sure he doesn't die."

"Yes mam!" Nora exclaims, squashing Ren's head between her arm and side.

"Jaune, you are out of aura but you still have your weapons. Play it safe for now, and provide support to the ones who need it." Ruby continues, really getting into the leadership and planning role.

"So basically keep doing what I always do?" Jaune asks after a deep sigh.

"Yup! Now Qrow, Yang and I will be fighting against the dragon, along with any Grimm around us along the way. Did I forget anyone?" Ruby asks as she finally lifts her head high enough to look at those around her.

"Yeah, what about finding Weiss, Blake and your dad?" Jaune asks out of curiosity and concern.

"Black and I showed up just in time to save Tai and Blake. Then he took them to be healed up but then THAT happened." Qrow explains.

Ruby widens her eyes and grabs her head, and then surprises everyone with a deafening screech. "AAAAHHH, I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THEM!"

"We're doomed." Yang says with a face palm.

* * *

 **Blake, and Tai**

Soon after hearing the all too familiar deafening screech of a Grimm dragon with her faunus hearing, Blake sprung from her bed and grabbed her weapon, much to Tai's confusion. He tried asing Blake what was wrong, and his only answer was "We need to move. Now." Blake pulled Tai out of his bed and warned the others about what was coming. They were confused at first but once they heard the dragon roar, they all began to pack up and run. Blake supported Tai with her head under his arm, and helped him walk into what she hoped to think was a safe enough location, because of Tai's current condition, he won't be able to defend himself, maybe against the very weak Grimm, but anything bigger would be too much for the healing man. Hell, just walking is hard for him to do. Minutes that felt like hours later, and finally the sounds of slaughter outside the school have subsided. Replaced my sounds of flesh being torn, no doubt just Grimm making sure that the ones who have fallen are actually dead.

"We need to move soon." Blake says for the third time, struggling to find a way to get herself and her best friends father out of the mess they are currently in.

"Yeah, cat girl, I know. Sorry, I'm not very useful right now." Tai says through softly gritted teeth. "Damn, it's like I have a hole in my chest." He jokes with a stifled chuckle.

"Don't talk, your body is still healing." Blake says as she fixes the bandages around his chest for the second time. "I'll find a way for us to get out of this, I promise." Blake always swears to herself that she will not run away again, not this time, not with lives on the line.

The two are barely suppressing their negative emotions enough to remain hidden from the Grimm. Tai is having an easier time, since he is barely conscious as it is. But Blake is slowly inching her way toward a manic state of mind. But as soon as she starts to lose it, she sees the Grimm outside all perk their heads up, and then run in different directions but in groups.

"What the?" Blake whispers to herself at the strange behavior, but it is all understandable once she spots the flaming golden locks of Yang's hair, along with the returning storm from earlier.

Then, just as fast as Yang's supposed burst of power, another unmistakably head of hair, this time it being gray. Running straight into the school a floor beneath her, then none other than the General of the Atlas military himself, following after him. Both with their clothes so ripped up to a point where their robotic body parts can be seen.

"Okay… good news Mr. Tai." Blake says with a nervous smile as she turns to meet his blue eyes. "We have backup coming."

"Oh, that's good." Tai says with a smile. But slowly fades away when he notices Blake's nervous aura. "That's good right?"

"There… might be someone you are not exactly fond of…" Blake's voice trails off. She doesn't know if Tai knows that Mercury was the one who majorly helped frame Yang as a bad influence on young ones, and marked as an unsporting and brutal fighter. "

"Who." Tai asks, making it sound more like a demand then a question, and somehow intimidating Blake with his glare despite being barely able to move his own body.

"Well…"

Before Blake can continue, and answer the question. Sounds of fighting is heard on the very floor they are hiding on. Along with sounds of metallic footsteps that without a doubt belongs to Mercury.

"You're about to find out." Blake says as she jumps out of her hiding stop, and cutting down one of the human-Grimm hybrids not too far from her. "Mercury!" She calls out to him. He perks up from down the hallways just after he kicks _something_ out the window. He waves at Blake before beckoning over other survivors and the general himself.

"Hey Blake! Are you okay?" Mercury asks as he catches up to her finally.

"Y-yeah, im fine, so is Tai." Blake replies, while gesturing toward the open door.

Mercury looks to see Tai glaring him in the eyes menacingly. Mercury is stunned for a second, but regains his cool. "Hey, glad you're okay, Tai was it?"

"If I didn't have a hole in my chest, I'd kill you."

"O-oh, okay then… I'm sorry but am I supposed to know you?" Mercury asks very hesitantly. Looking for Blake for any assistance, but only gets a weak chuckle as a response. "Okay I am getting the suspicion that I should. All I know about you is that I had to save you from bleeding out from that hole on your chest, so I brought you to a place where you could be treated."

"Xiao Long. Taiyang Xiao Long. Ring any bells?" Tai asks in a slightly kinder tone. But doesn't let up on his glare whatsoever.

"Taiyang? Xiao Lo- Oh… Ooooohh. Yeah… that explains the glare." Mercury says as he nervously scratches the back of his head. Sensing an awkward sensation fill the vicinity he searches for a way out.

"As much as I would love to make amends, I got some more people to save." Without another word, Mercury runs off in the opposite direction, leaving behind everyone else for the preference of being alone right now.

"So… interesting friend you've made. Am I safe to assume your _whole team_ feels the same way?" Tai asks in a not so friendly way.

"I agree with Mercury, save lives now. Awkward talks later."

Meanwhile the General, once again rubs his face. "I am getting too old for this."

* * *

 **Weiss and Winter**

After clearing out their household, Weiss leads back the last remaining survivors to the panic room. Which now holds dozens of the Schnee staff, as well as a tied up Whitley and The long absent mother of the Schnee family. Weiss closes the door one last time, and makes sure it is tight. Just in case something happens to still be lurking around the house.

"Where is Winter? She should have been back by now." Weiss wonders to herself as she cautiously roams about the household that she hasn't properly explored since her very early years.

"Everything _seems_ quiet around here. But that inhuman screech… I'll never forget that thing that remains frozen at the top of Beacons tower." Weiss shudders at the memory, but keeps her cool for now.

On Winter's side of things, after she committed patricide, she went back down the latter and immediately plopped down into a couch chair. Letting her weapon fall to the ground beside her and burying her face in her hands. She doesn't want to cry - no she _can't_ cry, not for a monster like her father. Not after everything he has done.

Her hair is messed up, and she decides there is no more need to keep it up at the moment. Quickly undoing the clip she had in her hair. Her surprisingly long hair falls over her shoulders, and her bangs almost cover her eyes. The rest of it rests on the middle of her back.

She takes in several deep breaths, before finally composing herself well enough to pick up her weapon and return it to her sheathe. Then storms out the door without even looking back.

The truth is… Winter wasn't going to let her father walk out of this just to spend the rest of his life behind bars. No, that was too easy for him, even with the heavy and most likely chance of corrupt judges and fake witnesses, he might have even gotten off scot free. Combined with everything he has done to her own family, and now this? No, he deserved to die, no, he _had_ to die. Screw a proper execution.

Winter pushes all of these negative thoughts away, and focuses on her next task, which is too find her younger sister, and return to the city and fight for it. No matter what it was.

" _Winter!"_

She hears her name called out, and picks up the speed. She didn't even realize she was going at such a lethargic pace until just now, luckily her younger sister snapped her out of it.

"Weiss? I'm here!" She calls back to her.

Weiss hears her elder sister, not too far away from her, she was prepared to run right up those stairs but she was beaten to it by Winter running down the stairs. As soon as the two see each other, they freeze for a couple of moments. Both observing the state of the other. Then not a moment later Weiss jumps into her sisters arm for as tight a hug as her small frame can provide.

"Winter! Are you okay?" Weiss asks as she pulls away just enough so she can look up at her face.

"Y-yes, Im fine. However, we're not done yet. I assume you heard the same thing I heard?" Winter asks as she gently pushes Weiss away.

"Y-yes… It's the same kind of Grimm that was the main reason Beacon fell… I'd never forget that screech." Weiss hesitantly answers.

"You don't have to go. But I need you to stay here and guard the people from any Grimm that get any ideas." Winter says as she notices Weiss' nervous and somewhat fearful state.

"No… I have to go. Even if this is not the same one as the one from Beacon. I have a duty to avenge my fallen comrades at Beacon." Weiss declares.

Winter gains a very slight smile on her face, and closes her eyes as she nods her head. "Very well, I will create a long lasting summon that will be here long enough until the battle is over." Winter says as she creates a glyph and prepares to summon a creature that is meant to last for long fights. A very large Beringel of course, with it's color pallet being mainly white and blue. It's normally glowing red eyes now glowing blue instead.

"Oh… That should last a good while." Weiss says with an impressed nod of her head.

"Yes, it will. Now we can't waste anymore time here." Winter declares, a half truth to be fair. It should last about twelve hours, as long as she stays awake and alive. But a half lie because it may become dramatically shorter because of her inner negativity. But eve then it should be able to last long enough, and the panic room doors are made of very thick steel.

"Okay, let's get going then." Weiss says with a nod. Getting more serious as she summons glyphs to enhance herself and her sisters speed and charge right out the door.

In just a few minutes that actually felt like minutes, they are back in the city. They see the chaos that has unfolded in the relatively short time frame that they have been absent from the city. Winter is able to keep her guilt under control for the most part. But the more inexperienced Weiss can't help but feel partly responsible, despite it being completely out of her control.

"W-we left these people… we could have done something a-a-anything different." Weiss stammers as soon as they come to a stop.

"Weiss." Winter calls out to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and making her look up at her very serious expression. "What would two more huntresses going to do here?" She asks rhetorically.

"I-I…"

"Exactly, none of this is your fault. Now come, I'm sure your crazy friends are going to need us, especially against that thing." Winter looks away from her younger sister, and breaks apart her sword into two.

Weiss hasn't ever seen her sister this serious, and pushes her own negative emotions back unsheathes her own sword. "Let's go."

* * *

 **Rhea, Jaune, and Hector**

"Okay, Rhea you can do this." Rhea says to herself as the group breaks away, leaving only herself, Jaune, and Hector's unconscious body to keep her company. "Enter his mind and wake him up… yeah, that's easy."

"Are… you okay?" Jaune asks after he notices her hesitation and how she is mumbling to herself.

"Y-yeah, just still trying to figure out how I am supposed to do this, physically Hector's aura can take care of the rest, but I don't know how to help him mentally. Any ideas…?" Rhea asks, looking toward Jaune and desperate for support.

"Uh… if it makes you feel better, I know how you feel. I had to bring him back from near death before, and he screamed the whole time."

"Great… just, let me concentrate for now. I'll figure this out." Rhea says as she looks back to Hector's body. His head is hanging low and his arms are now heavily scarred once again. His right arm much more lightly scarred then his left, only a large gash where his bone stuck out of his arm. But on his left, unintentional self inflicted burn scars are all over that arm all the way up to his shoulder, but when his aura comes back, it may be able to make the scars fade away. Rhea doesn't know the condition of the rest of his body, but assumes it to be more or less alright, since he isn't screaming that seems to be a good sign.

Rhea places her hands on his shoulders, and tries to concentrate on merging their auras like they were when Hector first unlocked her own aura. She doesn't know if it can even work that way, but it can't hurt to at least try. She looks deep within herself, and gets a grasp on her own aura. On the outside, her amber colored aura begins to flare up around her, flowing like water.

"Uuuggh." Hector groans in his sleep.

"Eh?"

Rhea snaps her eyes open and leans in close to his body. Nope, he is still out. Her aura seeps back into her body as she loses her concentration.

"I could have sworn I heard him groan…" Rhea mutters to herself.

"Hm? I didn't hear anything." Jaune points out.

"Really- Ooooh, okay just sit tight." Rhea goes back into her concentration, because apparently that is how it works.

" _It can't be this easy"_ Rhea thinks to herself as she dives back into the temporary aura merging.

As if on cue, as she thinks that very sentence. She feels an overwhelming burning sensation burn throughout her whole body. She snaps out of her concentration and almost screams, would have screamed if she kept feeling it, but instead she just falls back, panting as if she just had a nightmare.

" _Yeah… yup there's the catch."_ She thinks to herself as she picks herself up back from the ground.

"Are you okay?!" Jaune asks, concerned for the Fall Maidens well being.

"So far…" Rhea answers as she re-enters her concentrated state of mind.

When she begins to feel the burning sensation again, she figures she can counteract it by using her own magical power. Heating herself up to a point where the heat coming from both of them match each other. At least in a mental state.

Soon, she begins to see a color, first red, and then to blue, and then strangely to her, white and green.

On the outside, Hector's body begins to glow it's usual dark red aura, with a hint of green to represent Ozpin's aura. But on the inside, Rhea dives right into Hector's mind, and enters a white void, her body - in this case her astral body - is still covered by her aura, most likely because she is a stranger to his mind.

" _Ozpin, I swear to whatever god you believe in, if you say that AGAIN. I will fucking-"_

Rhea blocks out the rest of that sentence, let's just say it was not very kind for her young and innocent ears to listen to. She brings down her hood to make herself as recognizable as possible. Letting her wolf ears stand up so she can follow the voice in this seemingly endless white void.

' _Hector, please, I am only trying to explain the situation to you.'_

That voice no doubt belongs to Ozpin.

" _Did you not hear the dragon outside? Listen, sorry about not talking to you for a while, but seriously. They need me right now."_

And back to Hector. This time more calm then before.

' _And are you not aware that you are literally on death's door? Your body may be healed, but your soul needs more time. Have faith in your comrades.'_

" _Ozpin, english, you know I don't speak thousand year old wizard."_

Okay, enough of this.

"Uh… Hello?" Rhea hesitantly calls out to the void. After hearing both the voices stop mid sentence. She freezes in place, feeling eyes looking at her from almost every angle.

Suddenly, the owner of both voices appears basically out of nowhere. But the version of Hector she sees is a very different looking Hector, same shape and face but without all of the scars, he has both eyes, but for some reason they are blue instead of black, his hair seems to be a tad bit longer, and he is wearing the same clothes he was before. A dark red undershirt, and his black pants with that cool looking white dragon design on it, along with the same black boots he always wears.

Hector's face lights up when he sees Rhea's face and unmistakeable wolf ears.

"Whew, and here I thought I was actually going crazy!" Hector exclaims as he runs toward her and picks her up into a hug. "Oh you have no idea how long I've been here."

Rhea returns the hug happily, but isn't very sure what he meant by that last part. "What do you mean? RJ, how long have you been here?"

"Oh yeah, didn't tell you this yet." Hector realizes as he sets her down. "Basically the short version is that time up in this head of mine flows like, ten times slower than it does in the outside world. Don't ask me how that works, I personally thought it would work the other way around."

"What?! So how long have you really been in here?" Rhea asks.

"Well, I don't really know honestly, since I can't really see the sun from in here. Try asking the wizard here." Hector answers with a shrug.

Rhea looks to Ozpin expectantly.

"I'm afraid Mister Rivers calculations are very far off. I will put it simply so that you both will understand, about one hour out there, equals to about six days in here. It varies very heavily however, depending on Hector's mental and physical state it could be the same as the real world, or much faster or slower. But for now he has been in here for about three to four days." Ozpin explains simply.

"Yeah, that. I've had to listen to this fucker for three days, going on and on about the same shit that he doesn't know I already understand." Hector says with an exasperated sigh.

"I get it." Rhea says simply with a shrug. Almost completely ignoring what Hector has just said.

"Tch. Well ignoring that, how did you get in here anyway? Only ones that hang out around here are myself, Ozzy boy, and Knolly."

"Knolly?"

"Yeah, this little ball of blue light." Hector says as he raises his hand. Not more than a moment later, a ball of blue light just as Hector described, flies right into his hand, then flies all around him like it is an excited dog when it sees its owner after a day of work. "Yeah, don't know if Knolly is a boy or a girl yet, but I call him a he anyway. Probably wrong but whatever."

"Woah, that's cool but… I actually came in here to wake you up." Rhea reveals a little sheepishly, already feeling the subtle death glare Ozpin has just started to give her.

"HA! What did I say?" Hector asks rhetorically, rubbing it into Ozpin's face. "So you guys need me?"

"Yeah, well at least that is what Ruby said… something about, 'needing your throwing arm'. I think that is how she worded it. That was the message she wanted me to pass on to you if I managed to make contact with you." Rhea explains.

"Huh… well then." Hector places a hand on his chin and looks up. Thinking about something, even though it's weird that she can't hear his thoughts despite being in his mind. "Oh gosh… I know what she is planning already." Hector says after a few moments.

"Really? Well that saves time, are you gonna wake up now?" Rhea asks with a sparkle in her burning amber eyes.

"Rhea, you really think I haven't been trying to wake up already? I've been trying for literally days now." Hector points out as the blue ball of light flies away into the distance.

"Oh… Well, is there a way for you to wake up soon? Like, now soon?"

"I don't know, Oz, can I wake up now?" Hector echoes the question, looking to his side at Ozpin again with an arched eyebrow.

Ozpin sighs and pushes up his glasses. "Hector, I understand that you are needed, but I simply can't let you. Like I said, your soul is damaged and needs time to repair itself, if I let you wake up right now then I know you will only further damage yourself by using that ability you are so fond of."

"I don't need to go that far to throw a girl half my size Oz."

"How do you know you need to throw Miss Rose?"

"You know why."

"Hm, very well. Continue."

"There's a very angry Spring Maiden whose name is Yang. A silver eyed warrior, Rhea here, and many others I am sure would be happy to throw some hard hits in themselves." Hector presses on. "How long is it going to take for this damage to heal itself anyway?"

"Your body will be fine, but your soul, as I've said numerous times, needs time, a lot of-"

"Hey Knolly, how long until my soul is all better?" Hector cuts him off, finally getting too impatient to listen to another word coming out of Ozpin's mouth.

The blue ball of light returns, and this time flies straight into Hector's chest. Giving him the answer he needed to hear finally. "Okay, and how far am I able to go without hurting myself even more?" He continues with a smile on his face, pretty satisfied with the answer he must've gotten.

Ozpin sighs again, this time hanging his head a little bit in disappointment. "So? What did the relic say?"

"For all the damage to be repaired on it's own, will take a couple of days, but I can still freely move around and fight, as long as I don't go over times twenty with Kaioken." Hector explains with a smile on his face. "Also he warned me not to use my right arm, I guess the bones are still healing. Now that I mention it how is my physical body looking?"

"Well your right arm has a huge gash in it, and your right arm has burn scars all over it, and I haven't even seen the rest of your body yet." Rhea answers in a strangely cheerful way. "I was the one who healed you, I never claimed to be perfect."

"Eh, that's what aura is for." Hector says with another shrug of his shoulders. "So Oz, ready to give me that aura?"

"Hrm, I'm still not very keen on letting you awake yet. But I suppose it cannot be helped, at least allow yourself a few minutes to recover once you wake up however, your body may be healed physically but-"

"Yeah yeah I get it, soul damage and all that. Please just let me get out of this damn place." Hector cuts him off and flares what aura he has left.

"Hmph, very well." Ozpin extends his hand out and touches Hector's shoulder and begins the aura transfer. "Oh, before I forget, I suggest that you disconnect now." Ozpin says to Rhea.

"Uh… how do I do that again?"

"Oh, well in that case. I'll disconnect it for you."

"Wait what-"

* * *

Back in the outside world, Jaune has been standing around Rhea and Hector for just a couple minutes now. He assumes that whatever she is doing is working because Hector's aura keeps getting brighter and brighter, and the leftover marks he had are beginning to fade away, although his left arm is being a bit stubborn with it's scars. Jaune looks back at the two, and wonders how much longer it's gonna take.

"I wonder when they are going to be done? I don't doubt that whatever they're doing takes a lot of concentration but-"

"AAHHH!" Jaune nearly jumps out of his boots when Hector and Rhea both shout at the same time. Rhea falls back on her butt and all of her aura returns to her. While Hector sits up abruptly, his red aura flaring all over his body for just a moment as he takes in three quick deep breaths.

"Geez what a trip. Hey Jaune what's up?" Hector asks as he stands up without a problem.

"H-hey, uh, weren't you just nearly dead just now?" Jaune answers with another question.

"Haha, It's called being a main character." Hector says as he rolls his shoulders. Everything about him is mostly the same, except for the color of his eye. What used to be black, is now blue. A dark ocean blue to be exact. He doesn't exactly know why, but he assumes it has something to do with that blue version of Hector's semblance.

"Ugh, my head." Rhea complains, rubbing her head as her eyes swirl anime style.

"You'll be fine, that always happened to me when I first started doing mental training." Hector says as he kneels down and rubs the top of her head. "But shit does every muscle in my body hurt already."

"W-well that makes sense!" Jaune exclaims. "I saw you almost tear yourself apart! It's a miracle that you're even standing right now!"

"Jaune." Hector says his name sternly, calming him down almost immediately. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but I needed that power to get rid of Hell. And with the combined efforts of Ozpin and Rhea's healing magic, and then add my aura to that. It's no wonder how I healed so fast." Hector explains in a softer tone as he sits back down. He isn't showing it, but he is heavily exhausted and low on stamina, his body feels so heavy leaning against the cold stone wall behind him, and some parts of his body even feels numb. _Must be one of the effects of having a damaged soul._ Hector thinks to himself.

"But… are you going to be able to fight?" Jaune asks the question that needs to be answered.

"Yes." Hector answers immediately, he isn't about to let a deprivement of stamina hold him back from helping his friends. "Just give me a minute to regain some stamina, in the meantime, tell me what the girls are doing? I can't help but notice a lot of screaming right now.

"Well… remember initiation?"

"It's funny that you're asking me that, but I'm listening."

Transition

 **The Final Battle**

Yang started off the fight by taking on the horde of Grimm surrounding the school, not even bothering to try and control her newfound Maiden powers, and letting them run wild, using mostly ice based attacks, but also with her own style of fire and lighting along with it. She is to draw the attention of most of the Grimm, giving Ruby, and Qrow the time and space needed to find positions to directly attack the dragon, while Ren travels low on the the ground with Nora at his side. Ren will also directly attack the dragon, but only to find a weak spot, which he assumes to be the joint areas such as the neck, armpits, and elbows of the dragon. Getting in behind the knees may be too difficult and dangerous to target. So for now he makes a note to let everyone know that the neck may be vulnerable to attack, as well as the wings and parts of the arms, and obviously the underbelly of the beast may be vulnerable to attack, but he is sure everyone already knows that. It's just common sense for big monsters like this.

"Hm, I wonder where it's weak spot is…" Nora thinks out loud.

Well… almost everyone.

On Mercury's side of things, he has just run out of time to look for any remaining survivors, and he begins looking for a quick way out of the school. He didn't even get enough time to actually look around the place, but the white color pallet is bothering his eyes too much for him to care about it. Right as he was about to kick his way out of a random window, he sees his opportunity. He sees the dragon's tail outside one of the windows as the building shakes from it being torn apart from just a couple floors above him.

"Well… as good a time as any to make an entrance into the fight." Mercury says as he gets into a running position and launches himself off his right foot.

On the outside, both Qrow and Ruby shoot at the dragon, their bullets harmlessly bounce off the carapace of said monster, but is enough to get it's attention. It turns it's large head around, and locks eyes right away with Qrow and opens its mouth.

"Oh shi-" Qrow cuts himself off as he turns into a crow and narrowly dodges the fire breath attack that came at him.

"It can breathe fire?!" Ruby exclaims as she uses her semblance to dodge some of the debris. "Since when can they breathe fire?"

"I'm just going to assume you got that from Hector, but you need to focus right now!" Qrow says after he transformed back into a human.

But then something else happened, their goal was to get the dragon off of the school, and while their ammo and weapons just wasn't powerful enough on their own to make a decent dent in it. Apparently an edgy almost twenty year old with robotic legs drop kicking it in the chest is enough to get it off of the school.

The dragon wasn't exactly hurt by the attack, but more likely it was just caught majorly off guard. Mercury used smoke blasted from his hands to shoot himself out like a missle, and poured aura into his legs to make the attack that much more powerful. He assumed that part of Ruby's plan was to get the dragon off of the school, and lucky for him he assumed correctly, but now he is wondering how the hell he is going to survive this freefall back to the ground.

"Oh FUUUUUUUUCCKK!" Mercury shouts as he realizes he has no control over how he falls.

"Well, that happened." Ruby says with a small nod of her head as she prepares to shoot Mercury out of the sky. Sure it would hurt him but his aura would protect him from any permanent damage right? She plans to shoot him and hope that the momentum given to him by the high powered bullet shoots him right back through one of the windows and breaks his fall.

But a flaming line of yellow fire beats her to it, catching Mercury and slowly but surely descending back to the ground. Mercury is carried bridal style because how else to you save a damsel in distress, and when they finally land on the ground Mercury finally re-opens his eyes to see his savior, who is none other than Yang, with her flaming red eyes and everything.

"Thanks blondie. You're my hero." Mercury says as he hops out of her grip. Using his usual sarcasm to cover up his embarrassment of being saved like that.

"Yeah yeah, don't get too comfortable. Finally got down the flying thing, even if it was only for like, two seconds." Yang says that sentence mostly to herself.

"Wait what? You mean I could have died?"

"I mean… possibly, but hey. This just means you owe me even more now." Yang somehow finds a way to stick a joke in there, despite the dire situation everyone is in.

"Whatever, just go back to killing everything please. Preferably that giant dragon that is currently attacking your little sister." Mercury's sarcasm fades away into a much more serious tone as he sees Ruby using her speed to maneuver herself from building to building, as well as using Crescent Rose to help her with mobility of course.

Without another word, Yang launches herself in the direction of the dragon using her Ember Celica while simultaneously using her Maiden powers to further propel herself toward the massive Grimm. She extends her arm forward, and fires off a barrage of small ice spears that only shatter against the dragons hide. But it does get her it's attention. Just as the dragons head moved to look at Yang, her aura empowered fist made contact with its snout. Just barely cracking the bone enough to actually cause some pain to the creature, and before the dragon can retaliate. Yang dashes away just as fast as she came.

"Wow… I really shouldn't mess with her as much anymore." Mercury says to himself in awe at his old and brief rival's display of power.

The dragon corrects itself after falling for about half as second resulting for the punch. It roars angrily at the Spring Maiden as she gets away in time before it can try to snap at her. While it does this, Qrow reforms into a human on its back, and begins to hack away at it's skin. Really trying to find a weak spot more than trying to hurt it. He keeps swinging his sword down at the creature while running up it's back and jumping off of it's head and transforming back into a bird before it even realizes he was there in the first place.

Qrow reforms back on the ground safely and skids along the ground, using the vehicles and smaller buildings as cover to try and find a better angle to keep attacking it the best he can. "Big and slow, but very tough on almost all sides. It's belly is very well guarded to. This thing is like flying tank." Qrow mutters to himself as he cuts down some weak insignificant Grimm. "And these that it keeps dropping is just getting annoying now."

Yang loses control while she is in the air, not able to keep herself afloat due to massive inexperience. But before she can get too close to the ground, a black ribbon wraps around her leg and abruptly stops her descent. Yang hangs upside down and looks up to see who her savior is.

"Since when can you fly?" Blake asks as she gently places Yang on the ground beneath her.

"Since about twenty minutes ago I think. I'll explain later." Yang answers as she unties to ribbon from her ankle.

"Just so you know, all the survivors including your father are out of the school, Ironwood managed to get a Bullhead working and flew them out, so no one has to hold back."

"Oh, that's exactly what I needed to hear!" Yang shouts back, letting her eyes flame even hotter and brighter than before. "I don't know what I'm about to do, but I suggest that everyone stays out of my way!" She adds as shards of ice and lighting starts to surround her as some kind of aura.

"Uh… Uncle Qrow." Ruby calls out to her uncle as she spots a growing aura in the distance.

"What is it?"

"I think we should move." Ruby says as she jumps away, using her weapon to give herself an extra boost of speed.

Qrow was about to question his niece on why exactly she had just left him along against a dragon, but once he sees the growing aura and the red flaming eyes all the way from where he is standing. He understands immediately. " _Oooh_." Qrow flies off just in time for a very angry Yang to right through where he was standing and charge right into the jaws of the dragons mouth.

"Yang!" Ruby exclaims in terror, she gets ready to go full blast with her silver eyes in an attempt to save her despite how hard her head is already pounding. But stops herself when she sees the dragon clearly uncomfortable with something, and then it's jaws are forcibly opened up.

Ruby's jaws drop along with everyone else's as they see Yang it the monsters mouth, holding it open with her robotic arm that was previously thought to be destroyed. Then Yang punching into the dragon's mouth, shooting off projectiles of Ice while screaming "I. Hope. You're. Hungry!"

"... Well, I did say that we were going to do this like initiation." Ruby says to herself with a shake of her head.

Ren and Nora finally make it up the building where Ruby is perched up in. Ren pulls himself over the edge and lies down, exhausted after chasing after Ruby over the tops of several buildings, while Nora just hops over the edge with a curious look at her new boyfriend. "Renny?"

"I'm fine… just tired. Ruby, before you run off again, I've found a weakness." Ren says as he stands back up from the ground.

"Really? What is it?" Ruby asks eagerly.

"The only ways I can see us doing any amount of lethal damage would be attacking the underbelly or neck, the wings would just regenerate and the rest of the weak spots are too dangerous to go for." Ren explains, finally feeling satisfied with himself at finally sharing the information he had just figured out.

"Thanks Ren! I'll relay this information to the others!"Ruby exclaims her thanks as she dashes away in a flurry of rose petals.

"Okay… I'm just going to lay here. I can't hit hard enough to be of any real assistance." Ren states, falling back onto the ground.

"Oh, well now I just don't know what to do." Nora says, conflicted between leaving an exhausted Ren unguarded and going out to help her friends. But then Nora spots something, two somethings, and a trail of white glyphs in front of those two blue somethings. She smiles to herself and nods her head. "Eh, they're fine."

Yang jumps out of the dragons mouth just before it slams into the school and falls to the ground. It is still alive but actually in pain for once, it bleeds from its mouth but is regenerating quickly. But it's moment of rest doesn't last long, as it gets pelted in the back by streams of fire, it roars in frustration and flaps its wings and takes to the skies once more. The two streams of fire don't let up until it gets too far out of range.

Both of the huntresses split up and reveal themselves to be both of the Schnee sisters. Weiss using her glyphs to jump up to a higher elevation, and Winter following the dragon along the ground. Right after Weiss lands, Ruby appears right next to her, with rose petals trailing off of her cloak.

"Weiss! You're okay!" Ruby exclaims, she would have hugged her, but the giant scythe in her arms would have made it difficult.

"I had things to do. What's the plan here Ruby?" Weiss asks her leader.

Just after that question is asked, Blake and Yang both hop up next to them, fully reuniting RWBY once again after a countless amount of hours of fighting. Blake and Weiss nod to each other, and Yang does the same when she meets eyes with Weiss.

"Do I even want to ask why her eyes are flaming?" Weiss asks the question anyway.

"Long story. Short version is in the Spring Maiden now." Yang answers right away, ignoring the pang of sadness she just felt at the memory of her biological mothers final moments.

"Okay then, just when I thought this team couldn't have gotten crazier." Weiss shakes her head but smiles anyway. "So, Ruby?"

"Oh, right. The plan. Remember initiation?"

"... Just when I thought this team couldn't get crazier."

* * *

"Alright that's enough sitting on my ass time." Hector says as he jumps up from his sitting position. "Rhea, stick with me alright?"

"Okay." Rhea nods her head as she jumps up with me.

"Jaune? You coming?"

"Yeah, I got enough aura back. Just go ahead of me, I would just slow you down if you had to carry me." Jaune states as he lifts his sword and shield.

"Alrighty then, if that is how you feel. Don't get killed alright? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself." Hector says with genuine concern, placing his hand on Jaune's shoulder and giving him a quick one armed bro-hug.

"Yeah, same to you man." Jaune says as he reciprocates the hug.

"See ya." Hector says after separating and getting ready to go into a quick burst of speed using his semblance.

"Rhea, have you ever been given a piggy back?" Hector asks the Maiden who climbs onto his back without a second thought. "Guess not." Hector's body gains it's red aura, and he focuses most of his power into his legs to give him extra speed. "Hold on tight!"

And with that, Hector speeds off to the battle with the Fall Maiden barely clutching onto his back tight enough to keep herself from falling off. Jaune just chuckles to himself as he assesses the situation.

"Big dragon battles, two maidens, silver eyed warrior, a guy who can break a mountain with his punch, and cyborgs, and here I am with a sword, a shield, and a dream. Haha, what a life." Jaune says to himself as he lightly jogs toward the battle, thinking he might be able to get there in time to see the end of the battle maybe.

Back to Hector, he makes it to the battle in little time at all. Just in time to see the chaos that is literally almost all of his friends fighting against the dragon, firing off every kind of ranged attack they can think of as they try to get the dragon in the position they need it to be in. But almost every attack they throw at it harmlessly bounces off of it's very tough hide.

"Well, that is now happening. Rhea, you think you can fly high yet?" Hector asks as he lets Rhea hop off of his back.

"For a time yeah. But what am I going to do when I get close to that thing?" Rhea asks with a bit of worry in her voice.

Hector puts on a comforting expression, and kneels down to her level. "You don't need to get close, all you gotta do is literally let your power explode, and I mean as hard as you can."

"Like I did before?"

"Kinda, but this time try to concentrate it into one beam. It should come natural to you."

"I'll uh… try I guess."

"No, there is no try. Only do, or do not." Hector couldn't help himself with that one.

"What?"

"It means do it correctly or we all die pretty much. Think you can do that?"

"I uh. I don't think I have a choice then... "

"Great! Now just wait for my signal." Hector says as he stands up and jumps away. "Alright, time to make myself known." Hector says through gritted teeth as he gets ready to power up. His body tenses up and red flames begin to lightly cover his body. But the pain that comes with it seems to be more intense this time around. Since his body is still very sore and damaged from his earlier battle against Hell, but he pushes through it anyway.

"KAIOKEN TIMES TWENTY!" Hector screams, letting his power explode from his body and light him up like a beacon.

All members of RWBY see this and smile to each other. While Winter is mostly confused and Qrow just huffs to himself.

"There he is! Now we can go through with the rest of the plan." Ruby says in a cheery yet serious tone. "Over here!" She calls out to Hector, trying to get his attention despite him being pretty far away.

"Ruby he's too far-"

Weiss gets cut off as a shockwave nearly knocks her off her feet. The light dust cloud subsides and everyone sees Hector in all of his glory.

"Don't ask how I heard you." Hector says as he dusts himself off. "Alright, so what's this about needing my throwing arm?"

"You'll see, just wait for my signal, which is going to be me possibly drop kicking you if we don't time it perfectly." Ruby answers simply.

"Oh, great. Alrighty then, let's get to work." Hector crouches down and gets ready to launch himself to the dragon to do what he does best. But stops himself and everyone else before he does. "Wait. Before we start doing anything crazy. How low to the ground do we need to get this thing?"

"Uhh, about that low." Ruby answers, using her hand to point the a point that is about fifty feet off of the ground.

"Okay, that part, the Maidens can handle." Hector says as he looks to Yang. "I've noticed you have been letting your power out all over the place."

"Well, yeah. Not really in the mood to be holding back." Yang replies as she flicks her hair to her back.

"Great, because what you need to do is fly up in the air and behind the dragon, and blast it down to that spot we need it in. I've already sent Rhea, who is the fall Maiden by the way, to go attempt it herself. But I don't know if she has enough power left on her own to do it. Think you can help her out?"

"Sure, just fly high and direct all of my power down at the dragon, sounds easy enough." Yang says as her eyes regain their flames and flies off without another word.

"Alright, now Weiss and Blake, you know that thing you did in the Emerald Forest? Do that again, and this time you're going to be throwing me."

Blake and Weiss do just that. Blake wraps one end of her ribbon around one of the exposed steel beams, and ties the other end around something else, and Weiss prepares the slingshot.

"Hey! That's my team you're ordering around." Ruby points out with a pouty face.

"Oh c'mon! I almost died saving you all, _again_ mind you." That seems to have calmed her down a decent bit. "And besides, you have the most important part."

"I do? I mean of course I do! It was my plan."

"Yeah that. You are going to be with me on the slingshot, and the rest you can probably figure out on your own but I'm going to say it anyway, i'm going to throw you after we are slingshotted and that should give you enough momentum to cut that dragon in half." Hector explains as he starts pushing back against the slingshot, grabbing the ribbon with both hands and pushing it as far as he can until he can't move any further. "Weiss… do the thing please."

Weiss creates a Glyph that keeps the slingshot tight so that Hector could save some of his energy. "Alright Rubes, c'mere."

Ruby places her back up against Hector, undoing her scythe so that it doesn't get in the way. "Now what?" She asks, ignoring the heat that is rising up to her cheeks at being in a position like this.

Her answer is a loud explosion, which is coming from above the dragon.

Up above in the sky, both Rhea and Yang joined the powers together and released one big blue and orange swirl of a blast, firing it down into the dragon's back together and sending it into free fall, one of its wings is too damaged and it can't regenerate fast enough to be able to catch itself. It was caught off guard against the powerful attacks that both freeze and burn it's back to extreme temperatures. The Grimm screeches as it falls, black blood flying out of the deep wound it has in it's back.

"We fly!" Hector finally answers as Weiss lets go of the ribbon, launching both of the warriors at breakneck speeds toward the dragon.

As they soar through the air, Hector grabs Ruby, and with all of his strength, spins once, then twice, and throws her as hard as he can. The force of the throw pushes him back down toward the ground, while making Ruby fly even faster toward the dragon, if Ruby wasn't so used to moving at impossible speeds, she wouldn't have been able to keep her eyes open. She unfolds Crescent Rose, and increases her speed even further by shooting the weapon behind her while holding the blade in a position to cut right through to beast as it falls. Ruby leaves a trail of rose petals as she flies through the air and in the next second she collides with the dragon, her blade in the perfect position to stab itself right into the creatures belly, but it's not enough, not yet.

Ruby flashes her eyes the brightest then she ever has before, and the dragon screeches in pain as it weakens and burns away. The natural toughness it had is all but gone now. Ruby's head is pounding and she is barely able to keep her eyes open, but she pushes through. Her feet connect with the walls of the academy, and she goes right through it, bringing her blade right through the beast and successfully cutting it in half.

All at once, every single Grimm in the area just fades away, or drops dead and dissipates away, the Grimm puddles close up just in time for Hector to land on the ground on his butt.

"Ow… but that was so cool to watch from my perspective." Hector says to himself as he powers down and lays down, finally letting his body relax after fighting for so long.

"What did I just witness?" Winter asks after she sheathes her weapons.

"Huntsman doing their jobs." Qrow answers for her. "But damn, the pieces we are going to have to pick up after this one. We are going to have to come up with a lot of lies to get this straightened out."

"Possibly, or we can just them make their own stories."

Rhea and Yang, who are still in the sky at this point, slowly descend toward the ground as steady as they can. Well, Rhea has to carry Yang because she wasn't able to control herself after running out of power finally. But she manages to hold on to her long enough to land on the ground safely, and conveniently pretty close to Hector.

"Ugh, I feel sick." Rhea says after she sets down Yang, who perfectly copies my position of laying down on the pavement.

"Everything hurts." Yang complains next.

"Ha." Hector lets out a single chuckle. "Imagine how I feel."

"Shut up, i'm talking about me."

"Yeah yeah, whatever… So, Oz, still think it was a bad idea?" Hector asks out loud.

' _Yes, but it worked out. Good work.'_

"Yeah… yeah, I'm glad it did. But, I am feeling, unusually sleepy." Hector says as his eyes flutter closed.

' _That would make sense considering you current state, please, let yourself rest for as long as you need to.'_

"Okay, I'll listen to ya this time…" Hectors voice trails off and he once again loses consciousness.

Up above him, Ruby Rose steps to the edge of the hole in the building she created, and the dragon fully evaporates away before it even hits the ground. The wind blows her cloak to the left, and she assumes the same position she took all that time ago. She reminisces in the past for a moment, and looks over to the city that had just been saved. She wonders why the Grimm all just faded away all of the sudden but doesn't try to question the logic, and is just thankful that the city is safe, for now at least.

Blake and Weiss both sit down on the edge of one of the buildings, and let out a deep breath as they relax their bodies. "Well, as Yang would say. That was a thing." Blake speaks up first.

"Yes, indeed it was." Weiss agrees as she looks over her kingdom. But something pops back into her mind, she feels like something is missing…

"Where's Jaune and Mercury?"

Jaune got to the battle just in time to see the dragon get cut in half, and he pumps into his fist into the air and cheers for his team. As he is doing so, Mercury jumps out of one of the buildings, covered in black blood with most of his clothes torn up. Scaring the shit out of Jaune, almost literally. Jaune doesn't know that Mercury is actually a good guy now, so he gets into a combat stance and prepares himself to fight.

Mercury keels over and coughs up some of the stuff he doesn't even want to begin to describe, before turning his head to meet Jaune in the eyes.

"Oh, it's you. You don't know this yet but I'm actually a good guy now." Mercury says with as friendly a smile he can muster up.

"Uh… I don't know if I should believe you."

"You really think I can get through all of that and walk out with my life if I was still your enemy?"

"W-well. When you put it like that…" Jaune thinks to himself, he is low on aura, but Mercury looks like he is also low, but Mercury is still a better fighter, and his semblance is pretty much useless in a fight. "Alright, come with me to find everyone then." Jaune hopes he didn't make the wrong decision.

"Yeah, he's a good guy now." Nora says out of nowhere, scaring them both.

All in all, this day went pretty well for our heroes, the dragon was defeated, the Maidens are okay, and finally, everyone is reunited. But their journey is far from over, they may have won the battle, barely. But the war is still going in favor of their enemy. Too many people died, and the kingdom of Atlas is in shambles, and the people that managed to survive are already evacuated. Before they can do anything else, they have to make sure the people managed to get to Mistral safely, since the city is uninhabitable at the moment since the walls are down.

The next time our heroes return, will be for a well needed restful break.

* * *

 **AN- OOOh Gooshh my dudes and female dudes, this arc is FINALLY over. I will admit, it may be a bit rushed, but it was very necessary. If I didn't end it this chapter, it would have been a long time before the next would have came out to end it. I have plenty of plans for the next chapter and arc however so ou can look forward to that.**

 **So all in all, lets see what went down.**

 **Yang is the new Spring Maiden. Raven is dead :(**

 **Hell has been defeated, but will return.**

 **Ruby unlocked much more of her silver eyed power.**

 **Hector has some new powers to master, as well as new trainees.**

 **Rhea became a badass.**

 **Renora now canon (In this fanfic).**

 **Death of Jacque Schnee (Fuck that guy)**

 **Salem is going to make her next move, soon.**

 **Marcus is a mystery.**

 **Mercury's little character arc is continuing.**

 **Qrow is well… Qrow**

 **Winter is back, so there's that.**

 **I probably missed a lot of stuff, but I am just way too tired to keep track of everything I gave myself to remember.**

 **Next chapter is going to be a fluffy one, after a short time skip. Letting you all know that now. I don't feel like writing extra chapters where they aren't needed. No spoilers here folks.**

 **I would like all of your final thoughts about this Atlas arc. Please review and tell me what you think, I will appreciate it greatly!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**

 **I'll see you all in the next one!**


	36. Rwby: Oh Gosh chapter 35

**AN- Thank you to the wonderful reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Zeldawolffang- I am not too sure what you meant by that, but thank you for the review anyway.**

 **Astra- I can be a super villain and kill off Hector and end the story right here if you want, just let Salem kill everyone and destroy Remnant then become the undisputed ruler of the world. ;) You never know with me. Oh just wait for what I have in store for this more happy chapter, something happened. Mercury ambulance joke, Im going to be honest, probably. Ironwood, oh most definitely, but with good intentions in mind. Poor Mercury, I really am doing a lot to the poor guy aren't I? Didn't really realize it until just now, but things will turn around, hopefully. Knolly reveal coming soon, only about twenty chapters more to go, give or take, more likely take. Dude, have you not played any video games? The underbelly is ALWAYS the weak spot, don't question it, just let it be. Lets just assume the legal drinking age is still 21, since RWBY is an american made show. I also really thought it was a good idea to have a callback to volume 1, I was just thinking that they have all come so far, from struggling to take down a single nevermore, to defeating a dragon. Also because I really want to pull out another OP OC card and have Hector kill it, or Rhea, or Yang, or all of the above. Yeah… about Tyrian… Let's just say I kinda regret killing him off so early now. But it is WAY too late to change that, so we'll just go with it for now. As for Hell, I'm glad I managed to pull it off, Hector needs someone to push him to his limits besides Maidens. Thanks for the review!**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Thank you, thank you, and Thank you again! Here is the next chapter!**

 **Bwburke94- Fuck that guy, no more needs to be said.**

 **Guest- Wow, first time I got a review like that one. Thank you very much for enjoying my story enough to read it from beginning to end in what I am assuming is quick succession. Here is the next one!**

 **Whew, now that is out of the way, thank you all for over 26,800 views! And we are very near 200 followers, and I gotta say, WOW. Thank you all for the support and praise, I am glad to have been able to entertain you all.**

 **Also, the poll for Lemon scenes in this story has just ended, and lo and behold, the winner is Multiple Lemons with 63% of the vote. Well then, looks like I have some 'research' to do.**

* * *

 **Now, I need your guys help with something. I want to change the title of this story, as it is right now, I just don't like it, i'm serious about this story, and thus I believe the story deserves a serious title besides "Oh Gosh", so please, help a brotha out. All I got right now, is something with 'Warrior' in it, maybe "Unlikely Warrior" or "Warrior from another time". Or something with 'Hero' in it. What do you guys think? Plz help.**

 **Now let's get right to the story!**

* * *

Chapter 35- Hero

One month after the battle of Atlas, and Hector is still unconscious, the nearly full day of fighting and killing Grimm, combined with the overexertion and exhaustion of the magical power he only realized he had just recently before. It was too much, he was fighting to keep himself standing near the end of the battle, he made a mistake pushing his limit even further by going Kaioken times twenty, the only reason he didn't end up killing himself from all of this is because of the efforts of countless medics, Rhea, and the soul of Ozpin, who has been constantly feeding his body aura to heal the body, while he tried his best to mend his mind.

His coma was unexpected, and at first all of his friends panicked, thinking he was dying or already dead. Jaune tried his best to use his semblance on him, has been for the past couple of weeks, but to no avail. As mentioned before, even Rhea's magic couldn't wake him up, she tried entering his mind to forcefully wake him up but Ozpin easily overpowered the girl and forced her back out.

Almost all of Remnant knows his name now, as well as the members of RWBY, and the former members of JNPR. Rhea has also been gaining some renown, as the girl with the extremely powerful fire semblance that saved hundreds of lives by burning hundreds of Grimm to ash, and then later on using her powers to heal several others. Some of the soldiers saw him fighting a horde of Grimm by himself, and slaying every one of them, even instilling fear into their hearts and making a good portion of them flee. As well as Ruby Rose, with the assistance of the one with the 'extremely powerful fire semblance.'

The news reached all the way to Vacuo, which concerned Ilia for some time, but soon realized that he was going to be okay. Soon she just knew that he was going to be fine, and made a note to thank him _again_ for his selfless acts.

The Summer Maiden quickly found out the news, and quickly worked out that he is the one that the chameleon faunus was talking about months ago, and that he was the source of the burst of magical power she felt. She can't wait to be able to fight Hector, relishing in the thought of the challenge.

Luckily for Mercury, team RWBY came to his defence, so he was not incarcerated for all of his past crimes. Mercury, not expecting this, was more emotional than he ever thought to be possible post the death of his mother, and that earned him a lifetime of teasing from Yang, forced one sided hug from Ruby, challenges of every kind from Nora, and actual friendship he needs to get used to. Even Ironwood couldn't get close to him if he didn't have a smile on his face beforehand, and he'd be damned before he even _thought_ of getting in between that friendship.

Speaking of Ironwood, sometime during the flight, Tai himself, while injured with a healing hole in his chest, forced himself into the cockpit and flew back to Atlas just a few minutes after the dragon was defeated. To this day no one knows how he was able to do that before, and now is bedridden and declared no longer able to fight due to his wounds.

The news about Raven's death struck hard, and Tai felt loss of a loved one for the third time in his life. But this time, he had the support of seven teenagers, - eight if you counted Mercury - the Fall Maiden, his longtime teammate Qrow, Ironwood, Zwei, - No one knows when and how he got there - countless others, and soon to be one more man, as soon as he woke up.

Yang becoming the new Spring Maiden also came with another shock, her eyes were now permanently red, the same red as her biological mother, and her bionic arm was repaired from all the damage it took against Hell. In private, she told her father Raven's last words. Which brought them both into tears, mourning for her. Yang blamed herself for not being strong enough, but that was quickly snuffed out by the company she had. Mercury has also been surprisingly supportive of her as well, along with Blake of course. Helping her out by telling her learning more about her new Maiden powers with the knowledge he had about it. Helping her train and summon her powers willfully. With time, Mercury has been growing on her, and she has forgiven him for what he did to her all that time ago, not that he knows anyway… yet.

Weiss and Winter have taken over the SDC, with their father dead, and their mother and brother deemed too mentally ill to be able to control such a company, the sisters have stepped up to the plate. Winter let her sister know that she will not be helping her for long, since she is a huntress and has her own duties. Weiss had no problem with this, and as the official boss of the SDC, has reclaimed her as family, officially making her a member of the Schnee family again, and not only by name this time. Fixing one of her father's biggest mistakes from the get-go, along with personally helped her mother and brother however she can, and yes, even her brother. Weiss promised herself long ago, that she will fix the SDC, and make sure that faunus aren't targeted anymore, got rid of any corrupt businessmen her father dealt with. Slowly but surely, the Shnee name will be one of honor again.

As for the other members of RNJR, Ren and Nora's relationship blossomed fast, and all their pent up romantic frustrations toward one another have finally been able to be release. Nora has been very _aggressive_ in this relationship, not then Ren doesn't like it of course. Jaune has spent a majority of his time helping rebuild the kingdom, and has promised himself to go see his family again soon. But, they finally found out where he's been and what he has been doing for the past year and a half, and they sent him a very well thought message, one each from every member of the family, most were… pretty colorful to say the least, and Nicholas Arc's said that they are on his way, and to make sure Crocea Mors isn't in bad shape, and that is all it said… Looks like Jaune is going to have a _lot_ of explaining to do.

Ruby has been by Hector's side almost every night, in the day she helps out with the reconstruction of Atlas, using her speed to bring supplies and tools needed to fix and rebuild parts of the destroyed fortress that was once the walls of Atlas. She never lost hope, and gets excited every time Hector groaned or moved in his sleep. The doctors said that he will wake up soon, they just don't know when, but it is confirmed that he will live. Ruby hasn't bothered to deny her feelings for him anymore, she is older and now understands a bit more about having true feelings toward another. She is no longer the naive innocent little girl that attended Beacon two years early. She holds his hand, which sparks a shock throughout her whole body.

Hours later, at about five in the morning, Hector woke up in a sweaty mess and with a yelp. Startling Ruby awake as she jumped out of her chair in the corner with Crescent Rose in hand and unfolded. Hector takes in several deep breaths, while looking around the room with his now permanently ocean blue eye. He feels himself up quickly, and notices the bandages wrapped around almost every inch of his body. He didn't even realize he was that hurt. Then his eye locks on the silver… and smiles the brightest smile he has ever smiled, instantly recognizing the younger girl to be Ruby Rose.

"Hector!" Ruby exclaimed as she _drops_ Crescent Rose and closes the distance between them in less then a second. Rose petals fall behind her onto the floor, and even onto the bed she has just jumped in, literally.

"Ow." Hector said as he hugged her back tightly anyway. "Guess I overdid it a bit." He joked with a weak chuckle.

" _Guess I overdid it a bit."_ Ruby mocked. "Of course you overdid it you big lug!" Ruby yelled as she bops Hector hard on the head, making him wince even when his aura protected him from any damage. "You nearly killed yourself, again! When I said I needed your help, I didn't mean go all out and throw me! Everyone was so worried about you! I was…" Ruby's voice trails off, tears streaming from her eyes as she buries her face into his chest.

"I…" Hector stammers, unable to make a full sentence out of the shock. "I… didn't mean to worry you all… I just wanted to make sure everyone got out alive, you understand right?"

Ruby didn't _want_ to understand, but there's no way she couldn't. Hector was like her in that way, willing to help someone, even if it meant killing themselves for it.

"I care for you all... You are all precious to me." Hector said as he himself began to get emotional. "I'm sorry."

Ruby smiled and blushed deeply at his declaration, knowing the few words he said were genuine. Reluctantly, she pushed away and sat on the edge of the bed, looking straight into his blue eye.

"I know you do. Everyone is precious to me as well. I probably would have done the same thing you did if I were in your position." Ruby said with a sigh, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them up again with a glare. "But… that doesn't mean you are out of this yet mister!" Ruby exclaimed, grabbing Hector's arm and trying to pull him out of the bed. But even while low on aura, and weaker then he usually is, he still has enough strength to effortlessly resist her.

"Are… you trying to get me to stand up?" He asked sarcastically as he gently pulls back. "I thought you'd be stronger then this to be honest."

"I… am trying… to be mad at you!" Ruby yelled as she pulled harder.

But Hector pulled back harder, making her trip and fall right into his lap with a soft thud. She stayed there for a moment before grunting in frustration. Hector laughed and pulled her back up. "I missed you to Ruby." He said with a softness in his eyes that gave Ruby butterflies in her stomach. "I think I made a promise to you before we separated from each other right?" Hector rhetorically asked as he swing his legs over the bed.

"W-wait!" Ruby said. "I don't think you should be moving yet, you've been out for weeks." She said as she went over to the other side of the bed just in case he fell over.

"Weeks?" Hector asked, eyes shaking a little at the thought of being out for so long, that put a wrench in plans for sure.

Ruby timidly nods, a little ashamed for revealing sensitive information so abruptly. "Yeah, the doctors said that when you woke up, you should be okay to leave, but not to push it."

Hector took another look at his body, luckily he seems to have some sort of sweat pants on for whatever reason, so his privates are obscured from view. But the only parts of him that are visible, are his hands and face. He moves to remove one of the bandages on his right arm, since that was the one that broke, and his for some reason not in a cast. But a small hand grabs his wrist and stops him.

Ruby looks him dead in the eye again, with a sad arch of her eyebrow. "I haven't seen yet, I don't know if it's bad or not, but I saw you after what happened with Hell… I don't know if it healed looking… appealing."

Hector nodded, but continued to work on it anyway. He took a deep breath as he made it to the last layer, which has plenty of blood soaked into it. His eyes widened at the sight.

"I bled this much?" Hector asked under his breath as he gently touched the last bandage. "How am I still alive."

"Miracles and magic." Ruby answered straight away with a shrug.

Hector nodded and took another deep breath, and ripped off the last bandage in one go, eager to get it over with, and the look of his arms shocked him.

It's… normal? Nothing Wrong? AGAIN!?

He blinked his eye a couple of times to make sure what he was seeing was what he was actually seeing, not a single scar, nor any signs of having a broken arm in the first place. But it is still there, and he looks to see Ruby standing with her hands behind her back and a smug grin on her face.

"I'm guessing you knew about this then." Hector chuckled as he flexed and stretched out his arm a couple of times. He is very, and his muscles scream in protest with every movement, but the satisfaction of having his dominant arm back and in good shape is enough for it not to ruin the moment.

"Maybe~" Ruby drawled.

"Heh, so what are all the bandages for then?" Hector asked as he started working on his other arm and the rest of his body.

Ruby looked away but couldn't help but take peeks at his well sculpted body, not too big, and not too small, somehow just perfect. She doesn't know how he was able to get that body in such good shape in such a short amount of time, but she can't deny that she likes to sight of it.

Ruby goes beet red as she thinks her own thoughts, and pries her eyes away then pulling up her hood in an attempt to hide her red face. _Ugh, is this what Yang meant by my hormones finally starting to kick in?_

"I-I think the doctors said that it was necessary…"

Hector nods, and begins to push himself up off the bed. Most other men wouldn't have even been able to push themselves up into a sitting position, and here he is trying to stand up already, just minutes after waking up after a month long coma. The sound of the bed creaking makes Ruby turn back around, just in time to catch Hector as he almost falls as soon as his legs take his full weight.

"Are you okay?!"

"Y-yeah." Hector said as he let himself sit back on the bed. "Looks like my legs aren't one hundred percent yet."

"I don't think any part of your body is one hundred percent." Ruby pointed out. "You need crutches, I want to surprise the others by bringing you to the celebration, it's going to be just us so don't worry about any reporters. They have been coming from every corner of the world just to try and speak to you. How does it feel to be the savior of two kingdoms now?" Ruby asks as she walked over to a corner of the room where crutches laid.

"Heh, again, I don't deserve all the credit-"

"You single handedly took on about… I don't know, a thousand Grimm?" Ruby cut him off with a smile as used her speed to reach him again. "You may not think it, but you played a part in nearly every part of the battle, you were the reason we won, if you hadn't defeated your clone, or drove away those Grimm, Atlas would have fallen." Ruby points out as she leaned the crutches against the bed and taking his face in her hands. "You're a hero."

Hector gets a bit red himself at the intimacy of the act, as well as the praise he just recieved. Eventually he just lets out yet another chuckle and takes her hands in his. "Well, I know I definitely missed you."

"Y-yeah… I still have the rose you gave me." Ruby said, causing both of their cheeks to darken. Hector slowly releases her hands and scratches the back of his head, using the other to reach to his crutches that for some reason were in the corner of the room, far from the person meant to use them. He recovers first from hus flustered state.

"Before we end up melting how about we go see the others?" Hector asked as he slid one crutch under one of his arms.

"Wait… Before we go, why did you yell when you woke up?" Ruby asked hesitantly, grabbing her elbow as she awaits an answers.

Hector's eye widens, and whatever blood rushed up to his face flows away just as fast as it came. He really doesn't want to answer this, but things have been bottled up for far too long. His first kill, that is not even that long ago, the loss of his eye, all the pain his body has gone through, befriending Raven, then watching her die days later, killing innocent people that have been transformed into Grimm in brutal ways, had to literally fight against his evil self, living with another person in his body, not being able to save everyone he can. But worst of all, he lost his family at the start of all of this, he lost the friends that he had, hell, he lost his dog to. He hasn't been able, nor did he want to, think about any of it, he has been so focused on being the hero, that he had bottled up his emotional pain. But with Ruby here, someone he trusts, and loves. He is going to finally let some of it out.

"I saw my family."

* * *

"C'mon Merc! Work those robot legs!" Nora shouts as Mercury runs around the room, setting up the party they planned weeks in advance. They are in the Schnee household, which has been rebuilt, and cleaned up. Weiss, even though that the celebration is in her own home, may not be able to attend because of her very busy schedule.

"Nora… please, I need a break." Mercury said between pants.

"Nuh uh mister! You have a _lot_ of making it up to us to do." Nora said as she rests her head on Ren's shoulder, who has not been able to move from that spot for the past thirty minutes.

"I thought having a hand in saving a kingdom would have been enough…" Mercury said under is breath. While he did manage to get most of them to forgive him for the manipulation and lies he spat in their faces during his time at Beacon, he has had to work for Nora's forgiveness, basically having to treat her like the queen she is.

"What was that!?"

"N-nothing, miss!"

"That's what I thought. You're almost done, when you are, I shall allow you to attend this celebration." Nora said just as she gave Ren a hard kiss on his cheeks. He has become so used to her affections that he just doesn't get flustered over them anymore, at least externally.

"C'mon Nora," Yang calls out from the doorway, she wears her usual outfit, but this time without the jacket. She got an upgrade for her bionic arm, making it look more human than a machine, now skin colored to match her own, it can be mistaken for a regular arm until you get close enough to tell. "Mercury has done a lot for us, and for me." Yang said as she walked up beside Mercury and wrapped an arm around his head and pulled him in. "I think he can go a while without your ordering around for a while, he's earned it."

Mercury flushes for a bit before slipping himself out of Yang's grip once he sees Tai's eyes looming over them. "Thanks, Yang." He mutters as he takes a seat at the table.

"No problem. Say, where's Ruby? I thought she'd be the first one here." Yang says as she scans the room with her eyes.

"Went to go see Hector again." Blake answers. "I thought you would have guessed that by now, she's been there every day."

"Yeah, I know." Yang sighed as she took a seat for herself. "I'm just surprised my dad over here hasn't gone and killed him yet."

"I will you know, if you actually want me to." Tai said as he stroked Zwei's head. Still no one knows how he got there.

"Dad, you can barely stand up without help as it is." Yang points out with a snigger. "Besides, I'll do it myself if I have to."

"Or, and listen closely now, you can not get involved in your sisters love life." Weiss suggests as she enters the room herself. The others eyes light up, they haven't been able to see her for two weeks. "Yes, yes, I am happy to you see you all to." She adds with a smile.

"Weiss!" Almost everyone exclaims in unison. Nora dashes up to her and picks her up into a hug, where Weiss awkwardly patted her on the back in an attempt to reciprocate the hug when her arms were pinned to her sides.

"I thought you weren't going to be able to make it." Blake admits, but has a smile on her face anyway.

"I make time for my friends, even as the owner of the Schnee Dust Company." Weiss said with another smile as Nora finally let her down.

"Great! Jaune, you here?" Nora asks out loud, not even looking around the room.

Jaune falls down from through the ceiling just as his name is called. He has been training intensely so that he does not find himself useless in another battle, combine that with him helping rebuild, and he has been getting much stronger and faster pretty quickly. "How did that even happen?" Jaune asks no one in particular as he sees stars appear in his vision.

"Great! Now all we have to wait for is Ruby! And Hector maybe, who knows, maybe he woke up early." Nora says as she jumps into Ren's lap. Ren rolls his eyes and pats her head as she makes herself comfortable.

"You're always good at making entrances Vomit Boy." Yang says as she helps Jaune up from the ground.

"I don't see the science around what just happened to me…" Jaune answers. "And please don't call me that."

"Nope, I saw what sweet little Rhea did, good job Ray!" Yang yelled toward the Fall Maiden, who has been sitting quiet for the past couple hours. She perks up after being called, and waves happily toward her fellow Maiden.

After the battle, Rhea lost her mentor, he's not dead of course, but in a coma. Despite knowing that she wouldn't have made much of a difference in the fight, she blames herself for not being there for Hector, to at least try to help him so he wouldn't have had to push his body so far to win. But what she doesnt know, is that if she had stayed with him, then Blake and Taiyang would have most likely died, or get even more injured, along with hundreds of others if she didn't blow away a whole city block worth of Grimm. She has even been praised personally by Ironwood himself, but also was warned about not showing off her powers like that again.

"Hey Ray." Her thoughts are cut off as the Spring Maiden takes a seat next to her. "You know I can tell something is wrong right?" Yang asks rhetorically.

"W-what do you mean?" Rhea asks, looking away from Yang and back to the table.

"I know you miss him, we all do." Yang points out, before smirking. "Ruby _definitely_ does. But chill, it's only been a month and the doctors said he's been showing nothing but improvement, he saved us, and you saved my dad and partner, and countless others." Yang makes Rhea look her in the eyes, crimson red boring into burning amber. She widens her own as she realizes what she has done herself. She did save people…

"So chin up, and have some fun for tonight, im sure he'd want you to after everything that has happened." Yang ended with a bright smile.

Rhea thinks hard about what she said, and ends up laughing about how she has been acting. "Thanks Yang. You really helped."

"Eh, us Maidens need to stick together right?"

They both share a laugh again, this time much more wholesome then before.

* * *

"You mean your family before you came here?" Ruby asked after a couple of moments of processing what Hector had just said. _He has dreams about his family? I never knew… it's been so long since we were able to talk. This can't be the first time this happened, not by a long shot._ She thinks to herself ways to help him out in this situation, and now that she knows something is wrong, she is not going to leave his side until he is better, she owes him that much after everything Hector has sacrificed so far.

Including his humanity… If the look in his eyes- well… eye is anything to go by.

"Yeah, that one." Hector confirms. "It's only been about eight or nine months I think? Maybe a year? Yet it feels like it has been so much longer since I last saw them." Hector said as he rested his hands on the bed, and gestured for Ruby to sit next to him, which she did without hesitation. "But that's not everything… Ruby, I've found out things about myself that really shook me. Things that involve Salem."

Ruby widened her eyes slightly of the mentioning of the Queen of the Grimm. What worries her more is the look in his eye, it was so full of happiness before, but now, it's just empty sadness.

"What about her?" Ruby asked slowly, hoping that it is not too soon to ask such a question.

Hector let out a single sad chuckle before shaking his head and leaning over his knees, resting his elbows on them. "She… is the reason I am here." He revealed. "That's not all, she has been speaking to me, in my dreams that is, I don't know if it is real or not but she is still there. I was summoned to this world, and I was supposed to be what Hell is."

Ruby tried to hide her shock at the revelation, but ended up gasping. She then found herself unable to formulate a response to that, and after a couple of moments, Hector noticed.

"Heh, yeah, I had the same reaction when Oz told me. Speaking of which, guy must be resting or something, hasn't said a word yet." Hector changes the topic, losing confidence in himself to continue the story and explanation for his sadness. "We should get to that party, everyone's worried like you said."

"No, not yet," Ruby stops him before he can stand up with the crutches. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier, I was just speechless. But I know you're hurting now, and I want to help, tell me how I can help." Ruby pretty much begs him, holding onto his right arm with both of hers and staring into his eye.

Hector feels a warmth burn up inside him, and he raises his left arm to pat her head, she doesn't resist this time, and just lets him do it. "You already are," He says with a small smile. "But as flattered as I am, and as much as I would love to make up for lost time, I have two Maidens, two teams worth of angsty teenagers, and a former villain to catch up with, and that is not even counting your dad and Qrow." He said as he stood up, much easier this time because of the crutches.

Ruby nods her head, reluctant to go through with it after what has just been revealed to her, but accepting Hector's decision to catch up with the others, she almost gets lost in thought as she walked out the door, and realized that Hector was about to walk out of the room without a shirt on…

"Wait!" Ruby exclaims that word for the third time, blocking and closing the door before he makes a mistake and has to walk in the night without a top on.

"What is it now?" Hector asks playfully. He notices Ruby eyeing him down, he looks down at himself and realizes that he is indeed topless still, it doesn't really bother him as much as what he thinks is going through the silver eyes warriors head though. Of course, he jumps to conclusions right away, because that's how anime works. "U-uh, Ruby… I don't think this is the right time… I mean, if I _wasn't_ barely able to stand maybe but-"

Ruby catches on to his meaning finally, and blushes to a color more red then he hood. "No no no! That wasn't what I was thinking!" Half-lie. Without opening her eyes she points to the table up against the wall in the room while standing as stiff as a board. "Your clothes are in that bag, just put your shirt on and lets go, I don't want to keep them waiting any longer." Ruby said as she sped out the door and leaned against the wall outside, clutching her chest where her heart is beating around light speed levels.

"Did he say… maybe?"

* * *

Back to the Schnee household, the party has just gotten started, Qrow came in late as he usually does, flying into the window at an attempt of making an entrance, and ended up breaking right through it and transforming back into a human right on Tai's lap. He reeked of alcohol but everyone is used to it by now, the death of his twin sister has been tough on him after all. But that is just the beginning, Weiss yelled at Jaune for destroying part of her home, and he was cradling himself as he attempted to protect his ears. Ren and Nora were doing… things in the corner of the room. Mercury has engaged in a conversation with the two Maidens about actual happy things, he listens to them open up about their past, which was a good thing for him, he is becoming closer with those he used to want to kill.

"So, I tell Jaune Im being a good guy now, of course he didn't believe me at first and got ready to fight me." Mercury continued the funny story about how he met Jaune after officially becoming a good guy, apparently Yang finds this hilarious and laughs about it every time it is told. "At the time I didn't know I was covered in blood, but in my defence it was Grimm blood. So he told me to turn around and head back toward you guys, and then Nora out of nowhere, just jumps out and grabs both of us, pulling us together in one big group hug. I was startled of course, and I pushed air out of my feet and launched us into the air, somehow landing right next to you." He finishes with a chuckle of his own. "That Ren guy was so out of breath trying to keep up with us." Mercury adds, the laughter from Yang being too contagious to resist. Hell, even the Fall Maiden is laughing along with him.

But his laughter is cut short when he once again notices the blue eyed death glare from Taiyang, who he has been avoiding for as long as possible, a kick from under the table snaps him back to reality however.

"Go talk to him, he won't stop glaring at you until you go make nice with him." Yang said, her laughter suddenly stopping.

"How do I even begin doing that? 'Hey, sorry I made your daughter out to be a dishonorable huntsman and ultimately caused her to lose her arm, we good?' I know how to read people Yang, and he wants me dead." Mercury explains, resting his head on his hand.

"Oh, please. You didn't cause this." Yang waves around her robot arm. "He glares like that to any boy that looks at me or Ruby, it's a dad thing. I honestly don't know how Hector survived it." Yang said with a grin.

"Oh, are we changing the topic? Yeah let's do that- OW!" Mercury gets kicked again, somehow causing him pain when she is kicking him right on the metal leg.

"Go, now." Yang basically demands before turning around and waving to her dad and uncle. "Hey! Dad and Uncle Qrow! Mercury here wants to talk to ya!"

"I SAID NO SUCH THING!"

"Oh does he now?" Taiyang asks. "I'm willing to listen to what he has to say." His grin turns maniacal, and that does nothing to calm Mercury down in the slightest.

"Finally growing balls Black?" Qrow asked with an arched eyebrow, sitting with his arms outstretched and with his leg on a half broken stool.

Mercury swallowed nervously, and seeing no way out of this besides running, he pushes himself up from the table. "I hate you." He mutters before working up the courage to go talk to them.

"Nah, you don't anymore." Yang points out with a victorious smirk.

Mercury shook his head and grunted as he made his way toward them, already regretting his decision and hoping for a second Marcus would make an entrance just to distract them all. But he pushes that thought back far in the back of his mind.

"Sit." Tai gestured to the seat in front of him and slightly to the right. Mercury obeyed without question. "So, finally stopped being afraid of me?"

"Not exactly, no, Yang just kinda pushed me into this." Mercury answered honestly. _Man, my past self would think i'm such a pussy_.

"I noticed." Tai pointed out, even though it was already obvious for Mercury to tell. "I don't know why you're afraid, I can't fight anymore, everytime I try to even exercise I would run out of breath in just the warm up and my body would just give up."

"And if you could still fight?"

"Then I probably would have made this talk happen much earlier, and much more physical then it is now."

"And that's why I didn't come here."

"Why did you do it?"

"Huh?" The question caught Mercury off guard. He thought he'd already know, given the fact that he has been around almost a dozen people who probably know the truth about it.

"Why did you frame my daughter?" Tai rephrases, his tone not changing in the slightest.

Mercury was tempted to lie, to say he didn't want to, but he is not that person anymore. He needs to tell the truth, even if it causes him his robot legs. So he did.

He told the truth.

"At the time… I wasn't a good person, you know I was an assassin, and I liked to see people suffer. I had an order, an order given by the Fall Maiden, and she wasn't exactly fond of her underlings failing. I completed my task, threw the match, and made sure my aura was down all the way, the last step was to just get close enough for her to attack me so my partner can make her _think_ I was attacking her." Mercury explained, the whole truth about that particular day.

"Huh, so she wasn't crazy at the time." Qrow said after a pregnant pause, and drank from his bottomless flash.

"Tsk, I knew something was up when I saw the footage, you could have easily dodged it if it really was real." Tai pointed out, to which Mercury and Qrow both nodded to. "Qrow, why are you so lenient toward him? After what he did, I expected you to bring me his head."

"Kid proved himself to me, the first time I fought against him, his heart wasn't in the fight, he didn't want to fight, he just wanted to get his girlfriend out of there and move on with his life." Qrow pointed out, making Mercury hang his head at the memory of his deceased friend. "The second time I fought _with_ him, I saw him ready to take on a horde of Grimm, and Marcus Black in an effort to defend civilians and military personnel. And this time, his heart was in it, he had a drive, determination. That was when I forgave him, because he dragged himself off of the wrong path." Qrow explains.

His explanation shocks both Mercury and Tai, he really meant it, every word. Qrow of all people. Qrow fucking Branwen, forgave him for turning his niece into a depressed mess for a good amount of time.

"But that doesn't mean I like you kid, you still got more to prove." Qrow added.

"Train me." Mercury said suddenly, locking eyes with Qrow as he widened them.

"What?" Qrow doesn't quite believe what he just heard.

"The first time I fought against my dad, I thought I killed him, the second time, I thought he was going to kill me. I don't want the third to end up like the second, and I want to be the one to put the bastard in the ground for everything he did, but I can't do it the way I am now." Mercury explained in more detail, piquing the interest of the two huntsman, as well as Yang who has been listening in on the conversation. "So, I want you to train me, because if you don't, I'm just going to train myself, but by then he may be at a point where I won't be able to reach him."

"Eh, okay." Qrow said with a shrug, placing his flask back in his shirt pocket.

Mercury's eyes widen. "What?"

"I said okay, I'll train you." Qrow repeated. "It's been way too boring around here, I need something to do while we wait for the next step of our plan."

"Are you being serious? You're not just screwing with me are you?" Mercury felt the need to ask, just in case. This is Qrow we're talking about.

"Black, just shut up and accept it. You're a good guy now, so you're gonna be treated right now." Qrow waved his arms around like it was some sort of ritual, and ended it by pointing at him with both hands. "Congratulations, you are now an official student."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Are we just going to forget the topic we were just on?" Tai asked, even Zwei barks happily in agreement.

"Meh," Qrow shrugs. "You know i'm not one for serious topics." Over time, Qrow and Tai have slowly reconciled, now much less hostile toward each other. The death of a mutual loved one brought them together, now the last two members of their team, they have to make the last years of their lives count, if not for their sake, then for Summer's and Raven's.

"We're not done yet Mercury." Tai warns with a shake of his head. "I don't like you, but I can tell that my daughter likes your company, despite everything you did. So i'll tolerate you… for now."

"That's the best I can get. I'll try to win you over." Mercury says with a small smile, satisfied with the progress that have been made, albeit the very small amount.

"You can try. Now go before I change my mind, and for fucks sake change that hair style, it just pisses me off looking at it." Tai snarled.

"O-okay." Mercury said as he quickly moved away, somehow making it back in one piece to where he was originally seated. As soon as he sits down he slumps his head face first against the table.

"That wasn't that bad was it?" He could just _feel_ the grin on Yang;s face as she asks him that.

"Fuck. Off."

"Ouch, my feelings are hurt, I need to tell my father of all the problems I face." Yang said with fake sadness.

"No! No no, don't do that!" Mercury stammers.

"Haha, oh you are going to be so much fun." Yang said with a giggle.

"... Great."

"AAAAAHH!" Nora's piercing scream nearly makes everyone fall off their seat. Next they hear a thud and something fall to the ground with a clatter.

"I didn't even enter the room yet…" A familiar voice said with a groan.

Everyone looks toward the doorway, only to see Ruby beside Nora who is hugging Hector with every limb, presenting them like it was some sort of magic trick with a smile. Mercury waves with a small smile, not knowing that Hector already knows he's a good guy now, while all the others scream his name, besides Ren that is, he's just trying to catch his breath.

"Yes. Yes, I am awake. Yes, thank you for worrying. Nora please, everything hurts." Hector said as he lowered her to the ground then turned to Weiss. "You are going to need to explain to me why part of your house is a hospital."

Weiss giggles and shakes her head. "After being asleep for a month, and not being able to speak to us for longer, _that_ is the first thing you say to me?"

"Group hug?" Hector asked with a smile, toward pretty much everyone in the room and spreading his arms out wide. The first is Ruby, since she is the closest and can run at the speed of light, and to the surprise of some, Rhea comes flying in next, clutching on to one of his arms and rubbing her ears against it with a cute smile on her face. Then Nora, once again, jumping onto his back, cementing him in place.

"'Bout time you woke up," Yang said as she walked toward the group. "I was actually starting to get worried about you."

"Eh, I like to make things dramatic." Hector said with a shrug, and a wince since Nora has once again climbed onto him.

Yang shakes her head and chuckles, joining in the hug gently. Hector looks over his shoulder and sees that last two remaining girls and gestures for them to join with a flick of his head.

"I already have four attached to me, what's two more?"

"You're insufferable." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes, but joined the group hug anyway. Blake remains silent but joins in anyway, completing the group hug with every girl from RWBY and RNJRR.

After a few moments, they break apart, finally giving Hector the breath of air he needs for the first time since he entered the room. Hector's red undershirt somehow is still in one piece, but he keeps the hospital pants on because he deemed them comfortable enough to walk around in. On his way here he ignored the murmuring and praising by almost everyone he walked by, even when some of the comments touched his heart. His focus was reconnecting with his close friends first, then answer whatever questions the world may have for him when he is able to walk around without the need of crutches.

"Can someone pick that up for me?" He asks when he looks down to the one of the crutches that fell from his side.

Ruby picks it up for him right away, and places it back in its original position.

"Thank you Ruby." Hector starts to move away, only to be gently pulled back by someone he has been unintentionally neglecting. He looks down to his left to see the Fall Maiden he saved a short while back, and with the aura connection they have he can tell that she is in need of some affection and comfort.

Hector raises his other hand and pats her head just as he always did before, making sure to get behind her wolf ears that are underneath her hood as well. "Sorry for scarin' ya."

"Hmph, good because we need to finish our training!" Rhea points out with a pout.

"You mean in this whole month you haven't been training?" Hector asked with a soft glare.

"Well… uh." Rhea stutters.

"And there has been another Maiden that could have helped you."

"Uh…"

"As well has literally everyone else in this room."

"... I missed you?" Rhea stated.

Hector chuckled and patted her head again.

"You're lucky i'm nice." He said as he walked over to Jaune and Ren, who are standing next to each other smiling at their leader. He gives them each a fist bump, since he is burned out on hugs at the moment, before taking a seat at the table, right next to Mercury.

"I think it goes without saying that if you try anything i'm going to make you feel more pain then Cinder did when I killed her." Hector threatens.

Mercury nervously gulps, but forces himself to look into his eye, that he notes is now an ocean blue rather than it's previous dark brown.

"I'm not going to, it's a promise." Mercury said in as brave a tone he can muster up to the one who killed Cinder.

"Great!" Hector exclaims in a much happier tone, surprising Mercury with the sudden shift in the atmosphere. "We're good then, good to have ya on the team." Hector said as he gave him a hard but playful pat on the back.

"Uh…" Mercury doesn't know what to say.

"So, what have I missed?" He asked the others as they took all took a seat around him, Ruby to his left and Rhea sliding in between him and Mercury after he slid over to the other seat to give her room.

They went on explaining to him on what they have been doing, Weiss coming the new big boss, Yang and Rhea actually training to learn more about their powers with the help of Mercury. Hector wondered why Rhea didn't tell him this when he first walked in, but shrugs it aside. The aftermath of Raven's death, which everyone drank to. Hector apologized to Taiyang, feeling partly responsible for not being able to defeat Hell in time to save her, but he gets bopped on the head by Qrow, telling him it wasn't his fault and that he did his best, and ultimately was the one who avenged her, assuming that Hell is dead. Hector nodded and listened on to he short stories of Jaune and Rens whereabouts. Proud of Jaune for wanting to get stronger, but warning him to not train himself to death. And then after that…

"Renny and I are together-together-together~!" Nora exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Rens neck and pulls him into a kiss, one where Ren was barely able to turn his head in time to press his lips against hers.

Hector threw his head back and laughed hysterically, at first they all thought he was making fun of them, but his next words are the opposite.

"About damn time! You know how long I was waiting for this to happen?" Hector asks the couple, who blink and tilt their heads in confusion. "YEARS! F'ing years! About time you to, I couldn't be happier for you both." He said with a smile as he wiped a tear from his face.

"Yay!" Nora exclaims, kissing Ren on the cheek, actually making him blush a little for once.

"Hopefully it doesn't take years for you to find love." Ren said to his leader.

Hector knows what he meant by this, and gets a bit red at the thought, as does Ruby who had just stopped functioning all together, feeling some eyes on her from her friends.

"Heh, maybe." Hector got back to normal as he said that. "With all the times I almost died, or was taken over, I think I'd do more damage than good."

"Nonsense." Taiyang cuts him off, as well as silencing the rest of the room. "You can't see it that way Hector. You do what you do because if you don't, people would die. I have a lot of respect for you for that trait, your selflessness and willingness to help others, even if it means dying." Tai explains, leaning over the table on his elbows and staring Hector in the eye.

"One day you might fall," Qrow continued for his teammate. "You might actually give your life to save another, in your final moments do you really want to think 'Why didn't I just go for it?' Trust me, not a good way to go, I've seen it happen."

Hector looks down at his hands, the hands he has used to keep himself and others alive, the hands he used to beat down two Maidens, countless Grimm, and himself, both literally and metaphorically. He smiles at the praise, albeit a little shocked it's coming from those two, but smiles nonetheless.

"Ruby was waiting for you every night you know." Qrow continued, this time with a smug grin on his face, the news makes Hector widen his eye and Ruby go beet red, but she doesn't deny it. "I've been getting sick of the way you two dance around each other, Yang told me everything."

Ruby glares at Yang, but her older sister just shrugs and waves it off, silently saying "Meh,"

"Probably not going to happen soon, but just get it over with before you two end up getting separated again." Qrow said as he took out his flask, looked at it, then shakes his head and puts it back in. "I might have to save that for later." He finishes as he goes back to the fancy looking couch he has claimed for himself.

"Well, ignoring that happened." Jaune said after an awkward silence. "Hector, did you know that your eye is blue now?"

All of Hector's previous awkwardness is blown away with this single question…

"IT IS!?"

* * *

 **AN- Okay, I know what you're thinking, why end it here? And the answer to that one Billy, is that if I continued writing I would use up all of the ideas I have for this filler arc. This arc will mainly be focused on the relationship between Hector and Ruby. I am inexperienced with Romance, but I will do my best to make it as heartwarming as possible. Might last about 3-4 chapters, maybe more or less.**

 **I guess you could call it the… Red Rivers? Y'know, a river, Hector's last name, and red… which is on pretty much all of Ruby's clothing. If you have something better please help.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think, just to clarify, there was a time skip of one month, give or take a couple of days. Post Atlas arc. Ask me any questions you need answered.**

 **Also, please read the AN I had in the beginning, it has some things that are important to the story.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	37. An Unlikely Hero Chapter 36

**AN- You guys know the drill,**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Yeah, I liked Unlikely Hero to, as you probably found out already :). Also thank you, I tried last chapter.**

 **Guest- Thank you for your thoughts, and well. I decided on a new one, I hope you like it anyway. At least it still has Unlikely in it right?**

 **Zeldawolffang- That is understandable, thank you for that.**

 **Astra- I wouldn't actually do that, don't worry, after all this time there's no way I can end the story so abruptly. Yeah, 'research', wish me luck. What do you think of the new title? Hector just needed to take a little nap, and I must be making the shippers pull their hair out for how long i've been putting off the pairing, well hint hint it's not going to be that long of a wait anymore. Of course I have plans for Rhea's semblance, as for what it is, you have about maybe one to three chapters to predict it. Ilia will get a proper update soon, just have to focus on the main cast for now. As for the Summer Maiden, the same goes with her, except her update is going to come much sooner. In this world, I am god, and I didn't feel like writing a whole mini-arc just to keep Mercury out of prison, cuz screw logic and for Jauney boy… Ooooohhh just wait for his family to show up. I'm still deciding on what to do with Weiss honestly, maybe yes maybe no to that one. You'll see why no doctors came to check on Hector this chapter, I have a feeling you might laugh or D'aww at it. Like I said before, I love teasing the pairing :). You read my mind on the Mercury/Qrow training. Hector can have a bunch female friends hugging him! Even if it isn't team HAMR, he saved all their lives twice now, therefore he is now claimed by all of them (Platonically, except for Ruby). Oh yeah, Hector and Ruby get together, then Ruby runs off to fight Salem on her own, and then he gets with Yang, and then she dies, shortest story I've ever written, Tai 2.0 is now born. Hector didn't really stop to look at any reflective material, even if he did I don't think he would have gotten a good look of himself to even notice the eye is blue. There's a reason behind it, don't worry. Thanks for the compliment man, I'll do my best to make the romance part of this story as romancy as possible. See ya in the next one!**

 **Kage-kitsune9001- It's just blue eye man, I just thought it'd look cool, there will be some meaning behind it but it's not going to mean much. Thanks for the review.**

 **Now let's get right to it! A chapter that I am sure, so many of you have been waiting for ;).**

* * *

Chapter 36- Red Rivers

"IT IS!?" Hector asked as he nearly feel running to the window to confirm this revelation. He looks into his own eye and sees that it is in fact blue, an ocean blue to be specific, like, the kind of blue eye you see only in anime. It looked good on him if he is being honest with himself. "Wow…" Hector says to himself as he stares into his own reflection. "I never thought I'd look good with blue eyes until just now."

"You didn't look into any mirrors on the way here?" Weiss asked. "I know for a fact that there are plenty reflective surfaces in the manor."

"Well it's not like I actually stopped and looked into any of them, I might have been able to if _someone_ wasn't constantly ushering me forward to see you guys." Hector looks straight at Ruby as he said that, making her laugh nervously and play with her hair.

"How did you even manage to get out of there? I had the best doctors in Atlas take a look at you and said they needed to run tests to see if you were okay to move around after you woke up." Weiss points out, now that she mentions it. Everyone thinks the same thing.

"Really? I just woke up, said hi to Ruby, and then walked out to meet you guys here." Hector admits right away.

"What!? Oh those unprofessional, insubordinate-"

"Woah… wait a second." Hector cuts off Weiss and returns his gaze straight back at Ruby, who seems to shrink even further at the attention. "I've been lied to."

Everyone is surprised to hear of this, even Zwei, whose ears flatten against his head as he whimpers disappointedly. Tai has his jaw hanging open, never in a million years did he ever think that his little Rubaby would lie about something, same goes for the rest of the group, besides Nora and Yang of course, who are just impressed with the young leaders boldness.

"I can explain…" Ruby begins.

After about ten seconds everyone realizes that she has no explanation for her actions, but luckily she is saved when Qrow and Hector burst out laughing at the same time. Shortly after, others begin to join in, with Zwei barking happily along.

"So let me get this straight." Hector said as he stepped behind Ruby and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You wanted me off that bed _so badly_ , that you lied to me. In my face no less, and took me to the others before someone could find me and bring me back." Hector ends that sentence with a chuckle. "I have newfound respect for you."

"Respect!? What she did was immature, selfish and-"

"Weiss, I don't think I need a doctor to tell me that I can move around right now." Hector points to himself. "I mean, I've been up and about for the past hour so far, so I think I'll be fine."

Weiss opens her mouth to protest, but Hector stops her before another word can come out of her mouth.

"If I find myself needing medical support, then I'll go get it myself. Deal?" Hector offered with his signature smile that almost no one can say no to.

Weiss stares him and Ruby down for a couple more moments, before sighing and waving it off. "Fine, but no fighting or training until a doctor gives you the okay."

"Deal, now then." Hector steps away from Ruby, using one crutch to hobble back a couple steps. "Did you all miss me- AHH!" Zwei jumps straight into Hector's face, and begins to show how grateful he is for taking a big part in saving two kingdoms and all of his friends. By of course licking his face in every spot possible, the unexpected force from something so small knocked Hector over as well.

"How did you even get here?" Hector asks as he picks the dog up from his face and lifts him in the air above his face.

Zwei looks back at him with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, and tilts his head to get a better look at his new best friend that isn't Ruby, Yang, or Tai. The look in the dogs eyes is too much for Hector, and with a sigh he returns the dog to sit on his chest and Zwei goes back to licking his face.

Everyone of course, instead of helping the very sore and much weaker Hector, just watch and laugh at the spectacle in front of them.

"Wow, so one of the strongest people on Remnant is being defeated by a corgi, this is just too much." Yang teased as she wiped a tear from her eye. Her partner Blake, while also finding this particularly amusing, is currently slowly backing away from the dog before it could notice her. That demon also haunted her during the nights at Beacon.

"I'm too hungry to fight back…" Hector weakly defends himself as his sits up, letting the dog sit in his lap.

"I've never seen Zwei show so much affection to a stranger before." Tai pointed out.

"I know it's crazy right? It's almost like I saved all your lives before." Hector sarcastically said with his own laugh as he pushed himself back on his feet with the dog in his arms. "Jokes aside, can I eat now? I feel like I haven't eaten in like… a month."

"Ah! That reminds me." Nora said as she clapped her hands together. "I brought it upon myself, to get my leader a gift for this very day, and that gift is… a feast!"

"Do I even want to ask?"

"Nope!" Nora sped out of the room, and a couple of minutes later, half a dozen Schnee servants with carts of food rolls into the room.

Everyone is aghast as the table is quickly cleared and plates of all kinds of exotic and good looking foods are placed in front of them, conveniently with their favorite foods. Even more pancakes for Ren, a bowl of something tuna related for Blake, who drools out of her mouth and purrs as she digs into it right away, ignoring the giggles of those around her. More pancakes for Jaune, who doesn't even want to point out that pancakes aren't his favorite food out of fear of a Nora attack, Rhea gets a cute bowl of cereal that she actually doesn't mind having since it is actually her favorite brand, and too many others to list off so we're gonna skip a few. Ruby gets a strawberry sundae with a side of cookies, her eyes sparkle as the dish is placed in front of her, and lastly but certainly not least, Hector gets a big, thick, juicy, steak, with mashed potatoes and a wide assortment of sides for him to try. He doesn't even think that this is real at first, blinking his eyes a couple times to confirm that this isn't some illusion.

"I haven't had steak… in forever." Hector said as he picked up a fork, and only a fork. Who needs knives when you have the strength to rip apart Grimm with your hands. "I never thought I could love something so much before I brutally rip it apart and eat it."

"Then eat it! You know how long it took me to convince the cooks to make that for you in like… twenty minutes!?" Nora said through a mouthful of guess what? Even more pancakes! It's a miracle that her words were even understandable, somehow.

Hector doesn't even respond, instead he digs right in like a savage animal getting its first meal after a couple of weeks. Rhea and Ruby actually have to scoot away just a bit so that the bits of food that gets flung around doesn't get into their own meals.

After some time of everyone eating their own meals in their own ways, Hector takes his final bite, and then cleans the rest of his plate before leaning back in his chair and taking his first deep breath since he walked into that room. Everyone else is more amazed that Hector is still conscious after barely taking in any airs into his lungs for so long, and also impressed that he can do something like that straight after a month long coma.

"I am so sleepy now." Hector mentions as his eyes slowly close. Only for him to be nudged awake by the redhead beside him.

"You're not going to go to sleep for another month are you?" Ruby asks playfully, with a hint of genuine concern in there that Hector of course doesn't pick up on.

"I dunno maybe." Hector yawns as he stretches his arms out in front of him, the taste of fresh steak still plentiful in his mouth. "What time is it anyway?"

"Three am." Ruby answered with a shrug.

"What!?" Hector snaps himself awake in a flash, and looks around the room to see that Yang is asleep in a chair in the corner of the room, Nora and Ren aren't even even the room anymore, Jaune is somehow back up in the ceiling, his legs are hanging out of the hole, Rhea is asleep beside him, her head resting on the table and her hood being up. Tai and Qrow are also just gone, Weiss is to. Mercury is sleeping on the couch where Tai and Qrow once were, and only God knows where Blake is.

"How long was I eating? Wasn't it just light out like… ten minutes ago?" Hector asked as he finished looking around the room.

"Yeah, and now it's dark and everyone is asleep. What, you think you woke up in the morning?" Ruby asked with a tired laugh, then yawns herself and almost dropped her head on the table. Somehow eating all that sugar has given her the opposite effect and just made her even more sleepy.

"Wow, and here I thought time itself wasn't going to start fucking with me." Hector said with a short laugh, then realizes something. "Wait a sec," He looks to Ruby, who looks back at him with a questioning expression. "Did you wait for me?"

Ruby goes beet red, and looks away for a moment. But looks back and nods quickly, even smiling slightly.

Luckily Hector's skin is just dark enough so nobody can see his own blush as he actually received an answer from Ruby, her blush is very obvious to him, since her skin is almost white, and the way her silver eyes look into his blue one makes his stomach get butterflies in it.

Instead of succumbing to the embarrassment, Hector just closes his eyes and shakes his head, then surprises both of them when he wraps his arm around Ruby's shoulders and pulls her in.

"I should have known you would have done that so I wouldn't be alone." Hector said as he slowly let his head rest atop of hers.

"Mhm." Ruby blush gets even deeper, and she lets her head rest against his chest. She can hear his heartbeat, and is oddly comforted by the soft gentle vibration. "You should've known a lot of things."

"My eye." Hector said suddenly. "You wanted to know what happened right?" He asked as he took in another deep breath. He nuzzled into her head just a little bit more as the painful memory of him ripping out his own eye, the feeling of the venom flowing throughout his body, the sickening giggles of the crazed Tyrian return. But he takes another deep breath as he begins to tell the story of what happened literally a day after RNJR left Mistral.

He tells her about the bomb going off, how he used his semblance, or ability, he doesn't even know what it is now. To enhance his hearing to hear the bomb beep before it went off. How he told Ozpin to put up the shield just in time when he grabbed his team and pulled them in to protect them from the explosion and the impact of when the train landed in a ravine that lead deeper into a cave. How they traveled for countless hours, perhaps even days in that cave looking for a way out, how he used his Kaioken to heat his body up so that he can radiate warmth to the rest of his team, and that he was willing to lose sleep and hurt himself with his ability as long as it kept his team healthy. Then he got to the part when Tyrian found them, how he separated them all and injected his venom into his body, the venom being very dangerous and blocked out his ability to use his semblance. He only kept himself alive with Ozpin's skills and his unwillingness to go down. They fought for what felt like hours, until Nora was able to break a way up back to the surfaces by using one of his gauntlets to electrocute herself and boost her strength up way past her usual limits. Then it got to the part where he ended up killing him, and to the part where his left eye was Grimm, and that part of his face looked like Salem's.

Hector's breath seemed to get raspier and raspier as he continued the story, and Ruby picked up on this and just hugged him tighter, letting him know that she is there for him.

"I think I can fill in the rest." Ruby said as she made him look her in the eyes. She hesitantly placed a hand on his left cheek, and put on her most comforting smile. "I told you that you were a hero."

Hector chuckled and looked away, standing up suddenly and surprisingly without needing the help of his crutch this time.

"Yeah, a very unlikely one now that I think about it." Hector replied as he walked over to the door, but before he left the room, he looked back to Ruby and flicked his head, silently asking her to come with him.

Ruby stood up next and followed him out, noting that he got suddenly got strong enough to be able to walk around on his own, and that his steps seem to have gotten a bit heavier.

They walked side by side in silence until they got back to the hospital part of the manor, how long this had actually been here, neither of them know for sure. Hector figured that since he wasn't technically allowed to leave, and didn't want to just claim a random room as his own and risk getting an earful from Weiss about it. Or worse…

"Were you really waiting for me to wake up everyday?" Hector asked suddenly as he sat on the bed, patting the spot next to him to let Ruby know that the spot is open.

"Eh, about every day or so, the chair was surprisingly comfortable... Heheh." Ruby answered honestly as she sat next to him, sitting closer to him to the point where their arms are touching.

Hector nodded and smiled to himself, trying to suppress the heat that is rising up to his chest, after everything that was said, and the talk with Tai he had not too long ago about his relationship with Ruby, and the talk with Qrow a couple months ago right before the battle of Haven, and then combined with all the times he and Ruby would hang out together, talking about anything they can and always having fun with it. He'd have to be even more dense than Jaune was to see that there wasn't something between them, something that hasn't stopped growing even after being separated for so long. "What happened after I went out?" Hector asked next in an attempt to change the topic his head is thinking about.

"Oh, well at first everyone freaked out because we thought you were dead, but then a medic told us that you were just in a coma due to extreme aura exhaustion. A couple days later and Weiss took over the SDC, and people started to rebuild Atlas, starting with the walls of course, every huntsman in Atlas, and some even from Mistral came to help out with the building and defence. Oh! I gotta tell you about us saving Mercury." Ruby said with a laugh, despite it being so late, the two are talking like nothing ever happened, right back to how they always were with each other back at Haven.

"Oh, I gotta hear this one. How did you convince Ironwood to not throw Mercury in prison?" Hector asked as he leaned back on the bed. Ruby followed suit right after.

"After a couple days went by, we all decided to help pitch in to help out in the city, the general himself came to take Mercury away, and he just stopped what he was doing, and raised his hands." Ruby begins.

"Huh, I guess Mercury really has changed." Hector said as he stared into the ceiling.

"Yeah! You should talk to him more, he's cool now. So anyway, you should have seen the look on his face when Yang of all people rose to his defence, even let her fire eyes out to, it went a bit like this…"

* * *

" _You're NOT taking him away from us!" Yang shouted at the general, her maiden flames lighting up around the corners of her eyes._

" _M-miss Xiao Long, please, this is the law we have to abide to. Mr Black, although he has done good deeds recently, along with saving my own life and without a doubt many others, cannot just be acquitted of his past crimes." Ironwood explained calmly, not wanting the secret of the maidens to get out to the public due to a temper tantrum._

" _Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This asshole." Yang looked to Mercury, who still has his hands in the hair but with a shocked look on his face now. "Is not one of my friends, despite what he did back at Beacon, he explained to us how he got where he was, and how he got out of it. He's better now, and his punishment for everything he did is being forced to hang around us for the rest of his life."_

* * *

"So long story short she basically threatened him into submission." Ruby ended with a giggle.

"Heh, looks like those two are hitting it off pretty well now. But enough about all of them." Hector turns his head so he can look at Ruby. "How have you been?" He asks.

Ruby seems to be caught off guard by such a simple question, and doesn't know how to answer properly right away. "Uhjuebawha?"

"Somehow, I understood that. Ruby I asked how have you been, we haven't seen each other for months, and then when we did we had to save a kingdom." Hector reiterates.

"Well uh… I did a _lot_ of training with my eyes, Mercury became a good guy, ran into some Grimm. But nothing too serious." Ruby answers finally.

Hector laughs and looks back to the ceiling, finding it amusing that Ruby didn't answer the question properly. "That's what you did, not how you felt and all that sentimental shit while we were on opposite sides of the world-"

"I liked the rose you gave me." Ruby says suddenly, turning her head to face him. "I kept it."

Hector coughs and wipes something from his mouth, most likely left over food. He honestly almost forgot about that. "Oh, I uh… Ozpin sort of, suggested for me to do that for you and I uh… y'know, did it."

" _Ozpin playing fucking matchmaker there... should've known."_

After getting no response he looks back to Ruby, who has an adoring smile on her face. Hector actually gets visibly red for the first time since being at Haven, and Ruby just thinks it's adorable. Even getting butterflies of her own when he doesn't look away from her.

Ruby decides that it's rather now then never, she knows her own feelings, and judging by the look in his eyes, he must be thinking something similar to her right now. It's the first time she's ever had a crush on anyone, and she didn't even notice that she did, and didn't dare go to her sister for advice on it, but she figured it out after a talk with Blake on her way to Atlas. Then her sister found out the next morning and that whole debacle was a thing that happened.

On Hector's side of things, he is a bit more experienced when it comes with relationships, back on Earth he had a few girlfriends here and there, even less of those being intimate with, but nothing too serious, or lasting anything more than a couple of months. He gets the basic idea of it and knows when he is attracted and romantically likes someone. But it has become increasingly difficult for him to be able to express himself properly, with everything that has been going on, between the seasonal magic ladies, the thousands of years old wizard living in his head, and the constant violence he has been forced take part in after Haven. That's not even considering the literal incarnate of evil that has also taken her place in his mind from time to time. But even through all of that, when he looks into those silver eyes, it's like all of that weight on his shoulders is lifted off him, like the fate of the world isn't actually riding on him, no matter how irrational that sounds, and he can truly be happy.

"Ruby, I…" Hector's voice trails off, and his eye trails around the room rather then into silver. He sits up and leans on his knees with his elbows, not even trying to suppress the heat rising up from his chest to his face anymore.

Ruby stands up, and moves in front of Hector, feeling the same way he is at the moment. Something they have both been holding back on for a long time, trying to figure out if it was true.

"I like you!" Ruby blurts out, shutting her eyes and grabbing her skirt so tightly her knuckles turn white. "I _really_ like you… like, a lot." She confesses, getting more red than ever before. "I know what you said before… you're afraid that you would end up hurting me instead of making me happy… but I am willing to take that chance if you… y'know." Her voice trails off, and she takes a deep breath and forces herself to open her eyes to look back at him.

Hector widens his eye, and can't seems to formulate a response to this confession properly. He knew something was up between them, but he thought they would dance around it for a bit longer until he got brave enough to make the first move, but life has a funny way of telling you to go fuck yourself, in a nice way of course.

"I…" Hector stands up and takes Ruby's hands in his own, he towers over her by a full head, but the distance can easily be closed if she stood on her toes. Despite his doubt telling him no over and over again, he finds himself smiling anyway.

' _Is this a bad time to point out that I'm back.'_

Hector nearly jumps after hearing that voice in his head. So much so that Ruby almost jumps with him, but when she sees the look on his face and how he seems to be thinking very hard to himself she instantly understands, and is willing to wait a couple of more seconds.

" _Yes, now shut up it's been way too long of a wait for this to happen."_

' _I was gone for just a few hours and I find you and Miss Rose in such close proximity with each other, my has the children grown so much.'_

" _Oz, glad you're back and all, but shut up."_

' _Very well.'_ Ozpin said with a chuckle, and gives to two lovebirds the privacy they need.

Hector reopens his eye and stares back down to the girl, who is barely able to hide her amused smile. "Good news, Ozpin is back."

"Oh, does that mean we're not alone anymore?" Ruby asked in a somewhat sad tone.

"Oh no we're still alone, Oz is going back to sleep." Hector said with a smile, slowly taking his hands and wrapping them around Ruby's waist. "You can tell it's still me right?" Hector asked in a quiet voice, the look on his face instantly transformed from awestruck to one of desire.

"Mhm." Ruby hums. She places her hands on his chest and shoulder, but doesn't look into his eye. She takes this gesture as the answer she has been waiting for.

"Ruby… I think you can take a good guess about how I feel about you. I'm not really good at the romantic crap so I'll make it short and simple. I like you, romantically," Both of their hearts skip a beat as he says this. "And while I am afraid that I might not be able to be around long enough for Salem to be put down…" Hector takes one more deep breath. "If you want to give this a shot, then I'll give it my all for you." Hector leans in, and rests his forehead against Ruby's. It was hard for him to say that, but now that it has been said, there's no going back.

Ruby nudges Hector's face so that it hovers in front of hers, noses touching, she is way too nervous, and excited to say anything, so she decides to take a page out of her sisters book.

Speak with your actions.

She slowly pushes herself up on the tips of her toes, until they can both feel the warmth of each other's breath on each others faces. She hesitates before she makes contact, she has never kissed anyone before, so she doesn't really know how she is going to do this. Especially with how tall the young man before her is.

Luckily for her, Hector isn't as inexperienced.

Hector leans down, letting go of every ounce of doubt that has been holding him back this entire time, and gently presses his lips against Ruby's with just the right amount of passion. They both feel a shock course through their bodies, but that doesn't stop them from wanting more of this feeling. Ruby deepens the kiss, throwing any sort of awkwardness that she once had within herself out the window. She moves her hands up to the back of his neck, and pulls him down and herself up. Hector wraps his arms fully around her, and places one hand gently on the back of her head to further deepen the kiss.

They both separate but stay close, breathing in after such a passionate kiss. To his and her own surprise, Ruby initiates the next kiss, pulling Hector down and pressing her lips against his own for a second time, just as passionate as the first, if not more. Hector smiles as they kiss, and sits down on the bed while pulling Ruby with him, letting her stand between his legs so that they can reach each other better. Their lips staying together the whole time.

The continue to kiss each other for several minutes, not wanting this very early morning to end just yet, and then get constantly teased about it by all of their friends. Hector laid down in the bed, and Ruby didn't hesitate to follow suit, lying beside him. As they lay on their sides facing each other, Ruby cups both of his cheeks, making sure she has his full attention. Face as red as her cloak, and heart beating out of her chest.

"D-does this mean we're… together?" Ruby asks hesitantly, if it was possible for her to get even more red then she was before, then she managed to achieve it.

Hector laughs and pulls Ruby in, letting her head nuzzle against his neck. "I think the answer to that one is obvious."

"I-I wanna hear you… say it." Ruby admits, hiding her face in the crook of his neck to hide her face.

"Yes, we are." Hector says right away with very little hesitation. "So much so, that my eyes can't stay open from how excited I am." He jokes as he feels his body start to succumb to sleep.

Ruby literally vibrates after hearing those words, and buries herself even further into his chest, obviously showing that she is not going to be going to a different bed tonight. She can feel and hear Hector's heart pounding fast every second, and can feel her own in her ears and chest. She didn't exactly plan this, it kinda just happened the way it did. But she is glad it happened like this, better late than never. She has never been happier.

Hector's mind is racing as he falls asleep, he is both afraid and excited for the future. For the obvious reason that he has plenty more fights ahead of him that are probably going to force him to break his limits and risk his life more and more. But now he has something new to fight for, instead of fighting for the world and his friends, he can fight for this. Him and Ruby, when he came here from Earth, he had no real intention to get with any of the girls, just planned to become great friends with them, if he is being honest with himself, then he wouldn't mind anything casual either. But that all changed when a certain hood wearing girl kept hanging out with him almost every one of his training sessions. He found himself wanting to be around the young leader more and more, and missed her terribly when they had to separate. He didn't want to at first, but decided it was healthier to just accept it all in the end.

Now he just has to worry if they get caught in bed together in the morning…

* * *

It is the middle of the night, and Hector wakes up with the heavy need of using the bathroom to relieve himself. It took him a couple of minutes to snake himself out of Ruby's surprisingly strong grip, and he tiptoed his way to the bathroom he didn't know was in his hospital room, he can see the sun start to rise, but with the time they fell asleep during, he wouldn't mind a few more hours. He enters the bathroom, empties his bladder, making sure his stream made as little noise as possible as it hit the ceramic bowl. Then he stood in front of the mirror and stares into his own face, taking note of just how different it looks now then the first day he walked on Remnant.

But that isn't what is going through his mind right now. What is going through his mind, is much more concerning, and sadly, it doesn't involve his new girlfriend.

" _ **You have been busy Hector."**_ Salem's voice says to him as a silhouette of the Grimm queen in question appears behind him in the mirror. " _ **You have a lover now, and with the silver eyed girl no less. Very, interesting."**_

"What do you want Salem?" Hector asks aggressively, but quiet enough so that the only one who can hear him is himself.

" _ **You know what I want, didn't Ozpin tell you already?"**_ Salem fully appears behind him in the mirror and steps closer. Hector wants to spin around and punch her, but he knows that she isn't actually there with him. Salem, a shorter version of herself mind you, steps up behind Hector and places both her hands on his shoulders. The worst part is that he can actually feel her hands. " _ **I want what is mine."**_

"You can't have me," Hector rebels against the voice in his head. "You should know by now that humans from Earth can be quite stubborn when they want to be." Hector said next.

Salem visibly laughs, and the sound of her laugh echoes throughout his ears for several more seconds.

" _ **That is the most amusing thing about you Hector."**_ Salem said as her red eyes seem to glow brighter in the mirror. " _ **I suppose you've earned the right to know the little secret about yourself."**_

Hector averts his gaze to the crimson eyes in the mirror, intrigued by this information, but not willing to fall into any traps. "What secret? Where is Ozpin? And how are you able to talk to me like this? I took out the eye that you infected."

" _ **One question at a time Mister Rivers."**_ Salem replies with a smug grin. " _ **All will be answered soon enough, but this is something you should know now. You'll find me much more willing to share secrets then dear Ozpin."**_

"Just spit it out so already." Hector barked at the Grimm.

Salem leans down, and her head appears to be right next to his, and she whispers in his ear.

" _ **Have you ever wondered how it was so easy to kill for the first time?"**_ Salem whispered in his ear.

Hector looked back down and into the sink, and to his hands, blood appearing on them, and the look on Cinders face still burned into his memories as he brutally murdered her. The countless number of poor people infected by some kind of Grimm infection. He barely felt anything for them.

" _ **Have you ever wondered where all this power came from? How you got it and what kind of magic it really is?"**_

Hector's red flaming aura flares out on just his hands, and for a split second it flickers blue before going out. He's been wondering about that ever since he first unlocked it and dubbed it the Kaioken.

" _ **Have you ever wondered if Earth really existed? Wondered if your memories are even real?"**_

Hector snaps his eyes back up to the mirror, to see the smirking pale face of the Grimm queen.

"W-what do you mean by that?!" Hector asks with a terrified voice. Tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes.

Salem begins to laugh, and it only makes it worse when Salem of all people starts to giggle.

" _ **Do you really think I just 'summoned' you to this world?"**_

"SHUT UP!" Hector screams, turning around and cutting through nothing with his hand. Tears flowing free down his face and falling to the floor on his knees.

" _ **The Summer Maiden is within my reach, you will be presented with a choice to make then. Don't be late~, I'll leave you to think on this."**_ "Salem's voice trails off, until it is no longer possible to hear it.

Ruby dashes right into the room, and with a concerned look in her face and gasps when she sees Hector in such a state. She falls to her knees in front of him and hugs his head into her chest. Mumbling 'it's okay' to him over and over, thinking back to earlier the day before to what he told her when he woke up. She knows Salem has something to do with this.

"Hector, look at me." Ruby says softly as she places her hands on his cheeks and makes him look at her in the eyes. "Whatever she said, don't fall for it." She said as she pressed her forehead against his. "I'm here for you, I always will be. No matter what happens." She said as she pecked him on the lips, sealing the deal.

"Ruby." Hector calls to her. "I need you to promise me something." He said as he wiped a tear from his face.

"What is it?" Ruby asked right away, hugging his head against her chest again, smothering him with affection in an attempt to dispel all of those negative emotions.

"If Salem gets to me… and I become her monster." Hector begins.

"It won't happen, I won't let it happen." Ruby interrupts.

"If it _does_. I need you to do something for me." Hector continues.

Ruby looks down at the tiled floor, thinking for a moment before she nods her head and looks back at him in the eye, tears drying on his face.

"I think you'll be the only one able to do this… If Salem gets me, and manages to turn me into what I was meant to be." Hector closes his eye and pressing his forehead against hers. The words that come out next are forced, but need to be said.

"If there's no other way of bringing me back, use your eyes and kill me."

* * *

 **AN- Oh dear, what have we here? Finally, Ruby and Hector finally hit it off, but with a stunning revelation later on, it ended up bittersweet. I don't have much to say, and these next couple of chapters might be slow, but I can guarantee that it is going to be full of content of basically every character. And yes, EVERY character ;).**

 **What do you guys think of my first attempt of actual romance? I tried my best, I hope I did well, please be honest and tell me how to improve.**

 **Yes, Hector and Ruby slept together, but they did not have sex. I feel like I should point that out.**

 **This chapter was focused solely on Red Rivers and the bit at the end there. But it won't be like that every chapter, sorry, just see this as a sort of fan service maybe, just exclude that last part and all the fluff was for you.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	38. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 37

**AN- Thank you for the reviewers of last chapter!**

 **Tigervolcano5000- That is how I do boo. But yes, even I am excited for Red Rivers to finally become canon! But alas, everything comes with difficulties. Ren and Nora do things... leaving it at that, never said I was writing any adult scenes for them. Although the possibility is there. As for the Earth not being real thing, scroll down below and I'll explain why I wrote that. Thanks for the review and thank you for sticking with this story for so long.**

 **Zeldawolffang- Psh, you don't get anything to worry about, or do you...**

 **Astra- You already reviewed my other stories by the time I am writing this, and boy you do not disappoint. You must be really into my stories, (Though it should've been obvious to me due to the thirty some reviews you've given me) how much do you think I've improved so far? To be completely honest, I only knew the favorite food of like, three out of eleven people that were in the room, so I figured that I would save myself a headache. Now to the actual story review, blushing, check, recap of a previous fight, check, nod to the new title, triple check, pairing coming in this chapter. I didn't want to put it off any longer, I just got tired of doing it, and with all the pent-up desire that the two must have been feeling toward each other I was like "Sure, why not?" And thus, Red Rivers is now a thing. You have no idea how many times I forgot that Vale and Vacuo were on the same continent, luckily the RWBY wiki exists. The promise will be fulfilled, you shall wait until Hector suddenly remembers it. Also, he did kind of just wake up from being in a coma, so cut the guy some slack! Just gonna ignore those questions I don't have answers to... yet. As for the Salem scene, that will be explained more down below, as for your suggestion for Ruby, all I am going to say about that is... yes. I like how reviewed three times before I even started writing this chapter, two for TBH, and one for HAMR, which I all read by the way. Hopefully I get better at Romance, I didn't really count the Raven and Tai one, because there was no real buildup for it, mostly just head cannon from the actual show. If that makes sense, but i'm glad that most people liked it. Thanks for all of the reviews, and for sticking with me for months now on ALL my stories so far. That RvB one is still in the works mind you, looking forward to seeing you in that one soon.**

 **Nexus Gem- 301,044 words so far to answer your question. So about 30,000 times more than what was the previous limit. Thanks for the review!**

* * *

 **Okay, now that that's all out of the way, I must talk to you guys about something regarding the Salem scene last chapter... I've gotten mostly mixed reviews, an angry PM from a special snowflake, and it's been called bullshit on multiple accounts. So, all I gotta say is this. This is a Fanfiction story, which means I have the power to do whatever I want, and how I want to do it, if I want to turn what was originally supposed to be a self-insert story into an OC from Earth with Kaioken then I would, if I wanted to have Hector kill Cinder, I would, If I wanted to create my own maidens with the help of my readers I would, If I wanted to kill off characters that weren't needed in the story, I would. I could go on and on, but for those that have stuck with me the longest, you should know how I am with writing. The Salem scene in last chapter was supposed to be a shocking revelation, the possibility that Earth never existed? So many other possibilities have been opened by that one line. I thought it was a good idea in my head, so I put it down in the story. I suppose I didn't really do a good job at foreshadowing it, but the hints were all there, Tyrians enhanced venom should have killed Hector, but why didn't it? Hector killed Cinder, and even though she deserved it and Hector knew she did, why did he feel next to nothing for it? If you killed a person you hated, you wouldn't just laugh it off and say they deserved it, it comes with problems, real life problems. While the Grimm hybrids are essentially zombies as someone called them, they are still people, people who had lives, families, friends, etc. And Hector killed them without batting an eye. Breadcrumbs here and there, Hectors reluctance to ever talk about his feelings. I mean, if Salem could take control of a specific human if she wanted to, why hasn't she taken over all of Ozpin's pawns already? Or Ozpin himself?**

 **I probably came off as something I didn't intend, maybe/probably arrogant or defensive, and I am sorry for that, truly I am, but I just wanted to lay out my own thoughts on the matter. I'm human to, I write not only for my own entertainment and pass time, but to make other people happy and have something to do in their free time. I'm glad I made the choice to start writing finally, it has helped me with personal issues, and kept me sane for the most part.**

 **So, with that out of the way, all I have left to say is this. Have faith in me, as all the almost 200 of you have done so far. Thank you for reading all that if you did read it. I hope you keep you all as invested in this story as much as I am, and I'm the one writing it!**

 **On another note… 30,000+ views? Holy shit guys and girls thank you!**

 **Sorry for going on a little rant there, i'm glad to say that the story continues...**

 **RIGHT NOW!**

* * *

Chapter 37- Trouble of all kinds

"If I turn into one of Salem's monsters... Kill me."

The slap that landed on Hector's face came faster than he could see and was echoed off the bathroom's walls for a few slow, agonizing seconds. It didn't hurt him really but was enough to shock and surprise him to a massive degree.

"Wha-"

"Don't ever speak like that again!" Ruby yelled at him, angry tears threatening to drain from her eyes. "If you turn evil, then I'll just have to drag you back toward the light. No matter how hard you kick and scream for me to stop!" She continues, gripping Hector's face between her hands to keep him still as she proclaims her intentions for him if such a thing were to happen. She didn't even want to imagine having to put him down… her mind travels over to the copy that was made of him, Hell… even though she _knew_ he was evil, and needed to be put down, just the face of her lover made her show mercy, she had an opportunity to kill Hell herself, and it slipped away. And Hector had to pay the price for it. In a way she feels partly responsible for what happened to Hector after that. But what hurts her the most, is the emptiness in his eye as he asked her to promise him to kill him if he does end up getting taken over. She'd do anything to see him happy the same way he was before the battle of Haven.

"To see you speak like this... it breaks my heart." Her voice chokes, and her tears falling down her cheeks and dripping off her face.

Hector is almost too stunned for words, he feels a sad feeling boil up from inside, and he suddenly regrets every word that came out of his mouth before. Although it is still a concern that Salem has a way of contacting one of the strongest beings on the planet and might be able to corrupt them at any time. He regrets saying it like that.

"Ruby I..." The words get caught in his mouth as Ruby presses her face into the crook of his neck.

"I want you to promise _me_ something instead." Ruby mumbles into his shirt.

Hector hums, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend's waist and pressing his own face against her shoulder, wiping the dried tears on his face and any moisture that was left. For some reason however, he doesn't feel the urge to cry anymore, it might have had something to do with Ruby's eyes being a thing. Or that he simply felt better enough suddenly to stop.

"Promise me that no matter what, you won't stop fighting her... that you won't let her take you over willingly. Promise me that... we'll have a future together." Ruby pleaded, her voice stressed and scratchy, no doubt because of what Hector had just asked her to do, with a deadpan expression on his face as he said it nonetheless.

Hector slowly breaks away from the embrace but keeps his arms around Ruby and helps her stand up with him, the height advantage he has over her becoming much more prominent then before suddenly. Despite the situation, the face he gave her before they kissed returns, and makes Ruby blush ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry for saying that... a lot of things were going through my mind." Hector leaned down to press his forehead against hers, the intimate action instantly making more blood rush up to the younger girl's face. "I... I'm worried," He admits. "Afraid even, I keep thinking about what _could_ happen rather than what _should_ happen, if that makes sense." Hector leaned back, looking Ruby straight into her silver eyes, he slowly reaches a hand up to cup her cheek, and smiles when Ruby leans into it and shuts her eyes. No doubt enjoying the warmth that Hector is emitting.

"But you're right. I was being so pathetic." Hector laughs sadly.

"I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't mean to imply such a thing Ruby." Hector reassured, a little bit of Ozpin's manner of speech peeking through the surface. "But remembering how I was in the past, I feel like the slightly younger version of myself would punch me in the face." Hector misses those days… when all he had to do was work out and humor Ruby's topic for conversation every day. Oh the simpler times…

"Thanks for making my open my eyes- singular eye." Ruby giggled a bit at his error.

"Annnd?" Ruby pressed on, jabbing a finger in his chest victoriously. Only these to can go from crying on the floor to teasing each other in just a handful of hours.

Hector rolled his eyes- eye, but Ruby didn't miss the way his lips curved up into a smile, probably against his will.

The mood gets serious when he looks back at her, such a promise can not be made lightly, if he makes this promise, then he has to do anything he can to keep it. He has no idea if he can keep such a promise, with everything that is going on, the Maidens that he most likely is going to have to go up against if they aren't willing to help them. Salem obviously, and countless other threats. He has been told in his Earth life, ' _You shouldn't give a girl a promise you can't keep'_ by a certain blue AI in a video game. He doesn't know why he thought about that particular line at a time like this.

"I promise." But that isn't going to stop him. He's already done the impossible just by staying alive this long after everything he has been through. "I promise to never stop fighting, I promise to keep you and everyone else safe. Especially Zwei, he's just too cute." They both shared a laugh at that, enjoying the sudden shift in mood. But then a rare flush of red takes over Hector's face, and Ruby thinks it is oh so adorable to see the older boy who is normally good at hiding it get visibly red.

"We'll have a future together, because we'll make one." Hector finally got out, how did they go from adorably confessing their feelings for one another the night before, to promising each other that it is going to last possibly the rest of their lives? Hector did have a way with women it seemed… "So, yeah… I promise that to."

"Eeeeee." Ruby's excited squeal was barely loud enough to be heard by human ears, although Hector is sure Blake or Rhea would have heard it to if they were there. He barely heard it himself if his hearing wasn't so good as a side effect of his abilities.

"Did you just squeal out of excitement?" The hero asked with an amused chuckle, fully with the intention of embarrassing Ruby who instantly gets red at the accusation.

"Wha- no I- Brbgl." Ruby stammers something incomprehensive as she hides her face in her hands.

 _So adorable…_ Hector thinks to himself. His bad mood all but disappeared, but the fact that Salem has a way to communicate with him is a problem, that leaves her with opportunities to manipulate him, to try and convert him. It needs to be taken care of, he doesn't know how, but so far his life has given him ways to get by.

They both lean in for a kiss, now with the mood back in the correct place, they can get back to-

 _ **SNAP**_

Right back to pushing each other away in a panic, and then silently planning to murder whoever it was that took a picture of them at a time like this.

"Eh… RJ?" The voice of the young Fall Maiden surprise him, surely it couldn't have been her right? "I gotta tell you about the Winter Maiden."

Hector turns with a snap, his previous embarrassment all but forgotten and in place of it is a much more serious emotion, and the facial expression to match it so intense that it makes the young girl shrink in her shoes. That is until he sees Nora with her scroll on behind her and with a hand on her shoulder. But the expression on her face isn't what makes him embarrassed… but the picture of Ruby and him kissing already being sent to the eight man group chat between their and RWBY's team is what makes him lose his breath entirely.

"Nora… what have you done."

"Only what was expected of me." Nora answered with a smug grin on her face.

"Wait what happened!?" Ruby asked as she noticed her new boyfriend wear a scared looking expression on his usually calm face. She hasn't seen him scared since… Oh no.

Her scroll begins to blow up with messages, vibrating non-stop for a straight eighteen seconds until it finally stops. She barely musters up the courage to look at the messages, and instantly regrets that decision the second she reads the first message.

Under the picture of her and Hector kissing, is this:

" _Look what I found guys! Looks like someone's getting it ;)" - NV_

Followed by,

" _It was expected, but I am happy for them anyways." Blake_

" _Alright! About time! Do I have to worry about hearing moaning next to my room now? Alsd we're going to need to have a talk later Hector…" - Blonde Beauty._

" _I didn't even know I was added to this…" - Mercury Black_

" _Congratulations!" - Jaune_

" _Help." - Lie Ren_

" _It took some time, you have no idea how easy it was to notice you to. Congratulations on finally realizing your own feelings you two." Weiss_

Ruby reads several more following that one, all not really safe to say out loud. If only Hector still had his scroll, sadly it was burned up and destroyed in the battle against Hell.

Then they look to each other, silver eyes meeting a singular blue, silently communicating with each other with imaginary telepathy. They look back toward Nora with an evil look grin on their faces.

Nora's confidence, and we're talking _Nora's_ confidence here falters, and she suddenly gets more nervous than ever before, and a sweat drops from the back of her head and Rhea wisely moves away from the incoming assault.

"Uh… no hard feelings?"

* * *

"So what is it that you wanted to tell me again?" Hector asked the young maiden he probably adopted as his little sister without actually going through the actual process.

Ruby walks alongside him with a happy smile, latched on to his arm as they walk and with her head resting on his shoulder. The warmth they share makes Ruby very comfortable, since Hector is just naturally hotter than the normal person because of the ability he has. But Hector enjoys her affectionate nature, and finds it adorable so he doesn't mind it one bit. He wishes he could return the favour, but duty calls sadly.

"I'll save it for when everybody else is around, it's something everyone should know." Rhea said with a shrug, "So you two are…"

"Yeah, secrets out already, we're together." Hector confirms, much to the giddiness of Ruby who tightens her grip on his arm.

"Im happy for you… but what did you do to Nora exactly?"

Hector ushered Rhea out of the room and told her to wait, twenty minutes later everyone but Nora came out and the other two worse satisfied smiles on their faces like they just completed something difficult together. Obviously nothing _too_ crazy happened, but she can make the safe assumption that Nora got what she deserved.

"Eh, she'll be fine, it's nothing for you to worry about really." Hector quickly dismisses with a wave of his hand. "The real question is how the hell is it day time already? I could have sworn it was dark just a second ago."

"We did go to sleep at three in the morning Hecs." Ruby pointed out.

Rhea's ears twitched underneath her hood. "Wait, you two slept together already?"

"No, no, no!" Hector quickly denies. "Not in that way! We just kinda…" He flushes just thinking about it, he's never had such a good dreamless night like that before. "Fell asleep together."

Rhea blinks her multicolored amber eyes a few times, "Awe~ I knew you had it in you!" She cheered, just adding to the whole blushy gushiness that is probably going to be sticking around as long as they are with their friends.

"Yeah, yeah shut up" Hector looked away with a scoff. "Let's go see how everybody else is doing. I think I heard Jaune ask to talk to me in the morning before he got himself stuck in the ceiling again somehow."

* * *

Nora has just pulled herself back up from the ground, she doesn't even know what happened. All there was were two red blurs and all of a sudden she doesn't remember the last few hours, what was she doing again?

"Oh yeah! Wait, no, I don't remember."

Hector found out how to use Knolly to erase the last few hours of memories from Nora's mind, nothing serious was taken away, only the specific knowledge of what she had seen and taken a picture of, and they made sure to factory reset her scroll just to make sure she wouldn't find out that way either. Right after publicly apologizing for ruining the reveal.

Okay in all honesty it might have been a bit much, but you can't really blame the two. I mean, have you ever seen Ruby angry and embarrassed at the same time? Now combine that with Hector… and well, she now has the muscle necessary to get away with things.

But no harm is done. If anything Nora potentially gets to relive the moment of catching Hector and Ruby in the act. If he really wanted to he might have been able to wipe her memory completely… _that_ would have been too much, and possibly irreparable given the fact that Hector is still learning how to use the relic, he's only unlocked about ten percent of its power so far.

"Oh, darn." Nora puffed as she realizes her scroll has been reset. "Not again! I gotta have baby Renny fix this… among other things." She giggles to herself.

Poor Ren…

* * *

"I am such a nice guy." Hector thinks out loud. Ignorant of the possible consequences that might have taken place if he wasn't careful enough.

"What?" Jaune was confused, Hector just walked up to him and said that out loud while his eye shimmered just a little, and hey there's Ruby.

"Oh, sorry about that. Didn't you want to talk to me?" Hector inquired.

"Yeah, but… it's kind of like a," Jaune's eyes slide down to the red hooded girl and the Fall Maiden that are both right next to Hector with confused looks on their faces. "Guy thing… sorry ladies." He quickly added just in case they took offence.

"Oh, no problem!" Ruby said as she hid the reluctance of tearing herself away from Hector's arm.

"Yeah, why were you so hesitant?" Rhea said next, with the same amount of cheerfulness.

They both left before he was able to answer them, talking about something that was probably just for girls to hear.

"Yeah, girls are weird like that." The guys both share a laugh as they shared the same thought at the same time.

"Well, first off, congratulations." Jaune said with a nod of his head. "Secondly." He gripped Hectors shoulders and suddenly got very scared. "My family is coming today in a few hours and I need your help."

Oh, his family? His seven sisters, probably badass hunter of a father, and a mother that Hector has never heard anything about but can make the decent assumption that she is not a woman to be trifled with. And here was one of his best friends practically begging for him to help with just his eyes and body language. Just the seven sisters part was enough for him to almost say no right away.

"Uh… why are you asking _me_ for this?" Is what Hector went with saying, more confused than anything about all this.

"Because, as you know, I kind of stole my dad's sword,"

"Yeah…"

"Bought forged documentation to sneak myself into Beacon."

' _I let you in despite that Mr Arc… I suppose I should tell him that one of these days.'_ Ozpin thought. Oh hey he's back-

"Lied to them that I got a job in Vale, then Beacon fell and Vale was attacked and I never contacted them about anything, went across the world _twice_ facing against creatures and people much stronger than me, and now I am in Atlas with nowhere to go or hide." Jaune listed off almost every reason why a mother would want to torture their son for years before he finally stopped with a huff. "Hector, do you have any idea knowing what having _seven_ sisters pissed at you is like?"

"I, uh…"

"Exactly! Don't think about it. Which is why I need _you_ , the strongest man on the planet, to… calm them down before they see me." Jaune finally stopped talking.

Hector sighed, rubbed a hand through his head and mumbled something over his breath that probably shouldn't be repeated with his actual voice.

"Okay, listen, I just woke up after a month long nap yesterday, and this is a _lot_ for me to take in." Hector begun. "One, I don't know your family, and while I may be well known for my actions in Mistral and now Atlas, I don't think the family I am imagining you have would care about that." He continued. "Third, and I know I skipped second but just shut the fuck up for a second longer." He quickly added before he got corrected. "How they hell would I know how to deal with seven angry sisters? I have _one_ little sister, who I am not even sure ever existed anymore." He laughed bitterly at that, Jaune slumps his head as he realizes just how fucked he is, while also remaining dense enough to not read between the lines of what Hector had just revealed to him.

"If they come here they're going to try and take me away…" Jaune mumbled just loud enough for his friend to hear. "Bianca would definitely try and convince me to go… she's my oldest sister." Hector nodded and continued to listen to his friend let out a very well needed venting. "Olivia would do the same, she looked up to Bianca like that. Second oldest sister. Rosemary… my twin." Hector's eye widened at this reveal.

"Wait what-"

"Heh, she is going to try and kick my ass, but only because she loves me in her own tomboyish messed up way. Watch out for any and all pranks while she is here. Now onto Karen, the nerd of the family, think of her like a combination of Weiss and Ruby, and then think something even worse than that and there you go." Jaune chuckled sadly as he thinks about his family, he misses them dearly, he just wished he didn't neglect them for so long. "Aqua… please don't let her get near Rhea, she is going to tell her all sorts of fairy tail stories. But gosh, I can't say she's the best but damn was she supportive of me. Violet hates me, but in a loving way, she dyed her hair black and all that goth stuff, she'd get along well with Blake now that I think about it."

" _Gotta watch out for those porn books then… wouldn't want poor innocent Rhea to see anything… augh I don't even want to think what might be behind the covers of those books."_ Hector thought to himself and shuddered.

"And lastly but most certainly not least, Jade. Aw man I miss her, she is going to be so mad at me though since I couldn't keep writing to her." Jaune actually gets a little teary eyed, thinking about his family and realizing just how much he misses every single one of them.

"Hey… Im sorry man, I didn't mean to make you upset."

"It's not you, I just never realized how much of a dick I now know that I've been to them."

Hector thinks to himself for a moment. He wants to help his best guy friend out - Sorry Ren - but at the same time there is this whole thing with the Winter Maiden he pretended he forgot about. They're already in Atlas, so he thinks it would be better just to stay here and find the Winter Maiden then rush straight to Vacuo just in case Summer's in trouble like Salem hinted at before. Hector just has to hope that she can handle herself for now until he finds her himself. After a few minutes of thinking in his head, which is about a couple seconds on the outside, he makes the obvious decision.

"I'll help you, but you need to do me a favour in return. Nothing bad I promise." He quickly added when he saw the worried expression on Jaune's face.

"Okay, thanks, and what is it?" Jaune dared to ask. But as long as it is nothing too crazy he won't mind doing it. Oh hell, he would do it anyway if it was too crazy, that's how desperate he is.

"I… made a promise that I need to fulfill before I forget." Was the only hint Jaune would get.

Transition

"Why did you need to buy so much? With _my_ money no less." Jaune said as he struggled to keep the mountain of gifts that almost goes over his head that are meant for Ruby.

"Because I am the best boyfriend ever, and I totally did not lose my Lien credit card at the battle of Haven and never found it." Hector shrugged, not at all bothered with the fact that he just used up about fifteen percent of his friends money just to buy the proclaimed 'Best cookies on Remnant.' According to Weiss' directions.

 _You two just got together a few hours ago…_ "Why do I need to carry it though? What if she sees us?"

"Because I am supposed to be resting my dear friend, did you forget that?"

"... You are totally milking this favour aren't you." Jaune accused sternly.

"Pssh." Yes, yes he is. "No idea what you are talking about."

Jaune sighed, but thought back on something he said earlier. "Wait, why did you have your card on you on that day anyway?"

"I was in the moment okay!? Sorry, that I was too busy thinking about how the fuck I am going keep you guys alive to worry about a damn plastic card in my pocket.!" Hector defended himself rather brashly, at that point Jaune knew at that point he won that little verbal scuffle.

"You forgot didn't you."

"I forgot."

* * *

After a few minutes sneaking through the manor, they - _Jaune -_ deposited the gifts in the same room where they all had a very large dinner thanks to their mutual Nora friend. After that Jaune has been getting increasingly nervous with every step toward the exit of the manor, which of course is not very easy to find. So now there's a good possibility of the Arc family barging into the Schnee manor with pitchforks in hand and yelling out threats to anyone who dared to get in their way.

"If you keep shaking like that people are going to think that something is wrong with you." Hector tried, and failed, to calm his blonde friend down.

"There are so many things wrong with me already… and a lot of other things that are probably going to come."

"Okay, listen Jaune." Hector stopped Jaune and with more strength that actually necessary he spun him around to face him. A stony look on his face that would scare most Grimm away. "Stop. Being. A. Donkey."

"W-what?"

"Jaune, you took part in saving not one, but _two_ kingdoms, you've saved my life more then once. You are a big reason why I was able to get this strong in the first place. I think saving the world is a pretty good excuse to use when you see your sisters again." Hector explained, the corner of his lips slowly creeping up into a smile as he lists off many reasons why Jaune would be considered a hero. "You're also pretty much my best friend, since that role has been left open after the whole Nora catching Ruby and I kissing thing."

Jaune laughed, his nervousness not completely erased. But the support of his leader and friend is a huge plus for him. He is not in this alone, he would have gotten Ren and Nora for this as well, but Nora is Nora and Ren is… with Nora. He hasn't seen his friend so exhausted in his life, even more then he was at Beacon. Poor guy… He doesn't even want to think about what he must be going through on a daily basis, he doesn't need seven Arc girls interrogating him to add to his _tight_ schedule.

"Thanks dude." Jaune nodded and took a deep breath. "I needed that."

"No problem man." Hector shrugged it off as not being a big deal. "When did you say they were going to show up again?"

"They should be in Atlas by now, they let me know they were coming a few weeks ago and set today as the specific date for their arrival." Jaune answered as he took his scroll back out to confirm the details. "Wait… how did they send me a message when they were in Ansel? The CCT tower in Beacon is still down… Oh no." He read the date wrong… and the time they were supposed to arrive… they arrived in Atlas the day he got the message from his family along with a letter. They've been in Atlas for weeks already… and to them it's like Jaune hasn't even started to make the effort to see them again. "I've made a _huge_ mistake…"

"What was that?"

The doors to the Schnee Manor fly off of their hinges. The seven blonde haired women with a single black haired girl charged into the building.

"WHERE'S OUR BABY!?" The group of blondes ask in a demonic voice that echoed throughout the manor, and they every single one of their eyes lock onto the two figures ahead of them.

Hector took one long look at them, and then to Jaune.

"Nope." Hector spun around and started to walk away, but didn't get far since Jaune grabbed onto him and pulled him in front of his body in some poor attempt to hide himself. "Hey! No Jaune this _isn't_ what I agreed to!"

"JAUNEY!" The smallest of the girls scream as she is the first to break right through Hector and knock Jaune down with a hug.

Hector jumped away as one blonde girl after another, that one with blackish probably being Violet given the information he was given, but all of the sudden one of them stops, and eyes him up and down hungrily. It's weird, she kinda looks like a female Jaune…

Then her eyes light up with sudden realization of who exactly she is looking at. "It's the hero of Haven!" She screamed as she completely makes a one-eighty and _sprints_ straight toward Hector, who is too paralyzed with fear to defend himself as his hand is taken and violently shaken.

Jaune, who is still on the ground with the other six girls who are currently yelling, cursing, kissing, and hugging him all at once. Leans up to see the one person he feared the most… the one person that scares him more then any Grimm, someone that makes the fear of his seven sisters pale in comparison to what he feels when he sees her and that smile on her face that tells him that she is going to both kill him and love him.

His mother…

* * *

"Jaune… you owe me seven more favors after this."

"Thank you for going through with this."

"Now it's eight just because of how much I hate you right now."

"It's not that bad… right?"

"Your twin tried to make out with me, I got slapped by both of your older sisters, and then they hugged me and cried into both of my shoulders muttering thank you for keeping their baby brother safe. The one with black hair _made_ me sign her smut book titled ' _Any hole is the goal'_. Same goes for the nerdy looking one over there, no offence."

"Meh, none taken."

"Then the youngest has claimed me as her second big brother and begged me to play hide and seek, then cried when I didn't answer right away. Do I have to repeat what _she_ did!?" Hector points to the blonde girl that has been staring at him for the past couple of minutes. When Hector looked her way she winked. "I don't even want to talk about the other things that happened because of the aneurism I am having right now."

"So~" Jaune's fraternal twin cooed. "I want to thank you for taking care of my little brother."

"We're thirty five seconds apart." Jaune pointed out uselessly.

"I thought of a great way to repay you for it…" Rosemary, Jaunes fraternal twin ignored him completely.

"I have a girlfriend already… I believe I've told you this about eight times before." Hector repeated for the ninth time.

"Hey, soccer has a goalie but you can still score~"

"Oh dear God." Hector pinched the bridge of his nose. He suddenly wished that he was still in a coma right now… He'd even take Salem talking in his ear rather then this. He didn't even know Remnant had soccer for a sport.

"Rose… please stop." Jaune pleaded for the sake of his friends sanity, not wanting any more favours to add up any more than they are now.

"And that makes nine Jaune."

The situation they are in right now is them being pinned up against the wall with the seven sisters of Jaune Arc forming a half circle around them. Cutting them off from any sort of escape they might have planned on the fly. Jaunes mother, Juniper, went to go fetch Nicholas Arc, who has been searching the city for his son for weeks now. It's a wonder how he didn't find him yet, Jaune was helping rebuild nearly every day now. But I don't think they are going to care for that fact.

"So, going to tell us everything or are we going to have to force it out of you." Olivia glared at Jaune as she said this. Her chest length hair being flicked to the side the second she finished speaking. "Please tell me we have to force it out…"

"Can we please not?" Hector shuddered.

"Quiet you!" Bianca shouted, unafraid of the person who could easily turn her into red paste if he really wanted to. But somehow, she can instill fear into the hero.

"And what's to stop me from just walking through you all?" Hector bluffs, hoping the undeniable fact that he most certainly can walk right through them with little to no effort will make them at least backup a bit.

"Because Jade would cry again if her adopted big brother did that." The one with glasses, Karen, pointed out with a victorious smirk when she saw Hector back down.

The fact that Jade is looking at Hector so lovingly just as she would to her actual older brother isn't helping much either. It reminds him of simpler times.

"Okay, I can explain..." Jaune finally gave in, ready to tell his side of the story to the seven angry sisters, who all snapped their heads right to Jaune as soon as he began to speak. "... As soon as dad gets here." Jaune adds nervously.

"In the meantime," Bianca looked to Hector. "I apologize on behalf of the arc sisterhood." Bianca bowed her head with respect. "I shouldn't have slapped you and called you a baby brother endangering lunatic, and then proceeded to hug and cry into you shoulder while thanking you for keeping him safe. We all have emotional roller coasters when it comes to actually meeting our idols."

"Uh…" _That sure was a weird way to apologize, could you have made it sound even more fake?_ "You are all forgiven…" Hector ended up saying, he wouldn't want to get slapped again, he's been slapped enough times to last a week already.

" _Eeee!_ " The fairy tale loving Arc sister squealed, making sound for the first time that wasn't screaming or complimenting excessively. "This is like one of my books!"

"I don't even want to imagine what kind of book that is." Hector groaned.

"Psst." Jaune whispered. "Wrong one, the one with her hair dyed is the one that is into that stuff."

"I know what I said."

"So how did you two meet!?" The youngest Arc asked, running up to both of the boys and looking up at them with a wide smile.

"Would you believe me if I said I just showed up randomly and told them I had an old man stuck in my head?" Hector rhetorically asked while Jaune just nodded.

"Pfft." Two of the Arc sisters end up bursting out in laughter, taking that line very out of context for some reason.

Hector sighed and wondered what Mercury could be doing at a time like this, he could use another guy around to share this pain with.

* * *

Mercury gets punched in the face for the fifth time in a row, so much so that his dark gray aura is in the orange right now. Qrow got him up bright and early, didn't even let him brush his teeth and literally dragged him out by his robot legs.

"Stop doing that!" Mercury yelled angrily as he rubbed his now bruised and nearly broken nose.

"Then stop falling for it, seriously kid, you're better than most but the way you fight is way too linear." Qrow pointed out. "I mean, all you do is kick, do some fancy flips and shit, punch every once in awhile, and while that worked against your dear father and probably would work on most students, it won't work on me or any other huntsman who actually knows how to fight." Qrow explained with a grin and a roll of his eyes, even yawning just to add some more salt to the already wide open wound that is Mercury's father.

"Also every punch is for what you did at Beacon and for Yang." Qrow added.

Mercury glared at him, but he knew that if he ever got on not only his but everyone else's good side, then this was going to be a running joke for a _very_ long time.

"I know, I deserve that… But why do you have to keep using the same move?" Mercury grimaced as he pushed himself up and into a forced fighting stance. For the first time since before he was forcibly given cybernetic legs, he is wearing shorts. Letting the world see his legs the way they are, in all their robotic glory. Against his will of course but Qrow doesn't care about his feelings.

"Because it works." Qrow shrugged, then his glare turned deadly on a dime that made the ex-assassin shake in his boots. "Also, I see the way you've been looking at Yang, don't think I didn't notice."

"W-what?" Mercury stammered, cheeks heating up as even his stance falters after being accused of having… the word doesn't even want to be thought about in his head.

"You've got a _lot_ to prove before you even get me to consider _letting_ you get close to her like that. And if you think Tai is just going to sit back and watch..." Qrow scoffs. "You think I'm being bad right now? Remember Black, im doing this because of our mutual hate of that white haired bastard, and for the many lives you actually saved a month ago." Qrow pointed his massive sword to him, ready to go for another bout already.

"So, raise those hands, grease up those legs if you have to, and get ready for the most hateful training of your life."

Mercury doesn't know if Qrow can match Marcus' training routines in terms of intensity and length. As much as he hates to admit it, his failure of a father is the one to thank for the skills he has now, the style of fighting he adapted to mix with his personal favorite kicking focused fighting style. But one thing from that training remains relevant.

He hasn't improved much since then, sure he got better, good enough even to be able to go toe to toe with Pyrrha Nikos herself, if she didn't use her semblance anyway. If things weren't so shitty for him. But since the fall, he hasn't improved at all, while his enemies at the time grew in strength, technique, and speed drastically, so much so that his genitals still hurt from that combo that was done on him by those damn sisters who don't even look alike. And don't even let him get started on the guy who shows up out of nowhere and kills Cinder with an unimaginable amount of power!

"Heh," He laughs at the memory of what he used to be. Much to the confusion of Qrow.

"You know, I haven't realized it until now, but damn was I pathetic, still am actually." Mercury raised his hands, despite insulting himself with undeniable facts. "But now that changes!" He suddenly yells as he kicks himself toward his new teacher, one that he respects far more then any teacher he had before.

Similar to Ruby, Mercury uses the weapons installed in his legs to give him mobility and maneuverability while flying around at rapid speeds. He uses the momentum to spin around and redirect himself with a blast of smoke, and does this over and over until he looks like a gray blur to the naked eye.

Qrow is impressed by this new move, but he can tell where he is, and cranks up his passive semblance just a bit just so he can see what would happen as a result.

The results were very promising.

Mercury blasted himself toward Qrow, intending on landing a crushing kick that would have broken through his guard if he landed it. But instead, he widens his eyes as Qrow ducks to the side and an arm is extended out in front of his chest. With too much speed, he can't stop himself in time, and ends up backflipping five times in the air before somehow landing on his feet, only for his left foot to completely fly off and right out the window of the training room they're in.

Both teacher and student wince as they hear the startled yelp of the poor fellow who just had a foot land right in front of him.

Mercury, now standing with only one foot, and very off balance. Can somehow only see one person to blame for this.

"I hate you."

"That wasn't my fault…"

"You owe me a foot."

"I'm sure Ruby would be happy to work on something for you."

No, god no. "I don't think it is your fault anymore."

"Nope, I now claim full responsibility."

"Here I thought we were going to have a moment."

"Eh," Qrow scoffed as he reached into his shirt pocket. "I give it a six out of ten."

Mercury kicked his footless leg out at him out of anger, only for a weak puff of smoke to plume out of the exposed barrel. No aura, no semblance. The small force of the smoke was enough to make him fall back on his butt with a grunt.

Meanwhile Qrow couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

* * *

" _I'm sure he's fine."_ Hector thought to himself as the youngest Arc sister climbed onto his back. He didn't dare even think about stopping her, and let her play around with his hair and make comments on how cool he looks with one eye.

Luckily she jumped over to Jaune and did the same to him minus the eye comments before he lost it.

"Im back girls!" Jaunes mother, Juniper cheered as she lead someone who looked almost exactly like Jaune except better looking, taller, darker, and overall more badass than his son. His white cloak somehow whipping in the non existent wind inside the manor, and his stone cold dark blue eyes were locked on Jaune.

The half circle dispersed in an instant, except for Jade who is still attached to her _actual_ big brother. Much too happy to see her big brother after so long to even notice the glare her father is giving him.

"Jaune." The man greeted in a very husky mature voice that was void of any emotion.

"H-hey… dad." Jaune awkwardly greeted back, waving his hand and resting his hand on the hilt of his sword when he saw he father do the same

Meanwhile Hector is just glad he now doesn't have the constant threat of seven girls, two of whom had obvious lust for him, the other five he didn't even want to think about.

Now there's this full fledged huntsman, whose son is one of his best friends but before that he sort of lied his ass off and almost got himself killed on multiple occasions, then did nothing to let his family know. The way he is looking at his own son rivals the way Cinder looked at him while they were fighting at Haven, and what makes it worse is that Jaunes mother is doing the same, but with a wide ear-to-ear smile on her face.

Given the situation they are in, only one thing comes to his mind at this time.

"Jaune your family is fucked up."

Jaune choked on his own saliva.

* * *

 **AN- Well, here we go, the Jaune's family mini arc… obviously this chapter was more focused on comedy, a hint of the future of Red Rivers. Jaune's mom is a psycho, you know shit like that.**

 **Also… poor Ren.**

 **Those of you who like Red Rivers, you will see plenty more for the rest of the story, don't worry. I am not just going to bring them in, just so I can let it become a background thing. I promise you all that.**

 **Now, there's just one thing I want to ask you guys. One day, there's going to be a time where this story is completed, and there's going to be a time where Team HAMR is going to be completed. I've basically made Hector into his own character at this point, and the Kaioken, (Hopefully) a little more unique just to his character. At least this version of it.**

 **So, the point of this is, would you guys want him to return in lets say… a different show/anime? Such as My Hero Academia? Or any other show that may have come to mind? Just a question for you guys, and obviously I can't really answer it myself yet since I have about a year before either of his stories are done.**

 **If you are all wondering, this story is about halfway done so far. Maybe 40% more or less. By the time I am done, this story may have OVER 1,000,000 words… Oh dear.**

 **So yeah, if you think that he can return, not as an OC from earth, but as just a regular OC, then let me know. If no one says anything, then I may let his character rest, God knows he needs it.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way, shape, or form.**


	39. An Unlikely Hero Chapter 38

**AN- To every reviewer who has reviewed or Pm'd me with their ideas on where I could take Hector next. Thank you for all of your participation in answering the question, I will take each and every suggestion under consideration, when this story finally gets completed, that is when I will make the decision of whether I want lay Hector to rest, or to give him another run.**

 **The reason why I answered all of you at once is because if I did respond you each individually I would ended up just repeating myself over and over.**

 **But for those who said more then just answer the question, here you go-**

 **Azure Tangeson- Don't worry, both of those are coming back for a return very soon. I just marathoned DBZA again so my mind is full of references to use.**

 **Astra- The bullshit happens so go with it was one of my trademark moves, it's how I started both of the stories Hector is in so far, then there's blind huntsman where I basically just wrote the first decade and a half of his life in two chapters. Thank you for the praise however, i'm glad to see that I have improved so much, I read through the first couple of chapters and some scenes I was like "Did I really type that? And hundreds of people saw it!?" Yeah, goosebumps is one way to put it. Thank you for the support man, i'm glad you understand what I meant last chapter, I needed to be honest and well… there ya go. I wish I hadn't pretty much unintentionally spoiled a future plot point, but I had to get my own thoughts out there. I am a master of the game of emotions, self proclaimed of course, I don't know how I do it. I just kind of go for it and hope it works, and so far it has, hence the now 200+ people following me, still trying to process that by the way. Tai and Qrow are not in the chat in fact, so they are still in the dark. Look forward to that revelation. As for the words that I have trouble with, I can only promise to try. Also, Goddamnit Nora, that's all you need to know. You should know Yang, she meant both of those things. Ozpin is currently doing some things, making some adjustments, making sure Hector doesn't get entirely possessed, you know, that sort of thing. Jauney boy though needs assistance, if he was by himself lets just say he would have a lot more trouble. I decided to give him that little mini arc because I feel like I haven't given him much time to shine in this story and I may have been reading a lot of Coeur Al'Aran's stories. Jaune wasn't that bad of a team leader, he only had zero experience in everything that involves physically being a hunter, but I can make the guess that he was very skilled at strategy video games. Hector's lost credit card will return one day, along with the explanation of how he lost it in the first place. Now that you mention it the only animals I've seen on Remnant are birds, and Zwei, and most of the time the birds are Qrow or Raven… thanks for the idea that just popped into my head. In that case, Qrow was referring to Marcus, I forgot how many people have white hair in the show… whoops. Mercury will be getting an upgrade, I mean, he just lost a foot and the firing mechanism in his left leg is pretty much destroyed. So there ya go. The Oh Gosh references must come to a stop before I end up changing the title back, but the 1,000,000 words thing is probably going to happen by the time this story is finished, maybe, if I get close to it I will push for a million words. Only sixty more chapters to go… RIP my sleep schedule. You write your reviews like I write chapters, quick as fuck. Seriously though I am lucky to have a reviewer like you, thank you for your constant support.**

 **Tigervolcano5000- Ruby can be unpredictable sometimes, besides, she literally had to slap some sense into the guy. We'll see about that second thing, maybe maybe not. Qrows training of Mercury is going to be very important for both characters, so keep an eye on those two. Do not worry about my falling into that hole that a lot of writers do. Hector's a nice guy, and Jade is an adorable little blonde girl that is easy to make cry, and you are right to say that he doesn't lord his power over everyone. But he isn't going to be pushed around either, only Ruby can do that now, and maybe Tai or Yang… depends. As for Jaunes test, it has already started. Thank you for the review!**

 **Kage-kitsune9001- I might make a little side story or plot for poor Ren.**

 **Chaosstrange- Thank you**

 **Nothing much else to say so here we go on to the next one!**

* * *

Chapter 38- Test

"Jaune, your family is fucked up."

After Jaune finished choking on his own saliva, he turns to Hector with a wide eyed expression.

"Why did you have to say that out loud!?"

"Dude, not even _they_ are denying it." Hector snickers and gestures toward them with one hand.

Jaune peeks over his shoulder to see that they all nod their head in agreement, even the youngest one. Along with his mother, and his father is still giving him the death glare that makes him look back to the only one that isn't related to him. He gets intimidated enough to turn back around and face his leader.

"Okay, you're right." Jaune surrenders easily. "But what are we supposed to do now?"

"Why are you asking me? They're _your_ family." Hector points out.

"Because I wasn't prepared for this!"

"You know we're still here right little brother?" Olivia asked loudly.

"Just go talk to them." Hector turns Jaune around and slowly begins to push him toward his family.

Before he then pushes him almost as hard as he can and nearly knocks him down as he slides his way to his family who were standing about twenty feet away from them.

"Gah!" Jaune catches him just in time before he bumped into his father. He looks up to the older man and smiles sheepishly.

"Jaune." Nicholas Arc greets again. "I believe it is time to start explaining yourself."

"Hehe… uh, well, I made it into Beacon." Jaune begins, conveniently leaving out the part where he got his records forged.

"And _how_ did you make it into Beacon, the most prestigious hunter school on Remnant, with _no_ previous training, _no_ aura, and _no_ experience?" Nicholas caught him right there. "Also you seem to have forgotten the part where you STOLE MY SWORD AND ABANDONED THE FAMILY!" He suddenly screams and slaps his son upside the head.

Jaunes golden aura flared as it protected him from the strike. Nicholas isn't as surprised as he thought he would be, since after more then a year of Jaune being away at a huntsman school, then traveling across the world, being a part of saving not one but _two_ kingdoms, it was kind of a given at this point.

"So who did you trick into unlocking your aura?"

"Now now Nicky," Juniper, Jaune's mother and wife of Nicholas Arc calms her husband now almost instantly. "How could our son begin to explain himself if you keep asking questions, and not letting him get a second to speak?"

'Nicky' calms down and nods to his son, giving him the okay to speak.

"I… uh." Jaune hangs his head and huffs. "I'm sorry… I was stupid, foolish, and even more stupid. I got forged records from someone in Vale, and that was what got me into Beacon." Jaune shamefully reveals to his family. What he doesn't was that they pretty much assumed that, but at least some of his sisters faked a gasp to give him at least _some_ indication of shock, even if it is still fake.

"We assumed so." Nicholas burst the bubble.

"Oh... " Jaune slumped his shoulder even more, barely able to keep eye contact with his father.

"Actually." Hector's voice as well as others spoke at the same time. "I let him in myself."

Jaune saw the shocked looks on his family's faces, and wondered what was going on behind him, and what he saw surprised him.

Hector, or Ozpin now. But Hector's body now has White silvery hair, his blue eye has returned to brown, his skin turned pale and his posture has become more straight and well-mannered. He doesn't remember any other time Hector, or Ozpin, was capable of such a transformation as they handed the controls of the body they inhabited to each other. So even his jaw dropped.

"Ozpin? I thought you were dead." Nicholas shook his head and blinked a couple of times to make sure this wasn't some illusion.

"Yes, it is I, former headmaster of Beacon academy, I will save you the story of how this is possible and leave you with this." Ozpin said with an echoed voice. "I knew your sons records were forged, and I let him in anyway, and I made him the leader of his own team."

"Still wondering why you did that by the way." Jaune points out, but it goes completely ignored.

"This team consisted of himself, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos,"

"Wait what-" One of the Arc girls tried to interrupt but was promptly shut down by Ozpin completely talks over them with his authoritative echoing voice.

" And Lie Ren. Team Juniper if you will." Jaunes mom snickered at a team name accidentally named after her. "He had potential, still has plenty more, and while he had no experience as you previously stated, he improved far faster than any other student attending Beacon." Ozpin continued as the Arc family listened intently. "He has made friends that will last a lifetime, and has saved lives with his semblance."

Now that is what gets all of their attention. Jaune, the boy they knew as weak and needy, has not only saved lives and made friends without their help, but now has a semblance to? The rest of the Arc girls don't even have aura yet!

"And he's saved mine too." Hector said as he transformed back into how he usually looks. "Damn that still feels weird."

"I didn't know you could do that." Jaune blinked and Hector was back to normal, so he thought it was some kind of magic trick.

"I'm just going to ignore the fact that Ozpin is still alive and ask you this," Nicholas started as he crossed his arms and shook his head. "How exactly did my son do all of this?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Jaune Arc here is just a badass when he wants to be." Hector said with a snicker.

"I refuse to believe that." Bianca said.

"I can't believe that." Olivia added.

" _I_ don't care." Rosemary finished it. "Just get to the part where you two hug and make up, I _need_ to hear all of this kids stories." She said as she draped an arm over her twins shoulder.

"One of those things would be saving _your_ life?" Nicholas asked. "Aren't you supposed to be some hero or something?"

"Eh, apparently i'm world famous now." Hector shrugged. "I don't really care about all that, I decided to have Oz step in because I couldn't help but notice how bad this talk is going down."

"Oh really?" Nicholas crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I mean I can't just sit here and listen to this cringe." Some of the Arc girls snickered at that. "So here I am to save the day once again the day after I woke up from a coma."

"Hector, you don't have to. I'm sure you have better things to do then this." Jaune spoke up with not much confidence.

"You're the one who asked me for help, so here I am." Hector replied with a smile. "So what are your intentions? You came all the way to Atlas to see Jaune, is there a purpose?"

"We're going to take him back with us before he gets himself killed." Juniper declares almost immediately, her friendly expression turning stone cold.

Hector can sense Jaune tense up, it was easy to tell by how his eyes widened and with the way his head snapped to his mother. This is bad for him, Jaune is torn between choosing his blood family, or the family he has become a part of over the time he has spent with them all. He can't say no to either.

But luckily for him, Hector is there to state his own thoughts on the matter.

"And what if I don't _let_ you?" Hector coldly asked, the look in his eye changing from the friendly nonchalant look he is known for, to a glare that even Weiss can't hope to achieve.

"Then we'll take him back." Nicholas said with a shrug, unaffected from the glare unlike his daughters.

Jaune finds himself unable to protest either parties, and his internal screaming intensifies as he believes that things may get violent and he doesn't think he would be able to stop them.

"Ha!" Hector laughs bitterly as his red aura flames up, and the Arc family feel the heat and intensity from just a small part of his power. "You see to have forgotten the part where I said I _won't_ let you."

"Hector no!" Jaune moves to step between his family and the very powerful young man. But a strong arm keeps him back.

Nicholas removes his arm from Jaune's path after knowing that he won't take another step, and raises his hands up in surrender. "I'm not going to fight you for him, if you have half the skill that I know Ozpin had, then I know I wouldn't last long, and from everything I have heard about you, and the recordings of you fighting that my daughters forced me to watch. I know I wouldn't last long against you either."

"So what's the goal here then?" Hector asked with an arched eyebrow.

"You- or Ozpin, - still processing that - said that Jaune has improved a lot since leaving home, is that correct?"

"More than I can say for ninety percent of the people I've met so far." That last ten percent would be Rhea, and a few others.

"Then before my wife and daughters give us no choices. I have a proposition, a fair one." Nicholas adds as he looks to his son, who still has a horrified expression on his face by thinking of the worst possible scenario right away.

"Alright I'll bite, what is it?" Hector let his aura fade away completely, willing to make a deal if it means keeping his friend. Not only is Jaune one of his best friends, but he is a crucial part of everything that involves getting himself stronger. The reason he got used to the times twenty boost is because of the amount of time he spent pushing his body to the limits during their journey back to Vale. Jaune was always there to fix him up when he hurt himself, this giving him more pain tolerance and toughening up his body gradually. There were many times where he was reprimanded for training too hard, but after it all it has brought all of them together. At this point, Hector won't admit it unless you ask him and even then it may be like pulling teeth, he can't imagine team RNJR without Jaune in it, sure they have Rhea and her own magical healing abilities, but Jaune's is more potent surprisingly when it comes to mending physical damage, as in it heals the body faster by supplying the victim with enhanced aura, unlike Rhea's who just heals the body and doesn't return any aura back to whoever is hurt.

Back on the topic at hand, Jaune is a staple member of RNJR, as well as a friend to everyone. Hell, he has even started to get a crush on Weiss again, but goes after her the right way this time. Just another reason to keep Jaune around.

"I'll leave it up to you Jaune." Hector said with a nod in his direction.

Jaune was a bit surprised by the decision being left to him, but if it means him getting to stay to help his friends in a war that the world doesn't know about, then he is all for it and will try his best. He even has a good idea on what it is… a test of strength and skill.

"You have to bea-"

"I'll do it," Jaune cuts his father off, and then every eye is placed on him. "I know what you are about to say." Jaune takes a deep breath and steels himself. "I'll fight you, if I win, I stay, if I don't I'll come back."

Hector knew this was coming, it was just way too cliche _not_ to see it coming. He knows Jaune has improved a lot since he arrived at haven, but to face up against a hunter that has decades more experience then him? He may need to _negotiate_ his way into keeping Jaune where he is right now.

His family don't know what to think, they know Jaune as a weak kid who needed constant help and support from his family. Now, the boy, no, the man in front of them now gives off no such vibe. They are both impressed, and sad to see this development. This test to them is to see if he can take care of himself without any help. If he wins… they won't be happy, but if he loses, they will be happy but Jaune won't. Sadly no one has felt the need to point that out yet.

"Heh, I actually wasn't going to propose a fight,"

Wait what?

"Wait what!?" Jaune stammered.

"but I think that'll do just fine." Nicholas said as he placed a hand on the hilt of his new sword. "Is that still Crocea Mors? Or did you rename it something?"

"It's uh…" Jaune answered by sliding the heirloom out of its sheath. It slides out with a metallic ring that would have been satisfying to listen to if it didn't pierce the inside of your ear with a screeching sound. "A little different then you remember it." He reveals the new look of the sword, which had been altered to be able to hold the shield along with it, and deploy said shield whenever the user wills it.

Nicholas whistles a tune as he inspects the improved blade. "You know, I think you made the right choice to disrespect the family heirloom, also you're lucky I don't mind that you did. Grandpa might have though."

"I uh… thanks?" Jaune didn't know how to answer that. Between the glares from his family, and the look he is getting from Hector that says " _You better fucking win or else you will have me to deal with."_ So no pressure.

"I would prefer if you guys do this now," Hector broke the silence as he took a peek to his scroll he forgot was in his pocket. He didn't know he even had a pocket in those pants he just kinda stole from his hospital room. Much less how the scroll got there in the first place.

Meh, it was probably Ruby.

"It's like nine in the morning and we have to start gathering everyone for a meeting soon." Hector said.

" _Also, we are going to need to have a very important talk Oz."_ He continued in the comfort of his own head that is occupied with _three_ ancient beings now. One of them being a certain embodiment of evil that has somehow managed to snake her way into his head.

' _...'_

" _I know you're there, you just took the controls just now, you can't keep avoiding me, we are the same person at this point."_

Still nothing, for some reason Ozpin is just not responding, perhaps he is too busy? For a good reason? If he is pushing Salem back and out of his head then he could at least give him a sign instead of completely avoiding him for an unknown reason. Worst case scenario in Hector's mind is that he is keeping something from him, and coming out only when he feels he is needed. But after being out for so long, wouldn't it make sense for Oz to talk to him?

" _Ugh, fine be that way."_ It wasn't worth the headache, he might as well enjoy the time he has to be with his friends until he can work something out with Ozpin. " _You know what? Hey Knolly why isn't-"_

"Uh, Hector you there?" Jaune snaps his fingers in front of his face, ignorant of the inner turmoil Hector is facing at the moment.

Hector blinks a couple of times and looks to his blonde friend, being snapped out of his mental stupor. "Sorry about that, was just talking to the voices in my head." If he had said that to someone who didn't know the whole Ozpin resurrection thing, then he would have been called crazy. But luckily this is Jaune, everyone's friend.

"Yeah well… my family sort of took what you said to heart and the spar is going to begin like… right now… right here." Jaune sheepishly said as he scratched the back of his head.

Hector blinked a couple times, processing what Jaune had just said to make sure he heard it correctly. "Wait… you are going to fight your dad, who is an experienced huntsman mind you, in the main hall of the Schnee manor?"

"To be fair it wasn't my idea." Jaune lied.

"It _was_ your idea though." Hector pointed out

"... Don't tell Weiss that."

"I won't if we take this to the _actual_ training area," Hector said loudly so that the rest of his family can here. "I don't need Weiss nagging my ear off about how I let her house get destroyed."

"Wait the Schnees have a training room?" Aqua Arc asks.

"Of course they do, the Schnees are well known for their huntresses and hunters throughout their years." Karen recites in a very nerdly way.

"Nerd." Rosemary said with a snicker.

"So where is this training room?" Bianca asked as she tilted her head slightly.

"Yes, where is this training room Jauney?" Juniper asked sternly.

"Uh…"

"Why do I have the feeling that it's the room you somehow found a way to break through and into another room?" Hector asked next. "Also I better not walk in there and it is already magically repaired.

"Er… At least it may be open?" Jaune only dug his grave deeper.

"You're doomed."

* * *

"I wonder what Jaune wanted from RJ." Rhea thought out loud. She has been not dragged but pressured into the training room where Mercury and Qrow were training in, but since Mercury lost a foot they have just begun speaking about techniques and tactics for Mercury to better himself with. Also she can't help but notice how Mercury keeps hiding his left leg from Ruby, if anything she would only be a little worried for the gray haired young man right?

Right?

"Dunno, probably some guy stuff." Ruby said with a smile, thinking about the night she shared with Hector not even a full twenty four hours ago, hardly even twelve.

Also Zwei is sitting in her lap, he just happened to be in there when they walked in.

"What does that even mean?" Rhea inquired, too young and innocent as Ruby once was to not understand that when a guy said they need another guy for 'guy stuff', it means no girls are allowed to know. Or it can just be an excuse to get the girls out of the room.

"Honestly I don't even know." Ruby answered honestly and shook her head.

Yeah… Jaune didn't really tell anyone that his family was coming. Whoops.

"Hey Merc!" She called out to her ex-enemy.

"Hm?" Mercury turned his head to face her. "What's up?"

"Why aren't you two actually training?" Ruby just _had_ to ask that question.

"Heh, yeah _Merc_ , why aren't we training?" Qrow smugly asked and rested his head atop of his propped up arm.

"I- er, well." Mercury struggles to find some believable excuse despite how adept he was at lying in the past, damn he has grown soft. "I fell down some stairs."

"What? No you didn't-" Qrow denied but was cut off.

"Shut up before I throw _you_ down a flight." Mercury threatened Qrow through gritted teeth as he tried to hide his footless leg from Ruby. He knows enough about her to know that all it is going to take is _one_ look at his leg, and the next couple of days are going to be filled with Ruby begging him to let her repair/upgrade his legs. Even if it doesn't sound like a bad idea, he still is a little hesitant about letting anyone see them, much less touch them.

But when Qrow grabbed his left ankle, and then lifted it up for the girls to see…

He heard a gasp and saw Ruby's eye light up with bother concern and wonder, and knew that it is going to go downhill from there.

And Qrow still wore that damn smug grin on his face.

* * *

"Blake get down from there already." Yang called up to her long time partner who is currently up on top of a unnecessarily large bookshelf.

"No."

"Why are you up there again?" Yang asked for the third time, hoping to get an actual answer this time.

"That _thing_ is somewhere… It's worse than any Grimm I've ever faced." Blake was referring to Zwei, who she found sleeping with her and has been traumatized ever since.

"Blake Zwei is a _dog_. A house pet, he is also training to comfort those who need it, and that means you need some love kitt-cat." Yang teased, holding her arms out toward the faunus invitingly.

"You must be working with it."

"Blake no-"

"I can't trust anybody."

"Blake-"

With a catlike screech, Blake hops from the top of the bookshelf and onto the chandelier. It almost breaks from the sudden weight added to it, but holds for now.

"Blake! You're going to break it!" Yang shouted up at her. "Come on, you're supposed to be the mature one here!"

 _Wait a second… I can fly!_

Yang suddenly remembered she was the Spring Maiden, and abused her powers to chase Blake around the room, knocking bookshelves down and breaking every fragile object that was in the room.

A servant walked by the closed room and contemplated going in to see what the ruckus is all about. But once he heard the screeching and roars of a _very_ frustrated woman, he decided that he wasn't paid enough for that.

"Ha! Caught you!" Yang exclaimed in victory as she wrapped her arms around Blakes waist, while also pinning her arms to the side.

" _SCEEEHH!"_ Blake hissed and thrashed like a wild animal.

"Come on, we should go see what the others are doing before we end up missing something really important… or something." Yang shrugged and carried Blake on one shoulder, who continued to thrash wildly and scratch at her aura as they exited the trashed room.

As they disappeared around the corner, Weiss showed up to see what all the commotion was about after the servant told her that he wasn't paid enough to stop whatever was happening in there. She almost laid him off because of how rude he was acting toward her. Also she was forced out of an aftermath interview because this was seen as an emergency that she herself needed to see to.

Weiss sighed as she saw the trashed room, pinching the bridge of her nose as she thinks about who could have done this.

There are just too many possibilities on who it could have been.

Her first thought was Yang, because obvious reasons, then Hector, sometimes he forgot how strong he was, Mercury maybe, Qrow was pretty high on the list. Blake was possibly on the bottom of the list. She didn't bother to add Ruby because she knows she is probably latched to Hector's side.

"Just… clean this up…" Weiss seethed. "And for goodness sake find Hector! I tried calling for him before but _of course_ he left the hospital room again." Weiss ordered then spun back around and headed back toward the endless onslaught of journalists and the like, and then one of them asked for the 'Hero Of Two Kingdoms' as he has been named, which made one thing lead to another and then all of the sudden everyone is demanding a speech from him… everyday is another reason to call life hell.

"Miss Schnee, the Arc family has just broken down the doors!" A maid exclaims as she runs around the corner.

Weiss facepalmed and sighed loudly. Well she just found out where Hector is.

She'd rather take the dragon on any day then have to deal with this any longer.

* * *

"Please please please please please-" The same word was said multiple times as Ruby bounced in front of Mercury everytime he tried to take a step closer to the exit. With two feet he might have been able to lose her, but he is hopping around and too distracted by Qrows laughter at the way he is hopping around.

"Ruby, please stop, you know my legs are off limits." Mercury pleaded as he gave up and sat down on a bench.

He let Ruby touch his legs once, and after that he woke up with a 'Minor adjustment' as Ruby called it. It was calibrated to move more when he wanted it to move rather than a small delay. While the upgrade could save his life one day, it was still something he was bitter about for about a day before Yang started giving him death glares again and he forgave her within a few hours.

"But I have so many new ideas for you! I can give you laser legs, _smoke_ laser legs," Ruby gasps as she thinks of something completely 'Original'. "Rocket kick."

"That does sound pretty badass." Qrow smugly agrees.

Mercury swears to himself to make Qrow pay for this one day.

"Okay here is the training room- Mercury why are you missing a leg?"

"Hector! Please help me." Mercury has never been so happy to see someone who threatened to kill him before.

"Hi." Rhea greets with a wave.

"Hecs!" Ruby dashes up to his side, leaving a silhouette of rose petals behind her. "How does Mercury having rocket kicks sound?"

"Rocket kicks? Like he fires his feet at them?" Hector understood immediately.

"Yes!"

"Sounds badass! Mercury, you still touchy about those legs?"

There goes any chance of Mercury getting out of this. Hector has been corrupted by his new girlfriend, either that or he is completely biased and this is him paying more of the debt that he owes everyone there.

"Ugh…"

"So are you going to explain to me why I see ten blondes in behind you right now?" Qrow slurred a bit, then notices Nicholas Arc, a huntsman he hasn't seen in years. "Nicky! I'd recognize that yellow hair of yours anywhere."

"Qrow, glad to see you're still kicking." Nicholas greets back as he enters the room, with Jaune close behind.

"Oh wait let me guess. You're going to fight your son to see if he is able to take care of himself right?" Qrow prediction was spot on.

"How did you know that?" Jaune asked, they did literally _just_ get back from the entrance to the manor.

"Kid, be forced to watch crappy movies with your nieces everytime you visit makes you know when certain things are about to happen." Qrow shivered as he remembers a certain movie in particular, one that shall not be named.

"Oh… great." Jaune laughed nervously.

"Wait, why are you fighting?" Ruby asked, confused why family members would fight against one another, usually it would be called a spar but the atmosphere makes her feel like this is more than just a spar. "Wait, your family is here!?" Ruby just realized this."

"TL:DR, his mom is Juniper, and his seven sisters are Bianca, Olivia, Rosemary, Karen, Aqua, Violet and Jade." Hector explained for her right away.

"Why does that one keep staring at you?" Ruby asked as she saw Rosemary wink at him. She of course feels a bit angry at the prospect of Hector attracting other girls. He wasn't allowed to anymore! He's hers now!

"She has issues." Hector lied, saving everyone from a conflict that would not have good for convincing Jaune's family that they can be trusted with him.

"Aw that's sad." Ruby went from jealous to feeling sad for the poor girl.

"If you could all clear the training area and sit on the benches I so graciously provided for you all." No one even bothered to ask where Qrow found a black and white striped referee uniform, he just does things like that now.

"Wait we're just going to ignore that?" Hector was the only one to see the illogic in this as he was lead to the benches by Ruby's hand, and by that he means Ruby is trying to pull him so he can make it to the benches faster.

"Yup." The entire family said at the same time as Mercury and Ruby.

"Don't worry RJ, I thought about that to." The Fall Maiden whispered to him as he sat down next to her.

Now with Jaune and Nicholas suddenly in the ring all on their own, Jaune begins to feel even more pressure on himself. If he doesn't win, he will be forced to leave his family, if he wins, he will be forced to once again leave behind his blood related family.

"You can go ask for advice if you want," Nicholas said as he rested his longsword atop his shoulder. "You're gonna need it."

Jaune breathed through his nose and connected his aura gauge to the screen above them. "No, I have to do this on my own." _There's the Jaune we were looking for._

"Heh, so be it." Nicholas is impressed by his son. But if you asked him, he never wanted any of his kids to become huntsman like all of their predecessors. The Arc family is known for their long bloodline of warriors and huntsman, ever since even before the Great War. But there was always one reoccurring thing that he noticed. The parents of each of the Arc children would give them more steel than love, it was like fighting was the only thing that mattered to his own father, if you didn't become a huntsman, then you wouldn't be considered an Arc, such as what happened to Nicholas' brother. He was cast out and given to another family at a young age when he told his parents that he did not want to become a huntsman, but a musician. Nicholas hasn't heard from him since. When he became a huntsman, he cut ties with the rest of his family. All their stupid rules and traditions will die off with them he said to himself, and he has stuck to that oath ever since. Rules like, you can only marry another hunter, you can only have a certain number of kids, Crocea Mors was to be always passed down to the next hunter in line. He actually planned to melt down Crocea Mors and use it as an ornament rather then a weapon when he retired, that was until Jaune decided to steal it and run off to Beacon without so much of a word to his family.

Nicholas didn't show it, but he was the most furious about what happened. The rest of his family were much more willing to show and express their anger. But he seethed the most. He was actually the one who convinced his family to not go after Jaune, because if they did, that ran with the risk of Jaune getting arrested and convicted for crimes, such as recklessly endangering other students, forgery of official records, and many others he didn't want to think about. He didn't want his son to spend years in prison for chasing his dream.

By no means does he hate his son, just very worried about his safety and also justifiably angry with him for leaving. He just wished he at least came to him about it. Nicholas would have trained him himself, against his better judgment, and then when Jaune was old enough he could take the huntsman license test. A test where you don't have to go to any academies to achieve an official license. It would have taken years, but it would have been safer for everyone this way.

Nicholas swears that Jaune's semblance was good luck this whole time instead of this healing he was told about on their way to the training room.

"Just so you know, I am doing this for your own safety. After this I'll train you and you can get your huntsman license another way." Nicholas explained. "Therefore, I am sorry for taking you away from your friends in advance."

"Ooo, this is the part where he underestimates him." Hector whispered to Ruby, who nodded in agreement with him, and then leaned her head on his shoulder. She has complete confidence in Jaune, but can't help but worry for his ability to win this bout.

"You're wrong." Jaune said as a shadow covered the top half of his face.

"About what exactly?"

"You think i'm still the same weak kid from before, you _all_ do. But you're wrong, I've changed, and if I have to beat you to prove it, then so be it."

"Then prove me wrong." Nicholas challenged, and got into a stance to face his son in a duel. "You sure you still want to do this?

No more words need to be said, only actions to be made. Jaune readies himself, he knows he has gotten stronger, more confident, and more skilled. Even if it had been only a year since he left his house that day. But he can't help but use an old line that his own father taught him long ago.

"You did say all you need is a little confidence." Jaune said with a smirk.

"I think you took that to heart a bit too much son." His father chuckled.

"You can begin whenever you want, keep fighting until someone surrenders. That's the only rule." Qrow said seriously, interrupting any more words that might have escaped from Jaunes mouth had he stood idle any longer.

Nicholas moved fast, and before anyone knew it a clash of steel against steel clashed against each other in a flash of sparks. Jaune's muscles tensed up as he pushed back against the stronger man, but remembering Pyrrha's training he gets into a position so that he would be able to push back while using less energy.

Jaune pushes the new blade away, and slashes horizontally, which is easily dodged by the huntsman as he backflips away and lands on his feet. He gets surprised however when he sees the tip of Crocea Mors coming down from above him. He meets the blade with his own and a small shockwave flew throughout the training area. Nicholas is surprised by the physical strength of his son that could rival many huntsman, but brute strength is not going to be enough to win a battle.

He parrys the attack and punches Jaune in the face, then slashes diagonally at his shoulder. Jaune however presses a button on the hilt of Crocea Mors and activated the shield, blocking and pushing the lighter blade away. He then takes the shield off of his sword and bashes his father away with it, who slides across the ground a couple of feet before coming to a stop.

"Impressive, you last longer then I am sure any of your sisters would have predicted." Nicholas compliments.

Jaune doesn't answer, and instead raises his shield and enters a more defensive posture.

"I was wondering what happened to the shield," Nicholas remarked as he got ready to resume the fight. "But there's a reason why I stopped using one."

Nicholas gave no time for Jaune to think, and with his superior speed dashed up in front of him and swung in a way that would have cut off Jaune's head if he had no aura. Jaune rose his shield to defend, but it was a feint.

Nicholas spun on his foot, and the blade came from the other side, catching Jaune in the back and cutting away at his aura, even leaving a small cut mark in his armour from the sheer force of the attack.

Jaune almost falls over, but stands his ground, he tried to counter attack but it was once again easily dodged.

" _Remember Jaune, not all fights are fought fairly."_

One of Hector's, or Ozpin's, previous lessons is repeated in his own head.

Jaune swung his sword vertically, which was easily parried by his father, but then instead of using his shield to defend the counter, he ducked under and used his head to butt his father up in the with him stunned, he brings his sword up again and lands his first solid hit right into his fathers chest.

Nicholas' golden aura flared up just a bit as it defended him from being stabbed through the heart. He wouldn't be caught off guard like that again, and Jaune knows it.

"Oh, i'm sorry, was I supposed to fight someone with thirty more years of experience then me fairly?" Jaune taunted as he saw his father's glare.

"Ha! Nice." Qrow said with a thumbs up.

"I suppose not." Nicholas ignored Qrow as he stood up and cracked his neck. "Don't expect it to work again."

To his surprise, Jaune drops his shield, surprising pretty much everyone in the room, even Hector, and he was the one he trained with the most.

The truth is, while the sword and shield are combined to make a longer and heavier sword that would do more damage, it is slower than the sword on its own, which is already long and sharp enough in its own right. And he took the subtle hint from his father that would give him an easier time. The shield would slow him down, and would leave him open to feints like the one before if he continued to use it. He is used to fighting with just the sword after all the fighting he has done with the heavier sword he has gotten used to. He plans to give himself more speed and generally give him a small boost in skill due to how accustomed he has become to two handed sword fighting.

He mentally thanks Pyrrha again for the training.

Without so much as an explanation, Jaune is the one to initiate the next attack. He strikes up from below, and when Nicholas blocked, he quickly brought the sword back and tried again from a different angle. This continues again and again, a flurry of steel rasping against steel as the two blonde hunters fight each other. Nicholas even has to get more serious in order to block and parry each attack, even as his own attacks are getting blocked and parried.

"Wow… this is getting intense." Rhea said out of awe.

His family remain dead silent, they can't tell who is going to win anymore and with each clash they flinch. Juniper however, does not flinch, but on the inside she is being torn apart by watching her husband and son fight so viciously with each other.

"I haven't seen Jaune fight like this before." Hector said, his voice barely above a whisper.

The battle of stamina and strength is actually a closer match then Nicholas could have ever predicted. Both of the blondes aura are draining with every clash and hit, and both are dead even. Even when Nicholas landed many more hits, he has never been up against someone who has _so much_ aura. They are each at about sixty percent at this point in the match.

"HAH!" Jaune screamed as he put all of his strength into one last attack that Nichola is force to block.

The force of the clash was much stronger than any other before, it cracked the ground where they stood, and their hair were blown back. Blue eyes stared into blue, each filled with a determination to win the fight.

They grit their teeth as they pushed up against one another, more even in strength than ever before.

"What's wrong Nick? Kid giving you a run for your money?" The referee taunted from the sidelines.

"Tch." Nicholas didn't let it get to him, and side stepped his son and let him pass to the side of him, but instead of falling to the ground. Jaune kicks his legs out from under him, and they both fall to the ground together.

"Oof." Nicholas lands on his back with a thud, and a small chunk of his aura is taken away. But he is the first to recover. He pushes himself up onto his knees just as Jaune attempted to tackle him. He reversed the take down and ended up on top of Jaune, he takes his sword and slashes down at Jaune, who blocks it in a cross guard and holds it back, entering another contest of strength.

"Give. Up." Nicholas demanded as his blade inched closer to his son's neck. "Don't make me render you unable to fight every again."

"Shut up!" Jaune kicked his knee up and slammed it into his father's groin. Making him yell in pain and weaken him tremendously. He quickly reverses the position, only that his blade is _much_ closer to his father's neck then his was to his own. "I offer you the same deal _dad_." Jaune spat.

"Don't make me kill you."

The line shocks everyone in the bleachers, even Qrow. No one expected Jaune to threaten his own father, and even he is shocked by this, even as his sons blade is touching the smalls hairs he has on his neck. He is stronger then his son, but with the position he is in now, he can't push back, between the pain in his groin and the strain his muscles already have, and his aura now being in the red, he can't hold him back.

"No… I need to take you back." Nicholas declared even has the blade touched his neck, his aura flaring up to prevent anything from being cut.

"Bullshit! You don't _need_ to do anything." Jaune screamed, even as red began to make a rim around his eyes. "Please… just surrender." Jaune practically begs.

Nicholas remains stubborn, even in the face of certain defeat. But then…

His aura breaks.

* * *

 **AN- Yup, I just did that. You guys are probably mad at me but I have a strong feeling most of you can predict what is going to happen next chapter.**

 **I know the chapters have been relatively shorter recently, and that is because this is kinda like a relaxation arc. Ironic given that Jaune is currently pinning his father down to the ground with his sword up against his throat, but a more of a break for our characters then anything.**

 **For those who are curious to see how Ilia and the Summer Maiden are doing, I will write some bits of them next chapter, a little update on their whereabouts if you will.**

 **This calm arc is going to last a few more chapters, it is impossible for me to determine how long it will last because of the random Ideas I get in my head as I write. But If I had to guess… maybe about four or five more chapters? I gotta get more Red Rivers content in there, since I only gave the new couple about one chapter to themselves and then next to none after that. I never did say I was consistent… Sorry about that.**

 **This one I sort of struggled with in the beginning, so I am sorry if it wasn't up to par with quality.**

 **Also holy shit did I just get an ELEVEN follower boost after last chapter? DAMN, I haven't had a jump like that in a while.**

 **By the way, we just past 200 followers! WOOHOO. Thank you all so very much! My god I jumped in joy once I saw the number the day I posted the chapter.**

 **I have another announcement for you all by the way, on Halloween day if I can I will post a Halloween special, a little something that only you can decide if it is cannon or not, I am announcing this a month in advance because I want you lovely boys and girls to help out with it. I don't know whether to set it before the battle of Haven, after the battle of Haven, or at Atlas where everyone is at now. Most likely I am going to make it so that it will be when they are at Atlas, but for the costumes I am going to need your guy's help with. I can only come up with so many ideas and I am not very good with clothes or outfits.**

 **Also, one of these days, I will be writing a Yang x Hector NON-CANON special, and that may or may not be a Lemon (Still deciding on that, and it will be my choice whether or not it is) and it WILL be set before the battle of Haven. Why am I doing this? 1. Because I feel like it, and 2. Because I know how many of you guys really wanted Yang to be the main pairing, and she might have been if I didn't set up Ruby to be Hectors lover as well as I did.**

 **Please don't ask me when it is going to be posted, because I myself don't know when I am even going to start it, I have two other stories going and they both need attention. Just know to keep an eye out for it.**

 **Of course there are going to be more with different characters and pairings, just decided I would give you guys some treats for Halloween early.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think! Got any ideas for this story? I will be happy to listen. I read every single review and I know for a fact that it has helped me become a better writer with the advice that I get from you all.**

 **And of course, I love you all 3**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	40. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero Chapter 39

**AN- Hey guys, I am sick as I am typing this chapter, it might get better or worse but right now I can barely breathe through my nose and it feels weird going through my mouth, and don't even get me started on the burning headache I have right now. So I am sorry if this chapter ends up getting posted really late. I am trying though, just for you guys and girls! In other news, I watched the new My Hero Academia movie, and holy shit guys. It was awesome. Might end up doing a MHA fanfic in the future, who knows.**

 **Also, in a previous chapter I think I wrote that Jaune had golden aura, that was a mistake. It is still white. I am sorry for that mistake, I got it confused with a different character that I was thinking about at the time for one of my other fics.**

 **Now let's get straight into the reviewers!**

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 **Nexus Gem: Thanks for the 4.5* outta 5* rating for last chapter! I will try to get this one to be even higher!**

 **Zeldawolffang: Thanks for pointing that out, I will go fix that right away. Thank you for the review.**

 **Astra: Alright let's see what you got this ti- yup, another long review *Cracks Knuckles* (In Mario's voice) Here we go! Imagine how I feel man, started this out of boredom, was originally going to end this at the battle of Haven until Volume 6 came out and was probably finished. Now here I am about 25 chapters later give or take and I have over 200 people to make happy. It both scares me, and excites me. I wasn't even going to continue the story at first but my first ever review pushed me to keep it going, and then I got more reviews, and then more reviews, every other one asking me if I am going to make an AU and write my own story, and I am glad I hit the Fuck it button and kept it going. Don't worry, while the fight scene was inspired by the Professor Arc story, it will not end the same way. I do end up writing most of the chapters in one sitting, I edit it myself as I go, every paragraph is looked over and by the end of it I just have to trust myself that I edited it correctly and post it. Sometimes when it's one of those 10k+ chapters I just hope for the best. I fixed the Jumper mistake, I don't know how that happened but I blame auto-correct. Even if there is none on this computer. Moving on, it was supposed to be a joke thing when I wrote that there were recordings, but if I had to guess then some crazy people with cameras and nothing else to do were able to spot Hector at both kingdom. That or drones of some kind, police drones maybe. Meh, I'll get to explaining it more one of these day. Damn, how did you know that Ruby stole Mercury's pants while he was training? Gotta make that more clear next time. For real though, Hector did actually steal some pretty comfy pants. I had too much fun with Blake, way too much. Ren is still suffering from the Nora, but he will make a dramatic return! Qrow is Qrow, so that is all the reason he needs to suddenly make a referee uniform appear. Leave the ideas for Mercury's upcoming upgrade to me. I already have a few written down, let me know what you think about them. You'll just have to wait and see how the halloween special goes to find out! ;). Also, the Yang one shot maybe become it's own little mini series. Depends. But I don't plan to have like twelve one shots all scattered around. I am going to make one folder for all of them and add to it as the ideas come. So the one coming up is Yang x Hector part 1, then so on and so forth until the end of the actual story. Just so people can see how the story would turn out if Hector had a different lover. I got some costumes in mind now, but I won't stop you from sharing your own ideas. Thank you for yet another review! Also I hate you for all those Blind Huntsman puns, how long did it take for you to think of them?**

 **Guest 1: Thank you for the advice.**

 **Guest 2: I'm just going to say that all of those predictions are wrong. But thank you for trying anyway!**

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 **Ugh, it's 1am and I am starting the chapter, why do I do this to myself? Oh that's right, cuz you guys are awesome and I have nothing better to do. Love you!**

 **I may or may not start writing the Yang x Hector side story after this one. So keep an eye out for it!**

 **Also, for those who actually believed me when I said you would have been able to predict what happened in Jaune's fight this chapter. You got JA-BAITED, I love being unpredictable like that ;). No hard feelings right? 3**

 **Thanks for reading the story! Next chapter is now!**

 **Transition**

Chapter 39- Unexpectations are the worst, but also great

Jaune's aura was the one to break.

No one saw it coming, but Nicholas Arc used his semblance. Jaune's aura was drained, and added to his father's supply. Jaune didn't know what was going on, and before he knew it, the positions were swapped. With Nicholas on top of his son with his blade inching closer to his sons face.

"What the?" Jaune yelps as he is barely able to push the blade back far enough from making contact with his skin.

"What was that!?" Ruby asked loudly, concerned for her friend.

"He stole his aura…" Hector deduces, he mentally asked Knolly what happened and they answered right away, the aura he inherited from Ozpin also helped tremendously. "His semblance is to drain people of their aura. Look at the screen." Hector points to the screen above the arenam showing Jaune's aura all but gone while his fathers is now back up to forty percent when it was originally in the red and about to break.

"I can't believe it, he actually did it." Juniper mumbles from behind them. "That is his last resort… but Jaune… is he going to be okay?" She didn't sound so sure.

"That's a very dangerous semblance, and pretty much the opposite of Jaune's. Which makes me wonder. Could Jaune's semblance work the same way? Could he steal aura just as much as he amplifies it?" Hector asked as he saw Jaune once again knee his father in the crotch to get him off of him. "Maybe they do have the same semblance. Knolly?" His eye flashes a brighter blue for a split second. "Okay nevermind, they're just complete opposites in terms of semblances."

Hector couldn't help but feel worried for his blonde friend.

Back to the fight, Jaune tumbles backward and stands up on his feet. Then enters a very defensive posture. With no aura he is going to have to be extremely careful, because he has no intention of surrendering.

"This fight is over Jaune." Nicholas Arc declares as he resheathes his sword. He doesn't look happy though. "You fought much better than I expected, but I refuse to continue this fight when you are low on aura."

"No! I haven't surrendered yet." Jaune shakes his head desperately.

"You don't need to, because it is clear who won this fight already." The huntsman said with a frown.

"No…" Jaune's arms slack, he knows the situation he is in. A person with no aura has very little chance against a person with aura. They'd have to be extremely skilled as well if they want to even stand a chance. He's lost.

"..." Nicholas in conflicted with himself, his son was using dirty moves yes, and his groin and genitals are still in pain as a reminder. But what he did was admittedly a little too much to do to his son. He underestimated him greatly, he didn't expect Jaune to do as well as he did, even made him serious from time to time. He doesn't know who taught him to do those dirty tricks like headbutting and nutshots. He doesn't even know if Jaune knows himself. But he could tell from his sons eyes the determination he had in this fight that he was serious about this. It is a bitter victory if anything.

His family feel the same way, while they still want Jaune to be returned to them safe and sound. They know that it would make Jaune resent them, but not show it, because that is just the kind of guy he is. They are also conflicted on what to do.

Qrow the referee has given up on actually refereeing the match when Jaune went all out and gave his dad a run for his money, but he doesn't object to the match ending here. If they fought now, Jaune would lose anyway. Unless something more rare then a miracle happens.

But then, Jaune's body begins to glow white, his silhouette being enveloped in his white aura that was once believed to be drained. Nicholas widened his eyes just a bit as his son literally glows with power.

Hector smiles, knowing exactly what is causing this. While Ruby just screams excitedly and tells Jaune to kick his dad's ass. Qrow takes a well needed drink

"It's not over yet…" Jaune chokes out as his aura changes color. From white, to golden. "Not until _you_ surrender." He looks back up to his father, and reforms a fighting stance.

Nicholas is filled with pride of his son. "I never thought you would have been able to unlock those genes I passed down to you." He said as he began to chuckle.

"Huh?" Jaune seems to realize that he is glowing a new color, and looks down at his body, now glowing gold instead of white. "What is this?" He glanced toward his mother for a second.

"Don't look at me, I married into the family." Juniper said as she rose her hands up in front of her chest.

"You've unlocked the 'Arc'. Tacky name I know, but this is how our family have been known for generations." Nicholas begins to explain. "Usually, an Arc unlocks their hidden genes through sheer determination and willpower-"

"But I've been through so much already, I think I should have unlocked this a lot earlier if that was the case." Jaune cut him off.

"Yeah, Jaune has been through so much in the past, how come he is just unlocking this now?" Hector asked, muffling Ruby's voice with his arm to quiet her down.

"That was what I was going to say next before you cut me off." Nicholas points out, making Jaune rub the back of his head awkwardly. "You need to have a strong body so that you can handle the boost that our genes give you. The boost gives you an increase in strength, stamina, and aura toughness _and_ regenerability in some cases. If your body isn't ready for it you could destroy your own body, Jaune I bet you didn't even notice that the gloves you are wearing are torn and your hands are cut up already by how hard you've been gripping the sword ."

He was right, Jaune looked at one of his hands to see that the fingerless gloves he always wore are torn up by the palm and fingers, as well as some blood leaking out of his hands. That must've happened when he first unlocked this gene thing that his family apparently has. Before his aura suddenly came back to him.

"Why didn't you tell me I had the ability to do this?" Jaune asked, his voice quiet and hesitant.

"... I never wanted you to become a huntsman Jaune. You know that. It's why I never trained you myself like you used to ask me." Nicholas answered in the same tone as his son. "I wanted to end the cycle of our families endless bloodshed. But now I see that is a futile goal."

Jaune perked up, does this mean…?

"You can stay. It's clear that you are strong enough to take care of yourself." Nicholas declared with a smile. "I never go back on my word like I just did now, so don't make me regret it son."

"Y-yes sir!" Jaune exclaimed, he can't help but let out a victory yell, even though he lost the fight.

"Now now, that doesn't mean we aren't done _training_." Nicholas winks to his son. Who smirks back in response. "Show me what else you got."

"Yeah, I think we'll be good to leave 'em be now." Hector whispers to Ruby as he stands up. "Great job Jaune! I'd love to stay and watch but I have a promise to keep."

"Huh?" Ruby was about to protest and say that they should stay and watch their friend, but the mention of a promise rings some bells in her head.

"Don't worry man, I understand! Have fun!" Jaune waves to him just before the almost death match turns into a sparring match, and they clash blades once again. This time with smiles on their faces instead of scowls.

The Arc family has officially reconciled, with the cheers of all the Arc girls echoing around the room.

Qrow on the other hand, decided that it was time for him to fall asleep, even when there was the piercing sound of metal clanging against each other.

Rhea decided she wanted to stay and watch. Eager to observe how huntsman train with each other. She always admired them when she was younger, and it was only amplified when she was picked up by Hector.

Mercury stayed behind as well, he was mostly quiet watching the fight play out, merely observing and then made mental notes to help Jaune out with his footwork. But generally he was really impressed with the 'blonde idiot' as he dubbed him back at Beacon. He has no doubt improved the most out of the whole group from back then. Also he kind of can't walk at the moment.

Now if only that black haired one would stop looking at his legs so weirdly…

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"H-hey, where are we going?" Ruby asked, embarrassed that Hector is already holding her hand as he pulls her along to a certain room.

"I made a promise, and I intend to keep it." Hector answered vaguely for the third time now.

"Wha? You mean the one you made back at Haven- DID YOU REALLY!?" Ruby remembers the promise for cookies, the memory becoming fresh in her mind.

" _I'll probably get into a lot of trouble, but I promise to get a bunch of cookies."_ That one line Hector said many months ago specifically gets replayed in her head. That was an emotional night, and the night she found out herself that she had feelings for him. If only fate didn't drive them apart for so long, they would have gotten together much sooner.

"Why don't we find out?" Hector said as he placed his hand on the door and pushed it open.

All that was left of the Ruby in front of him were rose petals and a burst of wind that flew through the hair on his head.

" _I think she likes it. Yeah, I think that's a good assumption to make."_ Hector thought with short shake of his head and an amused grin on his face. He then enters the room himself, and closes the door behind him. Enjoying the sight of his girlfriend ripping apart the wrapped up boxes of cookies. Why were they already pre-wrapped up? Don't ask. All that matters is that Ruby is happy.

"Enjoying yourself? I didn't know what your favorite was, so I sorta bought one of every flavor." Hector admitted with little to no shame. "I went with the educated guess that you-" A pair of small arms wrapping around his front cut him off.

"Thank you! I even forgot about the promise, how did you remember?" Ruby looked up at him as she asked this, her chin in the center of his chest with an adorable smile on her face.

"I… er." Hector's face heats up. Which Ruby finds adorable. "I just don't forget promises."

"Heehee." Ruby snuggles into his chest just a little more breaking apart and sauntering back to her gifts that she happily accepted. "They're all my favorites by the way." She walked with a subtle sway of her hips that Hector barely caught. Who tilts his head at the uncharacteristic but not unwelcome flirtatious display.

Knolly offered to help him out if need be.

" _What? No don't do that."_

Knolly pressed the issue.

" _Knolly you're a lantern locked behind a magical door back in Haven, you can't exactly play wingman for me. Not when I am the only one who can hear you."_

Knolly then begrudgingly surrendered.

" _Don't worry, one of these days I am sure we could work something out for you. That's a promise, and you know I always keep my promises."_ If Hector could, he would have winked at the relic, or blinked, he still hasn't figured that out yet. He really needs to get a cybernetic eye or something.

"That's good to know," Hector replied to Ruby a second later. "I'm just curious to see how fast you can eat them- and there goes a whole box." Hector widens his eyes in surprise as the box of chocolate chip cookies are devoured in a mere blink of an eye. This girl really has a stomach that does not match the frame of her body. "How are the Atlesian cookies?" He asked as Ruby went on to her third box. This one being _double_ chocolate chip cookies.

"Mmphrlly ghood!" Ruby grinned and nodded her head, some chocolate surrounds her mouth and got onto her cheeks.

This is when Hector gets a great idea.

" _This is so cliche, but I just can't help myself."_

Knolly agreed.

"You got a little something on your face." Hector said softly as he gentle pointed Ruby's chin up towards his face. "Let me get that for you."

Of course, instead of actually wiping the chocolate off her. He places a gentle kiss on the corner of her lips. Then when he pulls away the chocolate that was there is all but gone, leaving only milky skin and burning cheeks on the owner of those cheeks.

"Y-you're a butt." Ruby cutely whined as she slumped her head on his chest.

"Hey, I take offense to that." Hector joked as he grinned. "I am the best butt."

"Eh, you're up there." Ruby shrugged.

Hector gasped dramatically and leaned away to add emphasis to his words. "How _dare_ you say such things to me?" Ruby snickered at the forced accent he used. "I'll have you know that this _mediocre_ butt as you have declared me, has save plenty a' lives!"

The door bursts open not even a second later, making Ruby jump with a startled yelp as Blake latches herself on top of Hector's shoulders. Nearly making him lose balance and fall over from the suddenly added weight. His aura flares just a bit to protect his face from the human cat-like claws that scratch at his face.

"I can't see!" Hector exclaims as he bumps into the wall and runs around trying to get whatever is latched to the top half of his body off of his body.

"Blake!" Yang's voice is heard at the doorway into the room. "You can't hide from me forever!" Yang flies into the room and spots Blake atop of Hector right away.

"Protect me…" Blake whispers to Hector as she digs her claws into his shoulders. But keeps one hand wrapped around his face.

"How can I protect you when you're covering my _only_ eye!?" Hector replied as he slowly pried her fingers away. Just in time to see Yang flying in the join in on the action.

Yang collides with Hector's midsection, knocking the air out of his lungs and making him fall over onto his back. Which in turn made Blake scurry to his back and use her feet to hold him in place in order to block Yang from getting to her. Yang keeps trying to push past Hector but he keeps being yanked back into place by Blakes ribbons that has somehow tied themselves around his wrists and then around a radiator to their right. Making Hector's strength useless unless he wants to here Weiss' mouth for the rest of their stay here.

"I am _not_ enjoying as much as I think most guys would." Hector said as he kept protecting his most vital are. His groin. Just in case Yang had a messed up meaning of the term talk. "Ruby! Help!"

Ruby of course is being of no such help. Instead she just can't help but nearly die laughing at the situation he has been _litter_ -aly roped into. She curls up into a ball and rolls back and forth while barely muffling her laughter the best she could into her forearms.

"Ah, Hector, I think this is a good time to have that talk yeah?" Yang said as she finally realizes who exactly is beneath her.

"I would like to not be tied up during said talk if that could be a possibility." Hector carefully argued.

"Haha no. You think Blake just jumped onto your shoulders and tied you to the radiator because we were playing cat and mouse?" Yang asked with a emotionless laugh. Her eyes flaming just hot enough for Hector to feel it.

"Uh… Blake, please tell me that is not true."

"It's true." Blake answers as she tightens the not around one of his wrists. Hector will most likely never find out how Blake managed to get those ribbons around his wrists without him noticing.

Hector gulps nervously. And Ruby's face pales as she realizes what exactly is going on.

Hector sighed and stopped resisting, might as well get it over with. He should've have known something like this was going to happen. But to be tied up by Blake and pretty much threatened into submission was not that high on the list of possibilities for Yang's _talk_ about his new relationship with her sister. Even though he now knows that it should have been

"I am ready to be threatened."

"Good, knew you would come along." Yang slapped his cheek playfully, and her eyes go back to their dormant state. "First things first, what are your intentions with my little sister?"

" _Yang!"_ Ruby protests this interrogation already. Even though she very well knows that she cannot stop it if Yang managed to convince _Blake_ of all people to help her with this.

"Pretty much all the gushy stuff you could think of." Hector answers quickly and honestly. Holding back on the ' _isn't it a little too early for that?'_ question.

"Details." Yang demands. Uncaring of the embarrassment she is putting her sister through.

"Er… well I guess that would involves dates, kissing, hand holding, cuddles, and other boyfriend girlfriend stuff." Hector was a bit embarrassed to say those things, but it is the truth and almost every other romantic relationship does that kind of stuff.

"Alright, pretty generic but I know Ruby would love that kind of stuff." Yang barely approves of his answer, but it is more than enough for Hector to begin feeling some relief.

Yang's thinking expression then turns into a teasing grin. One that Hector recognizes all too well.

"Did you two-"

"No." Hector cuts her off immediately, not even wanting to question to be finished. For both his sake and Ruby's.

"You didn't even know what I was gonna ask." Yang complains with a pout.

"I know you well enough to know exactly what you were going to ask." Knolly buzzed in his head as a reminder. "Also Knolly kind of told me all the possible questions you would ask me."

"Knolly? Whos that?" Yang tilts her head in confusion at the strange name.

"Didn't I tell you this already? Knolly is the relic from Haven. He or she is kinda hitching hiking in my head now." Hector explained simply before she can start making assumptions.

"Oh yeaaah, I remember that." Luckily Hector's bluff was not called out. Now that the subject has been subtly changed, he might save himself from an awkward conversation.

"Good try, but that isn't going to fool me." Blake pointed out from behind him.

Damn it, he forgot about Blake! How could he forget about Blake? She was the one who tied him up for pete's sake!

"Yang, don't fall for his trick, he was trying to change the subject."

"Huh? Oh, thanks Blakey! I knew I should have brought you along here." Yang compliments her partner, then the flames come back into her eyes full force and she glares right back into Hector's blue orb. "Okay, since you pulled that little trick and almost got me."

"He did get you."

" _Almost,_ got me." Yang sternly corrects her partner. "I am going to give you the final question right away. I already know you're a decent guy, exactly the kind of guy Ruby would fall for, got the looks for it to."

"Uh… thanks?" Hector didn't know how to respond to that.

" _But,_ there is one thing I need to know." Yang narrowed her eyes and leaned in.

"Do you love Ruby?"

Hector widened his eye and his cheeks darkened, he looked to Ruby who was as red as her cloak, and even had her hood up for once, but he could see those silver orbs of hers look back into his blue one, waiting for the answer to come.

" _This is too soon, WAY too soon. But if I say no, then Yang punches me and Ruby possibly cries, which would earn me resentment of pretty much everyone I need to like me. But if I say yes, I could still get punched, and then possibly - hopefully - survive Taiyang, Qrow and everyone else, while also solidifying a long term relationship the day of said relationship being made. Not a lot of options to go for here… I don't even know if there is a secret option this time."_ Hector thinks all of that in a matter of seconds, all the while his face just gets redder and redder, and his body begins to lightly sweat out of embarrassment.

He opened his mouth to give his answer, and he could see Ruby from the corner of his eye lean in to hear it herself more clearly.

"I… d-"

"HECTOR!" Saved by the Weiss, who has just barged into the room with General Ironwood a few paces back. She pauses to see the situation he is in, tied up by Blake, Yang up close and personal while Ruby watches. She doesn't want to think about what _might_ have happened had she not made it here in time to finally catch up to him.

"Oh, hey Weiss!" Hector waves with one hand still tied up. "How are you? And is that good ol' Jimmy behind you?"

A now freshly shaven and shaped up James Ironwood sighed, and shook his head. "Looks like you really did spend much time with Qrow as I was informed. Though, if I may ask… what exactly is going on here? I don't mean to intrude on your… private time."

Blake never recoiled her ribbon as fast as she did just now, and Yang jumps back as stiff as a board beside of her little sister, all with a forced innocent looking grin on her face.

"Actually, I think you came in at the perfect time." Hector said as he massaged his wrists and stood up. Feeling the hot blood rush back into them. "So, it's nice to meet you, I am Hector Rivers Jr but only one person is allowed to call me RJ."

"Ahem." Ruby clears her throat.

"Two people." Hector corrects himself, much to Ruby's satisfaction. "You may know me as the 'Hero of two Kingdoms' as I heard someone call me earlier." Hector shudders at the memory of Jaune's twin.

"I know much about you Mister Rivers. I came here to meet you myself before I lose the chance. As well as to bestow a gift upon you as thanks for what you did for this kingdom." Ironwood said with a small bow, a form of praise Hector is not used to and is not sure how to react. So he just bows his head back.

"What kind of gift are we talking about?" Hector caught on to that last part.

"Your huntsman license of course." RWBY all gasped at this. And Hector's eye has never widened further then it has just done now. "Naturally, I have also prepared huntsman licenses for all of team RWBY, and JNPR. As well as a… reluctant pardon for Mister Mercury Black. Only because Qrow insisted that I push for one. But, he will need to work for a huntsman license if he wishes to become one."

"W-wait, just like that? No graduation need?" Yang asked out of pure disbelief of what is being offered to her.

"No, your actions in saving Atlas, saving Haven, and saving countless lives is your graduation." Ironwood said with a smile. "If you accept, you will all be the youngest licensed huntsman in history."

"What about me?" Hector asked. "I've never even stepped foot into a combat school, I've only been fighting for a barely a year. You'll just give me a full license?"

"Technically, you already are one." Ironwood points out, referring to the being that is sharing a body with him. "You are of age, which is roughly eighteen to twenty years I presume?" Hector nodded. "This would only make it official."

Hector thinks long and hard about this. If he takes it, he's pretty much skipping over all the years of hard work others have gone through in order to gain this piece of plastic being offered to him on a silver platter. Sure he's got the strength, the skill, and the determination to become a huntsman, no one would deny that after what he has done for the world so far. But, he doesn't feel like it is _his_ strength. The skill comes from Ozpin, His aura came from Ozpin, the Kaioken could possibly come from _Salem_ of all people. He just doesn't feel like he has earned it yet. Like he needs to do more than just be at the right place at the right time.

"You should take it." Ruby spoke up, walking up next to Hector and placing a hand on his forearm for comfort, snapping him out of his stupor as a result. "You've earned it." She smiles up at him.

"Yes, while we've not spoken much, I know I can trust you with anything." Blake adds as she steps up to add her own two cents.

"You definitely got the strength of one, and the skill. I say go for it." Yang said with a nod.

"I believe it would be the most obvious choice for you. You are of age, and you could finally be making some sort of income." Weiss finished them all off.

"Alright, alright! I'll take the damn license." Hector finally surrenders, extending his hand out to seal the deal with the General.

"Wise decision." James happily shook the unlikely hero's hand. "I'll give you your license after your speech to the world later on."

"Wait, the world!? I though the towers were down."

"While you were in a coma, Vale managed to rebuild a smaller, but functional CCT tower. We now have around the world communication again."

"Oh, well that's neat." Hector shrugged, hiding the fact that he is nearly shtting bricks at the thought of pretty much every person on the planet listening to him speak. " _Very_ neat."

"What of you team RWBY? Once we clear the Grimm from Beacon classes may resume, with Miss Goodwitch as the new Headmistress of course." Everyone pretty much expected that, so it is not much of a surprise there. "Once the school is retaken Teams RWBY and JNPR along with any other students who wish to return can graduate at Beacon. Even if you accept my offer now you may still attend the next graduation if you wish."

Now it is team RWBY's turn to come up with a decision to make. They feel similar to how Hector did. They are this skilled at fighting and hunting purely because of the experience they have. If they say yes, then to can skip all of what Beacon has to offer, and focus everything on the true threat of the world which is Salem. However if they did return, they might be able to blow through all of their classes anyway, and if Beacon was rebuilt early and they joined, Salem would only have Hector and Ozpin as the immediate threats, along with Qrow, Mercury, and Rhea. Who on their own may not be enough to take her down unless Hector had all of the relics choose him as their own, and that would take a _very_ long time to gather the Maidens and _convince_ them that they are worthy to wield such weapons. That was enough for Ruby to think of her answer.

"No, I can't accept the huntsman license like this, nor can I return to the school yet. First we have to deal with that dragon too." Ruby began.

"I'm the Spring Maiden, being a huntress is pretty much already my thing, but wherever my sister goes, I go." Yang stood with Ruby.

"I won't be running away from anything anymore. I agree with my leader." Blake adds.

All that is left is Weiss, who is staring downcastly at the floor.

"Weiss?" Ruby calls out to her partner.

"I can't…" Weiss chokes out before regaining her composure. "I can't be a huntress anymore… the SDC needs me. My _family_ needs me, Whitley has severe mental issues, my mother has very bad health problems, and my sister hasn't spoken to anyone ever since the attack… I can't leave them, so I cannot accept your offer to become an official huntress nor can I afford to go back to Beacon…" She stifled a cry. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Hector places a hand on Weiss' shoulder to offer her comfort. "Family comes first, no matter how shitty they may be."

"He's right." Ruby agreed. "We understand if you want to stay! You always did say you wanted to bring the Schnee name from under the dirt."

"C'mon Weiss-cream, you really think we would have been mad about it?" Yang joked.

Blake smiled warmly at her teammate, and nodded toward her when Weiss looked to her expectantly. "I respect your decision."

"You guys…" Weiss chokes out, looking at all the smiling faces even as the bombshell was dropped on them. She couldn't help but pull everyone into a group hug, a rare warm Weiss moment. "Thank you all, for understanding.

"My body is still so sore, but this hug is so nice." Hector complains, making the team of girls snicker.

"I hate to intrude, but millions of people are waiting for you Mister Rivers." Ironwood hesitantly interrupts the group.

"Wait, right now!?" Hector asked as he broke himself out of the group hug.

"They have been broadcasting live and have been running ads on loop for about ten twenty minutes now, so yes." Who knew Ironwood could be such a troll, if only Qrow could see him now.

"Holy shit, well it was nice catching up with you all and everything but I have a world to go talk to!" Hector panicked as he waltzed out the door with a silly grin on his face.

"I don't know where to go!" He quickly realized. "Weiss, why is your house _all_ blue and white? Seriously, it's like this is the only color around besides in paintings!"

"I believe I should show him where to go." Ironwood said with an amused chuckle. "It was nice to see all you girls again. Miss Schnee, I suggest that you come with us. But I will not have an issue with you wanting to stay with your friends." With a bow of his head, Ironwood let himself out of the room, closing the door behind him.

After a few moments, Ruby speaks up again with a thought that is on her mind.

"We should probably go with him."

The rest of her team agreed, Hector was never much of a public speaker.

* * *

"So… how do I do this?" Hector asked as he slipped on a new pair of pants and socks. They were happily supplied by the General himself. The clothes he worse before, while they were supposed to be fire-proof and resistant even up to the most extreme temperatures, were _still_ burned off because of the insane amount of heat that Hector produced when he broke his limits yet again. But at least his shoes and shirt managed to survive. The pants are still there somewhat, but they are torn to shit so that's a no to.

He is now sporting new black pants with a white trim, because Atlas loves that color. But, as a request from someone who shall not be named, they retain the dragon design that its predecessor wore on the left leg. It still looks cool in its own Atlesian way. But when it comes to the jacket, Hector has decided he doesn't feel like burning any more off, so the red undershirt will have to do. It _is_ comfortable, almost like he isn't wearing anything there at all, and the best thing about it is the red! Also it actually didn't burn off so he trusts this shirt more than any piece of cloth at the moment.

"Simple, you are going to go up on a podium, where most likely you will be recorded by dozens of cameras-" Ironwood begins.

"Alright I get it, shit ton of people." Hector groans and runs both of his hands down his face. "I take it that I have to answer a whole bunch of questions too right? As well as explain who I am and how I am this strong I assume."

"You would be correct." Ironwood nodded. "You will have about ten minutes, which should be plenty of time. When you are finished, I will give you your license and you may walk off the podium."

"It's normal for my balls to be up in my neck right?" Hector ignored almost everything the General had just said. "Because everything in my body is just screaming at me to say no and fly away. And I don't even have wings." This is where Hector begins to go on one of his random train of thoughts. "I _do_ have magic in my body, does that mean I can use it to fly?"

"Mister Rivers." The General called out to him. "I am sorry to have put this on you suddenly, but the world will want to know who exactly is saving their kingdoms. While you can walk away from this, I would strongly suggest against it.

"So pretty much, I have to is what you're saying." Hector translates for himself.

"And please refrain from any mentioning of the _secret_ war we find ourselves in. A worldwide panic would not do anyone any good."

"Yeah, yeah. I know the drill." Even if Hector is strongly considering telling the world this _very_ important piece of information, maybe not the Maidens, but if they want to take Salem down for good, then why not have literally every barrel of every gun aimed at her? Ozpin wouldn't like. Nor would a lot of people except his closest friends, but maybe it is time to stop fighting this war alone… "I won't say anything that doesn't need to be said."

Ironwood seemed to have taken that well, or at least that is what the small smile on his face suggests.

"Wise decision," He aims one of his gloved hands toward a door that leads to the podium outside. "You may begin when you are ready, I will follow you out and stand to the side."

"Yeah, that's what you said as soon as we walked into _this_ room." Hector pointed out as he rolled his shoulders. He fixed his hair as well as he could, since it is much shorter now it doesn't really have much to fix, but he does it the best he can anyway.

With a deep breath, Hector placed his hand on the crystalline door knob, and exhaled as he opened the door, and was immediately assaulted by flashes of white and a crowd of people waiting for him to speak.

* * *

 **Vacuo**

The Summer Maiden decided that it was time for a drink. She landed outside a bar called 'The Bar With No Name.' Then kicked the doors open, letting all of her sparks fly off her body and hit the floor around her. She is of course covered in the black blood of Grimm that has been attacking her at any given chance. Damn those human looking Grimm, they always come at her in groups. It's always a messy job to clear them up. Don't even get her started on the random big ass Grimm-wurms that have been popping up left and right.

"Strongest drink you got." She demanded as she took a seat on one of the stools. After a few moments she realizes no one is paying attention to her, and with her dark blue eyes she scans around the room for whatever may be distracting them from the mother fucking 'Lightning Warrior.' "Oi! What's a girl gotta do to get some service around here!?"

"The Hero of two Kingdoms is making a speech." One of the men shushed her, and she was _never_ shushed.

"Who the fuck-" The Summer Maiden comes to a sudden realization. "Ooooh, that's the guy I felt all that power from before come from." She herself forgot her thirst and looked into the screen. _He only has one eye? If he is as strong as I sensed him to be then who could have done that to him? He is pretty hot though._ The Summer Maiden thought as she observed every feature that was pretty much on display to the world. _Young too, must be scratching twenty at least, he'll be a good rival for a very long time if he plays his cards right._ She smirked as she awaited the young man to begin speaking. Not even caring for the drink that was finally placed in front of her.

Unbeknownst to her, the same chameleon girl that she ran into a few months back is also in the same bar. After all of her searching with nothing to show for it as a result. She decided it was time for a drink, she is eighteen, and Vacuo doesn't really care about age limits. So she is also in the same bar, and doesn't even know that one of the most powerful people in the world is also there with her, sitting just a few feet away. She has her eyes firmly locked on the screen, and on the figure that has everyone's attention.

 _I barely recognize him now, how did he lose his eye?_ Ilia asked herself as she took another sip of her light drink. But then cracked a smile when the headline says 'The speech of the Hero of Two kingdoms.' _What have you been up to? Last time I saw you, you were the hero of just one kingdom._ Ilia shook her head and waited for one of her first human friends to speak.

* * *

"RJ?" Rhea said as the screen that once held Jaune and Nicholas' aura levels have now been replaced with a broadcast of her mentor standing at a podium with a bunch of microphones in front of his mouth.

"Wow, he got famous." Mercury quipped up from beside her. To his other side is one of Jaune's sisters, Violet who has been asking constant questions about what his legs could do, while also writing them down in a notebook. He assumes that she is a weapon nut like Ruby, or at least that is what he hopes.

"Wasn't he here just ten minutes ago?" Nicholas asked as he sat down next to his son, luckily the broadcast came up just as they decided to take a break.

"Yeah…" Jaune said as he saw the nervous expression on his friend's face.

Qrow just stayed asleep.

* * *

Taiyang finally awakes from his slumber. He sits up on his bed and stretches out his arms to his sides with a yawn. Whatever he did last night, he forgot.

He reaches to his left for the remote that controls the TV in his room, and turns it on to see what the news is looking like for that day.

"My name is Hector Rivers."

"What? You were awake for like a day?" Tai said as he leaned in and gave his future son in law his full attention. He doesn't know about that last part yet.

* * *

 **Hector's POV**

I stand at the podium, with an assortment of many different kinds of microphones I didn't even know existed. There are hundreds of people in front of me, probably even more then that if I am being honest. And that's only the people that I _can_ see.

I clutch the wood of the podium so hard that my fingers almost break the wood. Would have if I didn't hold back just in time. I've never been so nervous in my life, I've confessed my feelings to a girl, I've fought monsters, I've fought beings that could level a city, and yet, public speaking is what gets me scared. I might not be as scared if it wasn't literally the whole population of the world waiting for me to start talking.

"My name is Hector Rivers." I start off with my name, I know I don't have any official records since, y'know, the whole being from another world thing. But Ironwood could handle that for me after this. "I think I was given the nickname of 'Hero of Two Kingdoms?' If the people cheering for me are to be believed."

The crowd laughs at my little joke. Good, I was always great at hiding my nervousness with humor.

"So, where do I even begin?" I mostly ask myself as I lean onto the podium with my forearms. "Well, I guess we can start on what happened at Haven, which was attacked by the White Fang. That is not the _full_ truth, but it's enough to go off of I guess. Truth is, the Leonardo, the previous headmaster of Haven academy was a liar, and sold out almost every huntsman that hailed from Mistral to the enemy." I purposefully left the term _enemy_ as a vague term, there was a couple of gasps coming from the crowd. A glance toward Ironwood and a nod was all I needed to know that I could keep going.

"He fell during the battle, killed by a Grimm that made it into the school. Of course, my friends and I defended the school with our lives, fighting against Adam Taurus and his White Fang, as well as some mercenaries that were hired." More murmurs, but this time filled with more awe and some shock, but not as much. Of course the White Fang couldn't take down Mistral on their own, they needed help.

"All of these enemies were very powerful and skilled fighters, and we almost lost. It was only with help of my one of my friends." I am referring to Jaune of course, but I don't want the world to know about his semblance because it could lead to his family being hunted down so that his semblance could be used for the wrong reason. "I was able to get back up and beat them back myself, thus saving Haven and Mistral from a very similar disaster Vale faced about a year ago."

Cheers were heard, and while he tried to divert some of the credit away from himself, he couldn't help but smile at the cheers that were for _him_ of all people.

"Fast forward to the attack on Atlas that happened just over a month ago. I just happened to be in the right time and the right time. I originally came here to... meet up with my friends after being apart for so long." A half truth, technically not a lie right? "Then Atlas was attacked, and I couldn't help myself but jump right into the ocean of Grimm myself. I was told that recordings were taken, so I am sure you all should, or will know about what I did. I proved the theory that Grimm _can_ feel fear."

More cheers, this time louder than the one before.

"But, I was not the one to take down the dragon." I silence them with that statement. "I did help, but only towards the end. While I was dealing with Grimm." I feel angry as I remember Hell. "My friends were directly helping the city defend itself, and they are also heroes of this kingdom."

I just know that my friends are smiling at me, giving them more credit then they feel they deserve. But they deserve so much more.

"Who are your friends?" One of the reporters asked.

I glance toward James to see if it is okay for me to answer that question, he mouthed to me 'They'll already find out.' and shrugged.

Well at least he isn't being so moody anymore.

"You may know them as Team RWBY, and the remaining members of team JNPR, Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen, and Raven Branwen." The murmurs increased in volume at the mention of the bandit leader, but were quickly silenced by a quick loud slap on the podium, no one would insult my friends memory if I had anything to say about it. "As well as my protegee Rhea Anani, and the recently pardoned Mercury Black."

"Can Mercury Black be trusted? My sources say that Mercury Black was there at the fall of Beacon, even assisted in the fall itself." The same reporter asked before anyone else could.

Back in the training room Mercury tenses up after being mentioned, this is the moment of truth for him. He could sense the eyes on him from the Arc family.

"I believe he deserves a second chance." I say with a nod. "I am going to be having an eye on him myself, I will take full responsibility if he does anything to ruin this second chance."

I swore I could hear a cheer from the other side of the door behind me, but I don't give another second the think about it. I know some drama may be stirred up by this, but fuck em, Merc's a buddy of mine now. As long as he doesn't do anything stupid.

Next were a few questions regarding how I learned how to fight so well. I answered by saying I had a very good teacher. Then they asked if it is true that I am going to be officially a licensed huntsman, and if it is true that the General is doing this himself. I answered truthfully. Lastly they asked how old I am, which confused me at first but I ended up answering anyway. Last time I checked I was nineteen.

A tap on the shoulder let me know that I had to finish up, and I knew exactly how.

"Before I leave, I need to tell the world a few things before I miss the chance." The world seemed to quiet down as I said this. "This Faunus discrimination has to stop, why does it matter if someone has animal parts? In my eyes, they are still people. Of course I know that just by asking for it not _every human_ is going to suddenly not be a racist toward them, but this is how I see it." I clear my throat.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover. Works both ways too." I can't believe I used that line, but I hope that short little speech got them to at least think about what they're doing.

Ironwood then came up to the podium, I turned my body to face him, smiled and shook his hand, and posed for the picture when he handed me my official license. He stepped away and awaited for me to follow him, but I am not done yet.

"One more thing before I go." I say in a much more serious tone. Ignoring the tapping on my shoulder. "The Grimm are the true enemy, they threaten the survivability of _every_ living thing on this planet. Everyone knows that, but-"

' _Hector no!' I hear_ Ozpin protests what I am about to say. He even tries to take over my body.

But I learned long ago how to resist him.

My body bursts into small flames as I activate the Kaioken, sternly pushing him out of my head and to the back of my mind. I know I am going to pay for that someday.

"But, what if I said, the Grimm had a Queen?"

* * *

 **AN- Well then, that was a thing. So much for the relaxation arc right?**

 **Nothing much to say here, so I am just going to leave it here. I said basically everything that was on my mind at the beginning of the chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think! Any ideas, suggestions, hell even requests? I'll take some.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	41. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 40

**AN- This is going to be a chapter that is going to be hard to understand, just letting you all know that right away, that is if I actually go through with what I have planned and not go to plan B.**

 **Okay, just letting you all now that I finished the chapter, and I did NOT go to plan B.**

 **Let us thank the reviewers of last chapter!**

* * *

 **Zeldawolffang: I regret not putting that in now, would have been a good laugh. Oh well, thanks for the review!**

 **Kage-kitsune9001: Maybe, possibly, probably? Who knows? I like to be unpredictable.**

 **Bwburke94: Thank you for pointing those out, I'll be sure to edit that sometime. Thank you for the review!**

 **Astra: I took a well needed break after I wrote the last few chapters, a good day and a half of no writing is good for me to rest my brain and stock up on ideas, but thank you for the concern for my health. Writing while sick wasn't really ever my greatest idea, but I just had nothing else to do and my body was doing that thing when it refused to fall asleep. I decided to give Knolly more of a personality, being a very important piece of the whole war and that I gave her- see now you have me doing it - sentience rather then just being a magical lamp with infinite knowledge of everything in the world that ended up just getting place back into the vault. Knolly is fun to write. Jaune's 'Arc' genes are always active once he unlocks them, so it is now permanent unless his body gets too weak to use it. Figured I'd give our blonde lovable guy some love, he's been getting shafted as everyone else became stronger around him. Good guy Mercury is surprisingly popular, he's brought a lot to the table in terms of writing potential and even has his own little arc going on with his father. I think too fast for my hands to keep up… damn, I should have picked up on that. Welp, gotta go fix that soon. I saw the puns, I just refuse to respond. Yes, RBY is behind the door Hector went through, that is a thing. Ironwood has seen so much, so he wasn't surprised with what he saw. Hormonal young adults in their private time is a thing he is used to walking in on unfortunately. Hector's surprise speech is something that I have been planning for a while, and I think I did a good job with it, I am sure some people will be surprised by what I do with it. Thank you for the dedication!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: I was wondering where you were last chapter, welcome back! Ruby and Rosemary will have a confrontation one of these days, so you can look forward to that. Jaune's 'Arc' isn't a transformation, it is something within his genes that he unlocked that gave him a boost. It is permanent, and now Jaune will be able to help his friends more then he ever did before. I understand your frustration with Hector letting himself get pushed around despite being stronger then them, but Yang actually isn't far from Hector now, she is the Spring Maiden, and she also has her semblance that actually directly counters Kaioken, (at least in my opinion.) Out of the whole group, she actually has the best chance to beat him in a fight. Unless Hector overwhelms her with a Kaioken times sixty that is. So I hope that makes things a bit better, I'll try to cut down on those moments from now on. Weiss is a huntress still, just not active at the moment, and she will return. You will see what I have in store for this chapter, lets just say that things got… interesting. Thanks for the review! See ya in the next one!**

 **Alrighty then, time to advertise some of my other stories.**

 **I have two other stories in progress, Team HAMR, which has Hector starring in it due to popular demand. I actually have another person helping me in that one, and he likes to call it a double self-insert, so there are two main characters, and I am really looking to get that story more attention, so, if you are willing to look past the first ten chapters and get to the juicy bits where things actually start to get good. Please give it a shot!**

 **Then there's Blind Huntsman, which is currently my fastest rising story in terms of popularity, it is written solely by me, and will be unique in its own right, people have called it a one of a kind story. So, like Team HAMR, I hope you guys give it a shot!**

 **Thank you for reading this story! And if you read my other ones to, thank you for reading them as well. And of course, Love you all 3.**

* * *

Chapter 40- Trial And Error

The uproar that everyone in front of Hector made vibrated throughout the room, dozens of questions being asked all at once and he can't even keep up. While keeping Ozpin suppressed and his body screaming in protest at the activation of his ability, he needs to hold on to the podium in order to stand properly and not fall over.

"Hector what were you thinking!?" Ironwood asked as he grabbed his shoulder and half spun him around, then gets surprised when the glove on the robotic hand is nearly burned off from the sheer heat of Hector's body when he is in this state.

"That kinda hurt… please don't do that again." Hector said with a forced smile and a nod.

"How do you know this!?"

"Can we stop this queen!?"

"Where is the queen!?"

Hector begins to get a headache, probably because of Ozpin, but wouldn't put it passed his body if it was just that sore and not ready for the sudden burst of power. Now combine that with the loud voices of Ironwood trying to calm everyone down and all the questions being asked at the same time, this headache of his is only getting worse to the point where he can feel it in his eyes. He wants to start answering these questions, but he is too busy gritting his teeth and suppressing Ozpin to be able to talk properly, if he did try to answer them as he is now, even more questions would be asked. This time about his health..

" _Alright Knolly, this isn't the right way to go about this."_ Hector thought to himself as he closed his eyes.

The gift of foresight is a really handy ability.

* * *

"Damn it!" Hector exclaimed as he opens his eye and finds himself to be in the same room just before he went out to give his speech.

"Is something wrong?" Ironwood asked with his voice laced in concern, it wouldn't be good at all if Ozpin's catalyst was having problems now would it?

Hector realizes his slip up, and promptly makes an excuse for his sudden outburst.

"Sorry about that, I just realized that I left something back in the other room." By something he meant the relic of knowledge, and by room he means the vault back in Haven. Knolly decided to finally tell Hector that he can't use more of its power without having the physical relic with him, so _now_ he has to go back to Haven.

But more importantly, he has went through three dozen different ways to tell the world about Salem's presence, and everytime it just filled the world with negativity, which awakened ancient Grimm, which led to another siege on Atlas, and with the way they are in such a bad shape, that he himself is barely able to use a Kaioken multiplier time five as he is now. Unless his friends managed to kill thousands of Grimm all on their own by the time most of the military and civilians were slaughtered, telling the world now just isn't a good idea at this current moment.

He tried to break it to the world slowly and gently, and while the first few minutes were okay, and they seemed to stay calm about it, when Hector told them that the Grimlands hold the queen and all of the spawning pools that spawn hundreds of Grimm everyday - The information was given to him from Knolly - and then Ozpin tried taking control again once he realized what was going on, it just lead to more chaos.

After that he tried to be straightforward with the news, telling them of Salem and what she has done, and that in order for this world to know true peace, she must be stopped. That went as well as the worse of the first way he did it. He tried every way he could think of, each yielding the same results.

And now he is out of options, now he _actually_ has to go out there and speak to the world. Knolly has run out of their daily power that Hector is able to use. So it is either now or never. He stood up from his seat for what felt like the hundredth time, when really this was the first time he's ever done it, and nervously runs a hand through his hair. Talking to millions of people was something he'd never get used to.

"The nerves getting to you?" Ironwood lightly teased, something that Hector has heard already.

"Something like that." Hector said with a sigh. "Why does the world want to hear my voice so bad anyway? I'm just one guy that was in the right place at the right time."

"The people would like to know who has been running around the world stopping disasters from happening, they want to know who to thank for saving countless lives and their way of life." Ironwood explained, this is actually the first time Hector has actually voiced this question out loud to the man, he's been too focused on trying to convince the world to not freak out when they heard of a Queen that controls the Grimm to actually ask that question out loud. He certainly regrets not asking the question before now. He actually wonders why he never asked it in any of the futures he's seen.

"I didn't do it for fame, but I am glad I was able to do some good for the world…"

" _Especially since I wasn't ever meant to be a hero."_ He thought to himself at the memory of Salem's mental visit. She has been quiet ever since the morning, but that doesn't mean that she is gone.

"I am well aware of that Oz- Mister Rivers." Ironwood said with a smile. "From what I've heard of you while you were unconscious from all of your friends, I know that you are someone who can be trusted to do what is right."

"Thanks." Hector nodded, putting on a smile on. But not missing the little slip up Ironwood made when addressing him. "Well, any last advice before I go out there?"

"Just… do your best, public speaking comes with experience." The general hesitantly advised.

"Yeah, I don't think anyone's first speech was with literally the entire world listening. But thanks for trying." Hector said as he walked passed the cyborg general and placed his hand on the doorknob for what felt like the hundredth time, when it was really the first for real this time.

"I wish you luck." Is that last thing he said to him, letting the young hero walk through the door on his own- wait, on his own!? That never happened! Hector barely had time to comprehend this sudden change as the familiar flashes of white and vibrations of sound being felt all the way up to the podium he rested his hands on.

' _I wonder what you will try this time.'_ Ozpin thinks out loud, the sharing of memories makes things pretty difficult to hide things from him, although now he seems to be more talkative at least. ' _Do you truly believe that this is the correct path to take?'_

" _I believe it is a step in the right direction."_ Hector responds honestly, the nerves of being in front of so many people actually not getting to him as much as it did before.

' _Hm, I still do not think that this is the correct time to tell the world of Salem's existence, but with all the futures you've already seen, I believe you already know that. I will leave the decision up to you this time however. I do not wish to cause you pain as I had in your visions, you've been through enough of that for a lifetime already. I trust you to make the right decision.'_

Hector hums to himself, that makes things a lot easier for sure. Now the next step is to speak to the world and introduce himself, and he knows exactly how to do just that..

"Before anyone asks, my name is Hector Rivers, you may know me as the 'Hero of two kingdoms', but please just refer to me by name." He introduced himself politely.

He went through and answered the same line of questions he knew was coming, the ones about Mercury, which of course he defended the ex-assassin, then he went on the stand up for the faunus and _demand_ the world to just let them be people, which was mostly an unpopular opinion but they were surprisingly willing to give it a chance. The one where they asked if Ironwood himself was making him an official licensed huntsman, which of course was true, there was no lying needing to be done there. Then he went on about he wasn't the one who took down the dragon, but assisted in its destruction.

He made sure to sound polite, and used humour as he always finds a way too in order to lighten the tense mood for himself. He explained how he learned to fight how he did, and how his semblance works. Which is that it boosts his strength, speed, and other senses by many times, at the cost of stamina and pain. He didn't go into detail about _how_ much pain, only what they needed to know, which was that it hurt. As for his teachers, he just said that he just learned as he went on, and his semblance gave him the boost he needed to defend the kingdoms.

But then came the part he dreaded the most, trying to explain to the world about the true origin of the Grimm and who controls them. This was to be his last shot, and if he messed it up, he would have to live with the consequences. But since he answered the questions so quickly this time, he still has a few minutes before he would have to go into that territory. Which is exactly what he needs to come up with a plan.

"What is going to be the next thing you do once you fully recover?" One of the reporters asked, a woman with a notepad out in front of her, eager to write down whatever Hector responds with.

"Probably going to take a vacation if I am being honest." Hector joked, causing some snickers from the crowd. "I really don't know in truth. I need to speak with my friends before anything is confirmed, only then will I know which direction I need to go next."

"How could the kingdoms you've played a massive part in defending repay you for what you've done?" There's the question that always lead to chaos, but this time he plans to answer it differently. He just hopes that it would work.

"I don't need any kind of reward if that is what you are referring to." Hector said with a shake of his head. "Instead… I'd just to like to ask for a favor."

The reporters seemed to buzz with intrigue at this interesting request, and of course one of them had to ask what kind of favor I am asking for.

"One day, my friends and I are going to face an enemy I am not sure we would be able to defeat on our own." Hector went for a different approach, the first time he went down this way of telling the world.

"What kind of enemy could stand up to you of all people!?"

"The Grimmlands." He finally answers, this time leaving Salem's name out of everything.

"Why the Grimmlands? What is there to achieve by attacking the homeland of the Grimm?" Hector managed to hear that specific question, and it was the perfect one to answer.

"Let me ask you this: Has humanity ever been able to explore the Land of the Grimm?" Of course the answer was no. "Let me get straight to the point then, I want to go to the Grimmlands in one of the coming years, and I want to bring an army with me."

This riles the crowd up, but not as much as the times where he told them about Salem. This can work… as long as he omits the specific information about what he really is going there for.

"The Grimm are the true enemy." He continued over the sound, the crowd quieting down just a little to listen to what else he has to say. "The world will never know true peace until they are dealt with, I know I am asking for a lot, a lot more than even I can hope to ask. But I want this for peace, for the future of Remnant and her people. After the threat is dealt with, I'd like to just live a normal life, not one that is just filled with fighting for my life, I am sure most of you wish for the same."

The crowd seemed to quiet down, it makes sense. The Grimm _do_ come from the Grimmlands, that much has been proven with the centuries of research done by a multitude of explorers and scientists. If the many hypotheses about the origin of the Grimm are correct, then most if not all of the Grimm are born in the Grimmlands.

"What makes you think we can conquer the continent?" Finally, possibly the last question has been asked, and Hector hasn't ever gotten this far yet, so he doesn't know the best answer for such a question. So he went with his gut answer and hoped that it would be enough.

"We won't know unless we try. I don't expect for my request to be accepted by the world, but I sure as hell hope it is." Hector stands up straight, and places a hand over his heart, it is beating insanely fast, but that is to be expected after speaking to millions of people like that and requesting such a thing from them. He hopes that when the time comes, the world will answer his call. "And with that, I think I am out of time. So I will end it on a positive note." He takes a deep breath and prepares himself for the consequences of revealing what he is about to reveal to the world.

"I am no longer single, goodbye." Hector waved goodbye and walked backwards, letting the general walking passed him to gain all of the attention. He did his best to ignore all of the questions about who it could be, and various amounts that he wished he didn't have to overhear.

' _Right when I decided that you didn't have much to surprise me with anymore.'_

" _YOU, are going to explain to me why you've been so quietly recently, especially after what happened earlier in the morning."_ Hector thought back as he shut the door behind him and immediately slid down the door and sighed exasperatedly. What he just experienced is something he wishes he doesn't ever have to go through again.

' _I suppose I do owe you an explanation, however, now is not the time to do so.'_

" _What do you mean?"_

' _Open your eye.'_

Hector did as he was told, and looked about the room to see four heads, one gray black, black _and_ red, yellow, and then black again with wolf ears also visible. Then he saw the smile on his girlfriends face, while it was also blushing madly. Mercury was next to her, a very shocked yet grateful look on his face, that made sense, they barely spoken to each other besides Hector threatening him if he ever does anything evil again, and a short conversation which lead Mercury to be condemned to Ruby working on his legs whenever she is able to. He is being helped up by a smirking Yang since he still lacks a left foot. Then lastly but certainly not least, the one he has told the world is his protegee, Rhea Annani, who also looks excited to see him.

"Quite a speech you made there." Yang remarks. "I like what you did there, but I have to warn you that my dad is looking for you now."

"Already? Also where did Blake go, I thought she would have been here with you guys." Hector said as he pushed himself up off the ground and into a standing position.

Right before a blur of red dashes straight into him with a hug, knocking the wind out of him.

"Hey to you too Ruby." Hector said as he patted her head the best he could with one of his arms pinned to his hip.

"Mhm." Ruby hums.

"Yeah, get used to that, she's going to be clingy the rest of your life." Yang teased.

"Rest of my life?" Hector questioned, earning a glare from the elder sister of Ruby. "I mean of course, I already used to it enough, hehe, how you doing Mercury? Weren't you in the training area just a few minutes ago?"

"You defended me… Why?" Mercury didn't mean to change the subject, but he did anyway at the perfect time, Hector mentally thanks the gray haired teen before answering his question.

"Because, it was the right thing to do." Hector shrugged. "If you managed to last with team RWBY who all of plenty of reasons to hate you, and they see that you are okay enough to trust, then I have no reason not to trust you to. So, I defended you, and from what I've heard from the General, you have also been pardoned of your past crimes." He said with a smile, and his smile grew when he saw his new gray haired friends eyes widen and an uncharacteristic ear to ear grin takes over his features. Well, uncharacteristic for now at least, he was getting happier the more he was around them all, even smiled more than he ever did before. Also, not being the cocky smirk that he was known for before he became a good guy.

"I've never seen you so excited." Yang teased as she nudged him in the side, causing the young man to get redder and wipe away the happiness that was visible on his face.

"I wasn't that- no I am not falling for it. Just…" Mercury looks back to Hector, who is now trying to gently pry Ruby off of his chest. "Thank you, it meant a lot."

"Just like we practiced! Good job Merc!" Yang exclaimed as she pushed him across the room and into the chair Hector once sat in. "Now sit there and think about what you did."

"What? When did we practice anything? Why did you push me over here?" Mercury asked a series of questions as he made sure his damaged leg wasn't damaged any further after almost stabbing it into the floor when he was roughly pushed aside. "I have so many questions!"

Yang ignored his calls for help, he didn't want to have any more earfulls then he has already had from Weiss.

"RJ, did you mean what you said about me too?" Rhea asked adorably, her wolf ears standing up on her head and her golden eyes twinkling in the lighting, that isn't a face you could say no to, even if she said something wrong.

"O-of course," Hector quickly nodded. "You've been that to me ever since we first trained which was…"

' _One month and three days.'_ Ozpin assisted.

"Yeah that, you are my protegee!" Hector winked/blinked with a thumbs up, his toothy grin being all the confirmation Rhea needed to buzz with excitement, too excited to be confused about what he had just said.

"Since we're on that topic, when do you think you'll be okay to start training again?" Yang asked as she placed her hands behind her head. "No offence Rhea, but I need a sparring partner who can keep up with me when I am going all out."

"None taken no worries." Rhea waved off.

"You _are_ okay, right?" Ruby asked as she looked up at him, her chin resting atop his chest and her silver eyes boring into his blue. She looks hopeful, worried and concerned all of a sudden. The opposite of the adorable clinging she had just been doing just a few seconds ago.

But he can't lie for her sake, not even a white lie, with the futures he saw from Knolly, he knows that he can barely use his semblance as he is right now. At best he can go Kaioken times five and be a good physical fighting partner, but when it comes to magical and the flying around complicated shit of fighting, he is going to need time. It is a miracle that he is already walking around already after just a day of getting out of that bed he has been condemned to for a month. An unnatural recovery time, and he has a feeling he knows who he can thank for that…

"It's going to be a while, that much is for sure. As I am right now I am barely able to go times five with Kaioken. So I'd hardly be a challenge for you, besides, Weiss would murder me in my sleep if she saw me fighting already." Hector explained, making sure to add a little joke at the end to lighten the mood.

Ruby looks to the ground sadly, and takes a step back away from Hector, then mutters something that no one hears besides Hector, and he only heard her because of how close he was to her, and maybe because of his slightly enhanced hearing.

"It's my fault…" Was what Ruby mumbled to herself. Something that Hector was taken aback by, he didn't know what she could have meant by that. She did everything she could in the battle for Atlas, whatever bad things that happened were out of her control. She was the _true_ hero of Atlas, the one who slayed the dragon. So, what does she have to feel sorry for? He aims to find out what.

"It's not your fault." Hector said sternly, surprising the red hooded girl as she realized that the one person that she didn't want to hear what she mumbled heard her. "Where did you get that from?"

"I… uh…" Ruby seemed to squirm in place after being put on the spot, her discomfort being obvious to anyone who paid attention.

Hector looked to the others in the room, who now had their eyes on Ruby laced with concern for the young leader. "Is it okay if we… be alone for a bit?" Hector asked hesitantly, looking to Yang as he asked this. He hopes that if Ruby and he are alone together then she would be more willing to spill the beans on what she has been thinking. He hopes that would be the case at least, Ruby didn't seem to be against the idea either. But Yang's red eyes did not look reassuring, even if she didn't mean to send a death glare at him like he thought she did.

"Am I going to have to worry about being an aunt so soon?" The opposite of what Hector thought Yang was going to say came out instead, and he froze on the spot when his heart skipped a beat.

Knolly thought it was precious.

Hector told Knolly to shut the fuck up.

"Whajuba- No, nope, not today." Hector stammered, it's been a while since he has been affected by Yang's teasing, and she is enjoying the reaction she is getting from both of her current victims.

"YANG!" Ruby embarrassed exclaimed.

"Haha, just teasing." Yang said as she spun around, the other two following suit without question.

"Bye RJ! Good luck!" Rhea said happily as she left the room.

"See ya." Mercury waved with two fingers as he followed, hopping on one leg and using the wall for support.

"Make sure you use protect-" The door slammed closed behind Yang when Ruby dashed up to it, and teasing laughter can be heard from the other side of the door.

Hector stretched his arms upwards and yawned, the small amount of sleep getting to him already. So he sits down on the couch he forgot was in the room, and beckons for Ruby to sit beside him. She timidly nods her head and walks to him slowly, and takes the empty spot he offered to her. With the awkward silence back in the air, Hector thought of something to break the _Weiss_ (Ice).

"So, does the weather ever change over here? Or does it only snow?" Hector asked in a joking more high pitched voice.

Ruby chuckled a bit at the question. "Well, sometimes it rains." They share another laugh after that was said, the mood being lifted already. The two of them were always easily able to do that. The ice was always melted within just the first two sentences. They continued talking about other things, such as Hector's Big Brother/Little Sister relationship with Rhea Annani. She asked how the two of them were able to hit it off so fast, and Hector just responded by saying that it just kind of happened, he also thinks that the aura unlocking he did for her played a huge part in how close they got to each other. In a way, it's like he really did adopt her as his sibling, he can't say daughter because they are just too close in age for something such as that. They are alone about five years apart. Yet it was so hard to remember that the young girl was still only fourteen years old.

Hector then asked how Yang was doing with her new Maiden powers, if she has become accustomed to it even if it has only been a month. Ruby said that it is even more of a nightmare to deal with her, and somehow that meant to Hector that Yang was doing just fine. In all honesty, Hector thinks that Yang could beat him even if he was at full strength Kaioken times twenty. Before he had a ton of trouble with Maidens like Cinder and Raven, and had to push himself as far as he could in order to keep up with them. Yang even had the perfect counter to his semblance, the more damage he did to her, the stronger she would become, and he can make the correct assumption that becoming a Maiden does indeed increase the power of their semblance and overall amount of aura the Maiden has, which explains how Rhea had so much aura to begin with, probably even more than Jaune does at this point.

The fact of the matter is that he never actually _beat_ a Maiden before, he has just been able to keep up with and damage them. If he goes Kaioken times sixty, then he is sure then he probably would win, but at the cost of shortening his life and possibly going into another coma. So yet he finds himself yet again having to strengthen his body up even more, because more than likely he is going to have to " _convince"_ the last of the Maidens to join him against Salem.

"Seriously though, what is with Maidens and fighting me? There was Cinder, then Raven, then Rhea, and soon it's going to be Yang next. I feel like they just have the innate desire to kick my ass."

"Maybe it's because you're just that cool of a person?" Ruby teased, or at least her version of teasing.

Hector allowed her the satisfaction of him laughing at her tease, and then scratched the back of his head. "It sucks that I accidentally destroyed Ebony and Ivory though, guess I was just too _hot_ for them eh?"

He meant literally of course, but not even Ruby was able to miss the self-compliment he gave himself as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. She wasn't able to stammer anything out fast enough to deny that fact, and that only made Hector laugh just a bit harder before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a warm hug, his natural body heat something that she loved to take from him, and something he was happy to share.

This was good, it was like they were never even separated in the first place. Neither of them denied that they missed the other, and that the relationship they were in was just bound to happen. They were just drawn to each other like that, and they don't regret it one bit, even if it happened to be a bit rushed given the facts that they have already kisses a multitude of times, held hands, slept in the same bed together while cuddling, and they both noticed the longing gazes they both held at each others bodies when they thought the other was not looking.

And as much as Hector enjoyed this kind of talking, he knew that it would have to come to an end eventually, with this upcoming question the mood was bound to be killed. But he just figured that was life coming back to fuck with him after a month of absence.

"Wanna tell me why you think it was your fault now?" Hector later asked, figuring that it would be better to get the question out of the way early instead of letting the tense atmosphere get even more tense. Luckily the sounds of voices on the other side of the door was enough to make it not total silence.

"I… held back against Hell." Ruby hesitantly, slowly, and apprehensively muttered, the words sounds so much like it was forced out, and Hector could sense just how uncomfortable she became, despite her leaning into his touch just a bit more in an attempt to calm herself. "I had him… I had him dead to rights, in my silver gaze and burning away… but when I looked at his face, all I saw was you and… I hesitated." Ruby choked that last part out.

"If I just ended him there, you wouldn't have been hurt like you were, Yang's mom might still be alive, so many less people would have been hurt, all I had to do was just look at him!" She sounded so guilty, the sorrow that has been built up inside of her for no doubt as long as he had been asleep, unable to comfort her, it must have pained her to see him that way with no other choice but to wait and hope that he woke up.

"Ruby…" Hector let her name hang in the air, and he pressed her side against his body even more, letting his comforting heat lift melt some of the sorrow out of the look in her tearful eyes. "I understand how you feel, I felt the same way before, when I lost against Cinder." He winced at the memory, the pain of tearing his own body apart with Kaioken times twenty when he _knew_ his body couldn't take the strain. Right after that there was Raven, he still doesn't know who would have won that fight, but he likes to think it would have been at least a draw if the vault didn't heal their bodies and then getting interrupted by Yang.

"Tyrian…" He raised his hand up to where his left eye used to be, a constant reminder of his failure to defeat Tyrian before he was able to affect his team like he did. If he didn't have that _one_ slip up when Tyrian injected him with his venom, then he would have defeated him before he could harm his teammates, and maybe that would have stopped Salem from infecting his mind as much as she did already. He thought out loud as he remembered all of his mistakes. He felt like he could have defeated Hell before he overpowered him with his own ability. The image of all of his friends downed and out of the fight with Hells hand around Ruby's neck lifting her off the ground is still haunting his memories.

"I just want you to know that I don't blame you at all for what happened, I am sure everyone else feels the same way, and… that I have plenty of regrets myself." Hector said as he rested his temple on the side of her head. "We just have to live with it, however we can, together preferably. I think I've had enough of only having the voices in my head to talk to."

"Wow… way to one-up me." Ruby joked, attempting to lighten the mood. "But I am glad you were able to say all of that, it looks like we have even more in common then we originally thought."

"I must have sounded crazy at the end there." Hector chuckled.

"Eh, just a little… lot."

"Thank you for the honesty." Hector laughed. "So are you all better now? I know I do after finally getting that out, I don't remember if I did already but in case I did you can say that I just doubled up on it."

"Eh, it was the thought that counted. But yes… I definitely feel a little better, you have no idea how much guilt I felt when I saw you in that bed, unconscious… I didn't know if you were ever going to wake up."

She was silenced when he gently brushed his lips over her own, she melted into the touch, receiving the silent message he gave her. But he went on and voiced it out anyway.

"I'm here, and I don't plan on sleeping that long anymore, if I can help it at least. You know I may have to push myself that far, perhaps even farther in the future. But I want you to know that it would be my decision, and I know the consequences it will bring. None of what happens to me is your fault, if anything you can blame Ozpin for choosing me to merge souls with."

"... So I can still blame you?" Ruby was confused by his words, but understood what the first part meant.

Hector sighed, cursing the cryptic way he sometimes speaks he no doubt inherited from Ozpin. "Okay, instead of being sad because of me, I'd rather you just get mad at me, sound like a plan?"

Ruby laughed at how weird this conversation must have sounded like. They are trying to be serious, they really are, but there are just too many things that can just change the entire mood of the conversation.

"Sounds like a plan, I don't think you'd be able to handle that side of me though."

"Is that a challenge?" Hector arched his eyebrow.

"Possibly… Grrr."

"Haha, I am _so_ scared."

" _Just kiss already!"_ Yang screams through the door, in her defence they should have expected that.

"YANG! GO AWAY!" Ruby yells back at her sister through the door, earning hysterical giggles as a response and the tittering of feet running away from the room. What only made it worse was that it sounded like there was more than one. Ruby sighed when she noticed that small detail.

"Well, there goes the mood." Hector joked as he stood up with a shake of his head. "Is it okay if I have a very long overdue talk with the guy living in my head?"

Ruby scoffs. "Why are you asking me permission?" She smiled as she stood up with him, still pressed up against his side.

"I dunno… just seems to be the boyfriend thing to do." Hector said, his face grew a slightly darker shade of red as he said the words. Ruby noticed and found it adorable, and held the urge down to tease him for it. It was rare for him to get flustered like this anyway, and she didn't want to ruin it.

"Why thank you." She did her best impression of Weiss, which earned an eye roll from Hector. "I will permit you the privacy you have ever so elegantly requested."

"I think you used that word wrong." Hector pointed out, getting himself a light punch in the shoulder for his little quip.

"Thou shalt not correct me!" Ruby demanded.

"Accept my humblest of humble apologies." Hector said with a chuckle.

"Hmm… acceptable." Ruby dashed to the door, leaving a few rose petals on the ground where she stood before next to Hector. "Enjoy your talk!" She smiled as she waved goodbye, staying in the doorway just long enough to lock eyes with Hector for a few more moments, before finally stepping out and closing it. They still have the rest of the day to talk. It is amazing how it feels like it's been weeks when it's only been barely a day. Well, for Hector it actually is that way.

Now that he is alone once more, and Ironwood is too busy speaking to the world to really pay much attention to him. Hector sits down, and concentrates. Calling out to Ozpin who has once again gone silent after the speech was made.

" _Alright, we have about an hour or two before someone barges through that door again, though with my luck it'll be much sooner. I think we've put this talk off long enough have we?"_

* * *

Rhea is walking with Yang to go find Blake. The two of them are talking about how much their powers have improved over the short time that they have held the status of Maiden. But as they were talking, Rhea finally remembered something that she probably should have told Hector as soon as he woke up.

"AH! I FORGOT TO TELL HIM ABOUT THE WINTER MAIDEN!" Rhea suddenly realized and sprinted in the opposite direction. Well, not sprinted but more like glided across the ground while using the Maiden powers to fly just a few inches, it was faster then running at least.

Yang is just confused when she suddenly loses sight of her fellow Maiden. So much so that she somehow missed a crucial piece of information that Rhea let slip out.

"Hello?"

* * *

' _Yes, I apologize for my mysteriousness, and for not being there for you in a dark time. I have been busy, as I am sure you already know.'_

" _Yeah, wanna tell me what that is all about? Everytime I called you just either didn't respond or appear for just a few seconds before going back to whatever you've been doing."_

' _I've been trying to communicate with the Relic-'_

" _Ahem."_

Ozpin sighs. ' _Knolly, to find out more information about what you really are. Because clearly you are no mere human.'_

" _I think I already figured that out Oz, given the fact that I heal fast, got strong fast, and have magic within me."_

' _Yes, that much is true, and… Knolly, has been very reserved about who it speaks to.'_

" _I wonder why, maybe because I am the owner and you are not?"_

' _Perhaps… could you speak to it now? Ask some questions that you need the answers to.'_

" _I… am not sure whether or not I actually want to know the answers to some of the questions I have in general. But I know you are right, Knolly!"_

A small glowing light appears to fly around Hector's spectral form, and lands on his shoulder awaiting his owner to request something from it. Knolly has no body, and the only one who can her it's voice, is it's owner.

" _Hi!"_ Knolly's voice is too complex to be able to tell what gender the relic actually is, it could be either male or female, Hector has used both pronouns on multiple occasions while speaking to the relic. Also, Knolly's voice was just so adorable. " _I just woke up from a nap, so I got some power to answer a few questions!"_ Knolly sounded so excited as she said that, almost like he always is looking forward to providing knowledge to his owner whenever he needs it. She even glowed just a bit brighter with each word he spoke.

" _Hey Knolly, I just have a few questions that I need answered, I know I just used your power for foresight for a pretty long time, so how many questions do you think you can answer?"_

" _Eh, I can answer about three or four tough questions, depends on my mood really. Which is good!"_ Knolly quickly added.

" _Cute, alright, well. Here goes nothing."_ Hector physically takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the answer to the first question that has been haunting him for quite some time now.

" _What am I?"_

" _You are not human, nor faunus, but you are partly human, but you are also partly Grimm."_ Hector flinches at the confirmation, though, he already knew it after what happened with Tyrian, it makes sense. With that enhanced venom that Tyrian had, it was a miracle that he was able to walk around after just a few hours after the encounter with the crazed villain, much less _survive._ And that is not even including some of the other feats he had managed to achieve.

" _And you are also something else…"_ That caused him to perk up, and he looked to the blue light sitting atop his shoulder. " _Oh... well, this is interesting."_ Knolly sounded confused, and the Relic of Knowledge _never_ sounded confused before, Knolly literally knew everything there was to know.

" _What is it?"_ Hector asked the little blue light, concerned after noticing her tone.

" _You are something else not even I can comprehend, I do not recognize this third and final part of you."_ Knolly explained simply. " _Also that was your second question, only one or two left."_

Hector was snapped out of his shocked stupor after hearing that.

" _What? What do you- no nevermind."_ He facepalms, one question answered, another dozen come in to take its place. Before he uses his possible last question up, he considers his options.

He could ask how to defeat Salem, but now he knows that it may be something Knolly may not be able to answer, given the new knowledge he now has that the Relic is not fully omnipotent. But it could still be worth the risk.

He remembers Rhea saying something about the Winter Maiden, which reminds him that he should check on the Relic of Creation. He decides that Rhea should be able to tell him about her whereabouts, and opts for saving that question for her the next time they see each other.

So many questions, so little options. He really only has one logical choice, one that has been plaguing his mind, hidden from Ozpin for a very long time…

" _Can I trust Ozpin?"_ He asked the question is secret away from Ozpin, making sure he would not be able to hear him ask such a question.

He has become suspicious of Ozpin, the more memories he gained from being merged with Ozpin has given him access to his memories. The man sharing a body with him as been up against Salem for roughly almost two thousand years. All the attempts on her life all too disturbing to remember, he would amass armies, only for Salem and her Grimm to defeat, and then kill him. He would train his host's body up to its maximum potential, after ridding the body of the other soul… and he would still lose. He would train himself and a few others to come with him, which reminded of what he is doing now, there was himself, all of RWBY, Hector's own team, Rhea, Mercury, Qrow, and no doubt countless other skilled hunters that could be used against the incoming battle with Salem. Ozpin would always get his friends killed, and then get killed himself. An endless cycle of using every way imaginable to attack Salem, all until he went for different approaches, and then up to where he is now, stuck inside of Hector's body. The first host able to push him away from complete control of the body, in this case it was impossible to argue who was able to overpower the other, at least mentally.

He just needs verification, confirmation that Ozpin can be trusted. If the Relic of Knowledge says that Ozpin can be trusted, he will never doubt him again.

Knollys answer was immediate.

" _No, his intentions are pure, but his true goal is something to be feared."_

Hector's eye widened when the door burst open and his concentration was shattered. His heart is beating fast as if he was just in a battle. So much so that he gripped his chest in uncomfortable pain as he scanned the room with his good eye.

"RJ! I have to tell you something, it's urgent!" Rhea yelled as she flew to him and gripped his shoulders.

* * *

 **AN- Well then! The plot thickens! Damn it Rhea! Why the interruption?**

 **Jesus what the hell did I just get myself into. I just basically dug myself into a hole I cannot get myself out of with this one. I spent DAYS thinking on if I should go in the direction I just shifted this story into. Days thinking about what I should do with the speech, a reviewer predicted what happened in the speech correctly, you know who you are you. So much more can be done after a single line. What else does Hector have to deal with now?**

 **What do you guys think of Knolly actually getting some lines now? I've been thinking on it ever since I gave the relics sentience. Did I do it well? Should they have more lines or should I keep them as they were before?**

 **Anyway, after this chapter, I am going to write the Yang x Hector special little side story, it is going to be non-cannon and purely just because I feel like it and I have ideas for what I can do with that pairing. After that, I am going to work on the halloween special.**

 **I'll be doing a special for one of my stories for each holiday, so for halloween I am going to do this one, probably not going to do anything for thanksgiving, the next one will probably be a christmas special, probably either for Blind Huntsman or Team HAMR. After that I have no damn clue so you'll just have to wait for me to get ideas. For this particular story at least.**

 **My next update is going to be for Team HAMR.**

 **Lastly, I THINK I have an approximate date for when this story is going to have it's final chapter uploaded, which I THINK is going to be MAYBE summer or fall 2019, give or take a few weeks or months, you know what just to be safe I am going to say winter of next year. With the pace I am going at now, I think it will be done around then. When it is finished however, I may do a very short sequel story on just about what the cast is up to after the world is at peace.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter! What can I do to make it better? Any ideas you wish to share? Anything you look forward to? Please let me know, and of course, I'll see ya in the next one.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form.**


	42. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 41

**AN- Goodmorning, or afternoon, or evening. Whatever time it is for you wherever you may be. Sorry that this chapter took more than a week to get out, I wrote the the Yang special this week and got it out, but now it's time to get back to work!**

 **Thank you to all reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Zelfawolffang: I wonder what good ol' Ozpin has planned? Took awhile for me to make that choice, hope it pays out!**

 **Bwburke98: Dunno if that is a good or a bad thing, but I hope it's good. Thank you for the review, and thank you for reading this story!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Oh don't worry, he'll get his revenge. He's been letting them get away with too much. If Knolly has enough magic for it, yes Knolly can let him see possible futures. I had to put a limit on Knolly's abilities so that she doesn't seem like a limitless all-knowing tool that is being underused for the sake of the plot. Ebony and Ivory** _ **might**_ **come back, it depends, but those tools have been a part of the story for a long time, and they were bought from a store so it is now time for Hector to move on. They will be referenced more in the future again though, that much can be said. I'm glad you like that Knolly can talk! Watts, Hazel, and Adam will come back. I've been mainly focusing on what has been going on in Atlas with the main group. Hazel in the meantime has been looking for the Winter Maiden, and he found her, only so that the Winter Maiden could refuse his offer and basically kick his ass before heading off to Atlas. Watts and Adam however have some scenes coming up shortly in the future, they have not been forgotten, and you may be surprised by what I do with them. Thank you for the review!**

 **Astra: You reviewed at the same moment I decided to start writing the chapter, good timing! Free time is so little nowadays. I have school, work, video games, and writing, so the only relax time I get is when I sleep. I also saw the trailer, and when I saw the Relic of Knowledge in the snow I immediately thought of Knolly. It has some things I look forward to, looks like they are going to Atlas straight away after the battle of Haven. Similar to what I did for this story but I highly doubt it is going to be close to what I did for Atlas. We'll see though. I wonder who that mysterious Maiden is? Nice looking feet. Gift of foresight is a wonderous ability, think of all the possibilities I could do with it? Hehe, I already have a great one in mind… when you all least expect it. Ozmium… hmm, ya caught me. People can be dumb sometimes, which is why the stupidest of questions sometimes need to be answered. It was just a reference with Cortona, I just randomly thought about it at the time, no need to worry about it… or should you? It can be either Annani or Anani, I honestly forgot which it was supposed to be. It is pronounced the same way anyway, at least I hope it is. I think I am going to stick with Annani for now anyway. Lets see who is on his 'Murder Him' List: Salem, Maidens, Hell, Hazel, Grimm, Watts, all sorts of shit, and a whole lot more that I am too lazy to write down. I think becoming a maiden when you already have a strong aura and semblance would also enhance those abilities while also giving them the basic Maiden powers. That's my opinion anyway. Ozpin reveal that he is** _ **kinda**_ **a bad guy was something that took awhile for me to think about, is it too soon? Too late? Not enough build up? Eh, just go for it is what I said. I can never be predicted accurately, that is just the way I am. Glad you haven't forgotten about Crowskull, he's been lonely. Thanks for the review!**

 **Before any of you ask, yes. I did watch the new volume 6 trailer, and I loved it. Who else saw the Relic of Knowledge and thought "Knolly?" 'Cause I know I did, it's become engraved in my brain, if they give the Relic the same nickname I will be so excited. Speaking of nicknames, I've already come up with some for the other relics. There is Creation, Destruction, and Choice left. Choice was the hardest one. You guys will see what I have in mind for the adorable little sparks of light. The only ones that has made an appearance so far in the story is Creation and Knowledge, and I'll let you guys guess which one is next.**

 **Alrighty then, let's get straight into the story!**

* * *

Chapter 41- Inner Turmoil

"RJ! I have to tell you something, it's urgent!"

Hector nearly fell out of his chair, the combination of the revelation about the man sharing a body with him not up to any good, and the abrupt cut off of his concentration making him nearly pass out, his body still isn't anywhere near one hundred percent, he is at his most vulnerable after a long time.

' _Are you alright? I wasn't able to contact you for a short time.'_

Ozpin's voice did not comfort him in the slightest like it normally would when he is distressed, instead he did his best to ignore him. Despite his emotions being easily read by the wizard.

"R-Rhea? I thought we were saving this for later?" Hector weakly got out with a cough and with his eye barely open wide enough to look at the young hovering girl.

"Yeah, but I decided against it, I think it is best if you know now rather than later." Rhea said as she landed on the ground gently, and took the open spot next to his right. "It's about the Winter Maiden."

"Oh, of course it is." Hector sighed as he leaned back in is seat. "What happened?" He asked.

"She… took the Relic of Creation while we were all fighting outside." Rhea shamefully revealed, feeling at fault for allowing her to escape so easily. She was just so powerful… she didn't even have to move to defeat her, just conjure up the blue flame in her hand and suddenly it was too cold for even _her_ flames to warm her up, if that were someone who wasn't a Maiden, or anyone that couldn't heat up their bodies, then they would have froze to death on the spot.

Hector pinched the bridge of his nose, that made things far more difficult than it already was. He knew that she wouldn't just give it back without any sort of catch as well.

"She also seemed to know you… have you ever met her before? Any girls with cold blue flames… like _really_ cold blue flames." The Fall Maiden said as she conjured up a small white flame in the palm of her hand in some attempt to replicate what the Winter Maiden did.

In his head Knolly yawned adorably. " _I think I am going to take a recharge-nap. You know where to find me!"_ If Hector wasn't in such a complicated state of shock he might have asked the relic when he ever went to sleep.

"I… can't say I do, unless you're talking about Weiss." He joked, earning a small chuckle from the young maiden. But it wasn't her he intended to cheer up, it was himself, as he still had wide range of conflicting emotions, and couldn't afford to snap under the pressure.

' _You are being unusually jumpy Mister Rivers, that is very unlike you.'_

He wanted to curse at Ozpin for choosing _now_ of all times to be talkative. He ignored his words and focused his attention on the topic at hand.

Rhea went on to explain how she woke up after blasting away a whole block of Grimm in some sort of medical bay within the school. She tried to stand up and rush back outside to help. But she ran into a mysterious woman wearing a white cloak, had some sort of goggles covering her eyes, and how she went on to say how she knew that she was the Fall Maiden, how she would have killed the one before her herself in the future. How she got ready to fight her way out if she needed to, and the Winter Maiden simply rose her hand and a pale blue flame froze the room so cold that she couldn't find any strength to even keep herself warm, she was so easily defeated.

"She said she didn't want to reveal herself yet, since you were around and she had the Relic of Creation in her hands- did you know that it basically looks like a glowing paint brush?" Rhea went off on a little tangent, and it took Hector cutting her off and telling her to please get back to what he needed to know for her to get back on topic.

"Ah, sorry! Where was I… oh yeah, after she was done nearly freezing me to death, she told me to pass a message on to you." Rhea said with a pause to gauge his reaction to that.

' _... I hope we get a chance to speak on some things I have concerns on regarding our future plans.'_

"What is this message?" Hector asked after a few moments of processing this information.

"She said that she would negotiate terms with you, but only if you go to her alone." Rhea answered straight away, almost like she practiced revealing this to him.

"Oh, of course." Hector rubbed a hand down his face. "Why do I have to go to her alone?" He asked after shaking his head, not looking forward to literally freezing his nuts off when the time comes to find the Winter Maiden.

Rhea looked up to the ceiling as she dug into her memories of that fateful night, finding the answer to that question easily, you just couldn't forget a chilling pain like that.

"She said that she would rather avoid being around the people with his… I don't really know who that could be though." Rhea said with a sigh. "There's one more thing… and I know you are not going to like it."

" _Just one thing after another_." Hector thought to himself, but remained silent and let Rhea reveal yet more news.

"Well… how do I say this." Rhea plays with her long black hair and her wolf ears twitch as she thinks of a way to say this. "She… wants you to…" She takes a deep breath. "She wants you to own the Relic of Destruction before finding her."

' _Interesting…'_

Hector shuts his eye, and breathes through his nose, that would require _finding_ the Summer Maiden first, and with his luck finding her isn't going to be so easy. Even if he does find her quickly, he has a feeling she won't be super willing to go into Shade and unlock the door for him so that he can grab the Relic of Destruction, and even if he did managed to do _all_ of that in such a short time then he would just have to go across the world _again_ to find the Winter Maiden, and that is only if they don't decide to go clear out Beacon before the dragon woke up from it's petrified state. That's not even counting the amount of things that could go wrong on the way to Vacuo, and that's assuming he doesn't make the trip back to Haven to pick up Knolly and tie her to his waist so that he could make full use of his abilities.

He rubs his temples in an attempt to be rid of the headache that is now making him want to rib his own brain out and beat it to death. He has a _lot_ of planning to do.

' _We, have a lot of planning to do.'_

"Anything else?" He asked before his headache could get any worse.

"She _did_ say that owning two of the relics would make you find out your true origins to, and that your magic is constantly growing with no sign of stopping. I don't remember what she exactly said, but it sounded like she wasn't hostile toward us, maybe she is one of the good guys!" Rhea cheered happily.

' _True origins? What does she mean by that?'_

" _I'll fill you in later, just let me focus damnit."_ He finally responded to Ozpin in a rather rude tone, and for once Ozpin did not quip something stupid like he sometimes did when Hector was in a bad mood.

' _Very well…'_

In a way, she was not wrong, Hector would have to ask Knolly to show him what exactly went down when the two Maidens interacted with each other some time in the future. Just in case his apprentice might have left anything out, but the thing she said about him finding out his true origins… he could see what that third part of him is, if not human or Grimm, what else could it be? Not even Ozpin's knowledge can give him the answer to that one. For there has only ever been three dominant species on Remnant, humans, faunus, and Grimm. And unless he suddenly finds some sort of animal part on his body - and he did check - then he knows that it is definitely not part faunus. Also, from what Rhea said he can tell that the Winter Maiden is at least not hostile toward him, so she may be a potential ally against Salem, he just hopes that it is not some kind of trap to kill him like so many others have tried before.

But before anything happens he needs to deal with the immediate threat at hand… or in this case in his head.

' _What did you ask the Relic of Knowledge?'_ Ozpin made that sound more like a demand rather then a question. He caught the turmoil within his mind, and knows that it has something to do with the questions he asked Knolly before he was suddenly snapped out of concentration.

"Thank you for telling me all of this." Hector said with a soft smile as he rubbed her head. He then stood up and and rolled his shoulders, feeling his bones click and his muscles relax just a bit when he returns his arms to his sides. He knows what he has to do.

In a swift motion, he pulled Rhea into a hug, truly not knowing if this was going to be the last time he would see the young girl, at least with his own soul. The intimate familial action surprises Rhea, and makes her blush with embarrassment.

"H-Hector what is this about? You're not angry?" Rhea asked as she looked up at her mentor.

Hector chuckled as he released her. "What? No, of course not. Just felt like doing that." He really meant that. As he was hugging her, he thought about the time Rhea tried to heal his eye, the gentle warmth that strung together the scarred tissue on his face, making it look as young and unblemished as the day he first woke up on Remnant. It feels like it was so long ago, many months at least since he came to her village and sent the survivors off the Oscar's farm. When it has only really been a month and a few weeks in reality. She was just so pure, and innocent, he wishes that things could have been different and that she wasn't needed in this secret war.

"I just need some time to think on some things… Tell everyone to meet in that room we had the party in, that is when we will start discussing plans." He said in an authoritative tone, the tone he uses when he has to give orders to his team. Something in the look of his ocean blue eye tells Rhea that this is something that should be done right away, and should not be put off any longer than it already has been.

"O… kay. Is something wrong?" She had to ask, he wasn't normally like this.

Hector smiled at her. "Yeah, just got to talk to Oz about a few things regarding what you've told me, and so far this is the most private room I can find." He used his more calm voice, and it succeeded in making Rhea believe that he just had things that needed to be planned.

"Oh, okay! I'll gather them right away!" Rhea said cheerfully as she glided out of the room, a trail of light orange light following her out of the room.

Hector shook is head and closed the door, making sure to lock it. He then looks to the door where on the other side Ironwood is still making his speech to the world, and by the sounds of it, he isn't going to be done anytime soon, giving Hector the perfect opportunity to have a… _talk_ , with the man he shares a body with.

"You have something to tell me Ozpin?" Hector asked as he crossed his arms and began to pace around the room.

' _I believe that I should be the one asking you that question.'_ The former headmaster responded after a few moments.

Hector breathed through his nose quickly, and his heart rate began to rise.

"I asked Knolly a few good questions, and I got some _interesting_ answers."

' _I suspected as much,'_ Ozpin sighed. ' _Would you inform me on what exactly you asked the Relic?'_

"You lied to me… I trusted you…" Hector seethed with anger. "You really think I wouldn't find out? We share the same body Ozpin!"

' _...'_

"Nothing to say? Really, the thousand year old whimsical wizard doesn't know how to respond to something, now _that_ is a first." Hector laughed bitterly as he resisted the urge flame up, it wouldn't do anything besides harming his body anyway.

' _In this case, the ends justify the means.'_

"What the _fuck_ do you mean by that? Come on Ozpin, you should know by now that I don't understand your fucking cryptic way of talking. You can't control my body, so if I really wanted to, you could just be my prisoner." He threatened with a snarl, raising his voice higher then he would really meant to. "So spill the beans, tell me what you planned to do."

' _... Of all the lies… Hector.'_ Ozpin said his first name, a rare occurrence and usually only said in dire situations or when Hector was mad at him. ' _I never did lie when I said that you were my favourite.'_

"If you think complimenting me is going to be enough to make me change my mind, then you are _very_ mistaken."

' _I know, I just thought that I should say that before I did this.'_

"Did wha- AGH!" Hector clamped his hands around his head, and fell to his knees, he tried reaching for his scroll, but his arm didn't listen to him, and he quickly found himself with the biggest migraine he has ever had in his life, it feels like his brain is becoming too big for his skull, and it is trying to break out. Even through the pain however, Hector gritted his teeth and used his magic, flaming up with his blood red aura and gaining more control over his motor functions.

' _I know you would not agree to my plans, and I truly wished I did not have to do what I did to my previous host.'_ Ozpin said with a hint of sadness. ' _I am truly sorry.'_

Hector's heart nearly jumped out of his chest, he was talking about Ozwald. The man he asked about all those months ago back at Haven. "What… do you mean by that?"

' _Exactly what you are thinking… he did not give me permanent control over his body. I took it.'_

Hector growled loudly, and began to resist even harder then before. His flames burning even hotter and higher.

' _Of course I would have had to take permanent control in the future, but your presence was necessary in order to keep my pawns loyal, and you offered a degree of amusement to me.'_

Hector's blue eye started glowing green, even as he fought back with all his might. Ozpin never tried taking control like this before. He was always able to refuse him when he tried without asking permission, in this case it wasn't his body being attacked, it was his very soul.

' _Of course this would mean that I'd have to pretend to be you, which means having to deal with Miss Rose-'_

"You stay away from her!" Hector snarled as his red flames fought to overtake the green light.

' _Do not worry, her involvement in the war against Salem is a necessity, she will not be harmed, at least not physically.'_

The green light began to push back Hector's red aura, and since he is already weakened from pushing his body far beyond its limits, and mental strength being weaker than it ever has before after Salem paid a visit. He doesn't know if he can keep this up…

' _When Salem started speaking to you earlier this morning, that is when I knew that you have used up your usefulness. Again, I am truly sorry Hector, taking over the host has always been a… delicate process, one that I have been preparing for hours. Which is why I have been silent throughout today.'_

Hector felt a burning pain in his chest, his bones and organs were moving, this time being forced, this would happen when his body transforms when Ozpin took control. It never hurt until now. He was losing strength, both physically and mentally.

' _You truly thought that I couldn't do this? I've learned more about your kind of magic Mister Rivers, and with the knowledge I possess, and all the time I had to investigate your body while you were unconscious, I finally understood what it was. I suppose I should tell you what it is you possess.'_

Hector groaned in pain, not able to speak anymore.

' _As you know, it is a combination of dark, and light magic. The kind of magic the twin Gods used when they created the world. Salem only uses the dark magic, which was what made her into what she is today thousands of years ago, and I was created with 'Light' magic, as you would call it. You know that story already, so I will save you the time you have very little of left. I know what you are, and what you were meant to be.'_

Hector managed to open his eye, and even made a surprised grunt. Another thing that was kept from him. He knew that simply becoming what Hell was wasn't the full truth at the very least, it would be simply _too_ simple if it was just that.

' _Of course I will not simply tell you of your origins. That may awaken some things within you that I would much rather not have to deal with at the moment. So I am afraid that is something that you will never have the answer to.'_

" _No…"_ Hector thought back to him. " _I won't let you get away with this, you cannot silence me for long."_

' _I know, but you won't be able to regain control for years to come, and at that point I am not sure you would even want to return.'_

His skin began to pale, and his muscles started becoming numb.

" _You're going to end up being worse than Salem."_

' _No, I will be exactly what this world needs. I wish you could understand that.'_

Hector started to sound more feral, and suddenly his red aura returned, this time with a hint of black.

" _No, you will not."_ Hector growled at him from within his head.

' _No, this shouldn't be possible!'_ Ozpin said as he tried to suppress his host, but found it much more difficult than it was before, and it was _not_ easy to do so before now. He quickly realizes what this means.

' _No…'_

"Did you really think that you are the only one I can go to for power!?" Hector said this with his dark voice, and his body began to return back to its normal color and shape.

' _No… you didn't… oh Gods.'_

" _ **Hello Ozpin, it seems like Hector has decided to embrace his dark side rather then run from it like he has been all this time."**_ Salem's voice echoed throughout his mind.

* * *

 **Earlier**

"What do you mean you can't make me any stronger!?" Hell yelled at the disgraced scientist.

Watts has been working hard at making Hell stronger, since he was defeated very handily at the hands of Hector at the battle for Atlas. He has been trying to make himself strong enough to take him down himself, but even after all this time, his maximum has plateaued at times forty, which is still not nearly enough to what Hector is capable of.

"Hell, you must understand, while you may be the same person, you are made up of something much different then he is, you simply have a limit! You are already at your peak!" Watts yelled back at his creation. During all of his hard work, he hasn't been able to keep track of the Summer Maiden, since Hell has been demanding his work nearly every day, and it didn't help that Salem doesn't mind Hells attitude toward his creator.

"What do you mean by that Watts? Are you saying that he is better than me!?"

"I am saying that you lack a soul! You are too much Grimm while he is only part, and unless manifest your own soul, you can't hope to reach him in terms of power!" Watts yelled back, he has grown more gray hair after all this time of dealing with this creature. "You had your chance Hell, you should have taken him while you had the chance. But no, you wanted to make sure he knew that you defeated him, and you went after the one other person that could have killed you. With their _stare_ no less." he scold.

Hell wanted to end the man's life, but that would only lead to punishment by his queen. He did not want to disappoint her. Hell growled loudly and threw a table out of one of the already broken windows.

"Are you done?" Watts asked after his temper tantrum finally died down after a few minutes.

"What would it take?" Hell asked softly. "What would it take for me to manifest my own soul?"

Watts rose an eyebrow at his creations much softer tone of voice. After clearing his throat he began explaining the process. "You would need to allow yourself to feel emotions. You are part human, but a much more unbalanced composition then your counterpart. To put it simply, you need to focus more on your mental strength rather then your physical strength."

Hell growled softly at the very idea of it, he was Grimm, he doesn't want to even consider the idea of becoming they very thing he sought to destroy. But he has been obsessed with becoming stronger ever since his defeat. At this point he would do anything… even if it meant allowing his human side become stronger.

"Very well." Hell begrudgingly accepted the terms.

"Be careful Hell." The Queen of the Grimm's voice echoes throughout the chamber.

Straight away, Hell and Watts bow down to the queen, her very presence makes the experimentation chamber darker. "I may very well decide to deny you the right to a soul."

Hell looked like he wanted to argue, but after the punishment he received for getting too ahead of himself and screwing up his duty to capture Hector. He never dared to even think of defying her again.

"M-mother, if I may." Hell looked up to the evil glowing red eyes that Salem possesses. To which she gives permission for him to speak with a wave of her hand. "If letting this vessel attain a soul, I may become strong enough to the point where we won't need my counterpart. So please, I request for your permission to allow my body to manifest a soul."

"Hmm, as long as you do not retain Hector's way of thought, then perhaps such a thing can be allowed. You may develop desires of your own as well, it is simply human nature." She then rose a hand, and Hell felt tightness around his neck to the point to where he can barely breathe.

"But the moment your desires rise above my own, that is when they will be lost to you." Salem said in a calm tone as she released her hold over the creation. Hell pants for air, but immediately goes back into a kneeling position, showing that he is completely loyal to her and that he would not dare do such a thing.

"Watts, do what you can to accelerate the manifestation." Salem ordered as she turned around and exited the chamber.

"Of course my lady." Watts wanted to argue about what to do with the Summer Maiden, with all of their enemies recovering in Atlas, she has been left wide open. But yet all they do is send measly Grimm at her, and not a single one has even managed to touch her aura. He wonders what she could be up to in regards of the 'Lightning Warrior'.

"And make sure dear Hazel is able, he has done his job locating the Winter Maiden, now he must get ready to travel to Sanus once more." Salem ordered before she left. Watts nodded his head in her direction, he had a lot of work to do now.

* * *

While the two of them were discussing plans. Salem has been focusing on contacting Hector, and constantly sending Grimm to tire out the Summer Maiden before going ahead with what she has planned, and boy, does she have _quite_ the plan ready, all she needs is a few more pieces of the puzzle to come into place. But suddenly, something happens that Salem would have never expected.

" _Salem… I need your help."_ Hector called to her, the very first time that he has done so.

Salem laughed boisterously for a short time. "Well, this was certainly unexpected, have you finally embraced what you really are?"

He ignored her. " _I don't have much time… Ozpin he... he's trying to take over my body. I am having Knolly replicate my voice in order to distract him from hearing our conversation."_ He sounded like he was in pain, and she narrowed her eyes dangerously into the distance outside her window.

"Hm, that won't do. I can't lose my most valuable chess piece already, it is much too soon." The queen said as she placed her snow white hand on her chin and thought on what she should do.

" _As charming as always."_ Hector somehow managed to quip while under an immense amount of pain. " _But I assume your help isn't going to come cheap…"_

"It seems like you are not as much of a fool as I originally thought." Salem complimented backhandedly.

" _Whatever it is you think I am going to do for you, forget it."_ Hector defies her, it is what she expected from him so she isn't as offended as she would be if it were anyone else. " _All I need from you is a way out of this mess. If it makes it easier, I'll accept any catch that doesn't involve me killing someone or becoming one of your tools."_

Salem had just the perfect idea in mind, one that popped up in her head right away.

"Hm… I think I have something that would benefit us both."

" _Great… 'cause I think I just ran out of time."_

Salem lent a small fraction of her dark magic, and soon felt Hector regain control over his own body. Even heard him growl some things out to dear Ozpin, she won this round of chess, and she just put her nemesis in check.

" _ **Hello Ozpin, it seems Hector has finally embraced his dark side rather then run from it after all this time."**_

* * *

' _What did you do!?'_ Ozpin yelled at Hector for answers as he was roughly shoved out of control of the body. Black and red flames flaring up from patches of his body, but is easily overshadowed by his normal colors.

" _ **He did what he had to dear Ozpin, and this is your final life."**_

Hector feels his body throb along with his intense heartbeat, and groans when he feels an uncomfortable feeling burn up from within his body. Then he hears Ozpin scream in pain for the very first time, and a sizzling burn from on the back of his hand, when he looks at it, he immediately recognizes it as Salem's symbol, due to Ozpin's memories. He barely feels it, and is disturbed from the sound of it burning itself into his skin. He looks down to his hand to see a symbol of some kind. If it wasn't going to be a constant reminder of what he had to do just now, he might have called it a cool tattoo.

" _ **There, now you can draw some of my power without asking me, of course there is a limit to how much you can borrow. Please, use it as much as you want, I will know when you do."**_ Salem's voice was more taunting then anything, and it was obviously directed toward Ozpin, rubbing salt into the fresh wound that he is now powerless to stop Hector from staying in control of his own body.

' _You have no idea what you have just done do you?'_ Ozpin's voice was pained, and was filled with anger and disappointment, not that either of them cared of course.

"Just between you and me Ozpin, I was just going to warn you not to try anything. I was just going to say that whatever it was you had planned, forget about it." Hector said as he stood up and breathed in deeply for the first time in minutes. "You've brought this upon yourself, and you are now _my_ prisoner until I deem you worthy enough to rely on again, and by the sounds of you growling that isn't going to be anytime soon."

Ozpin remained silent, he gave up on trying to force himself into control, with the added power that was just lent to him by his nemesis, there's no way that he can even hope to take control over his host now. But right now that is the least of his concerns.

His curse has been broken.

' _She broke my curse… you LET her break my curse… why?'_

"Insurance." Hector had the decency to feel bad for the wizard. "You betrayed me Ozpin, and you know how I like to get things done right away until waiting until the last second. It was either let you get everyone killed, or let Salem break your curse. As you can see the choice was easy to make."

' _This is my final life…'_ Ozpin could hardly believe it himself, this is his final chance, no more resurrections after this, after existing for as long as he has, the concept of death is now brand new to him.

" _It is."_ Knolly confirmed, for her owner.

" _ **Well then, I suppose that is all I am needed for."**_ Salem said with a victorious chuckle. " _ **Remember what we spoke about earlier today Hector, time flies by when you aren't paying attention."**_ With that, Salem cut off her mental connection with the unlikely hero. Leaving him on his own in the room he felt like he spent weeks in already.

Ozpin remains silent, as he probably will be for a long time. Hector understands this, after what he just did, there is no way Ozpin is going to trust him with anything anymore. The only sign of him left are his memories that Hector has seen, and the muscle memory of combat he provides. His presence is still felt of course, as it always will be. Despite everything Ozpin has said and what he just tried to do, Hector still feels sad for the loss of what he thought was one of his greatest friends. The man he has looked up to ever since his arrival to Remnant, the one responsible for his skill and combat prowess, who has also assisted in giving him one of the few pushes that he needed in order to realize his own feelings for Ruby.

" _Are you okay Master?"_ Knolly adorable asks him as the little blue ball of light appeared on his shoulder, only visible to him. " _If it makes you feel any better, I haven't had any friends in many millenia, you are my first one ever!"_

Hector cracked a smile and let out an amused but sad chuckle.

"I'll get over it." He said as he finally exited the room, the halls looking almost foreign to him after the amount of time he spent looking at possible futures.

"Let's go have that talk with the others."

* * *

 **I was going to write more, but I found this to be a good time to end the chapter. It is a shorter one I know. But as they say, Quality over Quantity. I just hope I do a good job editing the story… Wish me luck from the future on that one.**

 **I want to clarify this, just to make sure. Ozpin is NOT dead, he is still there, he is just going to be absent from the story for a while. Trust issues on both sides. Also, yes, what Hector did in order to resist Ozpin did use Dark magic, but by no means does that mean that Salem has control over him. At least not yet… I'm joking, Im joking!**

 **Another thing, in Hector's perspective, he has spent a few days looking at possible futures for the speech. This would mean that it is still the same day he got with Ruby. I feel like I have dragged on this day long enough, so there will be a very small time skip of maybe a few days or weeks so I don't end up writing a long as fuck recovery arc. After next chapter when the plans all get laid out, or probably more likely in next chapter will be the next time skip. Just wanted to let you all know that now.**

 **I am sorry if these passed couple of chapters seem to drag on, but I promise that it is going to pick up in the next few chapters.**

 **Now, another thing I want to ask your guy's opinion on. RWBY Volume 6 is starting in just the next few days. After the Volume is finished I am thinking about having an alternate reality where Unlikely Hero follows the Cannon of RWBY. Pretty much I am asking you guys if you want to see Unlikely Hero return for the main cannon of RWBY. It would be titled "An Unlikely Hero: Following The Path."**

 **If I do decide to go for it, it won't be until this story is nearly or fully completed, I don't want to put too much on my plate with the three stories I am currently writing.**

 **Whew, now that that is all out of the way. Please review and tell me what you think! Any concerns, ideas, or advice I will gladly take and think about.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way, shape, or form.**

 **Next update for me will be for The Blind Huntsman! After that, I will begin writing the halloween special. Then maybe another Blind Huntsman chapter. Depends on my mood really.**


	43. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 42

**Here we are again with yet another chapter! I am proud to announce that the Halloween special is completed! It will be posted on Halloween day, and I honestly think it is my funniest work yet. Look forward to it!**

 **Just a little hint to you guys if this chapter comes out before Halloween, everytime I type a sentence I get the urge to rhyme the next one with that sentence. I just can't help it some of the time- You see!?**

 **Ugh… Well at least I had a blast, wish me luck from the past!**

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 **Thank you to the reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Black tourmaline: I am also interested to see where the story goes ;). Also yes, I am afraid that I cannot answer that.**

 **Guest: Poor Ozpin everyone hates him now.**

 **Cinderfall201: He made a deal with Remnant's equivalent of the devil, the situation with Hell is something that I am handling delicately.**

 **Disabled-doctor: He isn't really evil per say, like Knolly said he has good intentions, but his true goal was something to be feared. If anything he can be an antagonist.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Of course I am not skipping that! That's going to be the first thing you see.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Yup, this story is about to have its longest arc. Going back and forth between kingdoms to find relics and Maidens, and don't forget that he also has to make a pit stop at Haven to grab the relic of Knowledge. Thank you for finding that scene enjoyable! I had to be careful with it for obvious reasons, making Ozpin an antagonist definitely took a lot of self-convincing. Hell is going to be making a come back one of these days. I'll keep what you said about the idea of the second Unlikely Hero story in mind.**

 **Astra: I apologize night folks, forgive me for my arrogance. Good whatever time it is to you all. Predictions can work like a double edged sword you may get it right but even then it may be just a** _ **little**_ **different then what you expected. No, I am not a foot person unfortunately, that was just the first thing that popped into my mind when it came to who the 'Reverence' person could be from the trailer, now I think it's just Ozpin in one of his previous lives. Could still be a Maiden though. Ozpin's betrayal was very subtly built up, him not talking the last few chapters, what do you think he has been doing while Hector was unconscious? When Hector killed Cinder without so much as feeling guilty afterward fro taking a life for the very first time is when Oz started getting suspicious. It only made it worse when Hector kept refusing Ozpin control over the body, the hints are there, you just got to look for them, and while my memory can be pretty vast, I can't remember every single chapter of this story to tell you more of the hints I laid out. Just know that they're there. Alright, about the Winter Maiden, I'll give you a hint, re-read her description of what she looks like and think HARD about it, think of something that I WOULD do, something crazy and unexpected as usual, and there you go you figured it out, don't tell anyone. Knolly was trapped in her own dimension, so yeah she was completely alone for thousands of years. Poor Knolly :(. It's a trend with Ozpin nowadays, he has all this intelligence and yet he always makes the dumbest decisions. The magical hand tattoo is on the back of his left hand by the way. Hector can control SOME dark magic, but if he uses too much… moving on. Thank you for the quality compliment, after writing the whole thing I edit right away just to get it out of the way and by that point I am tired as fuck. Oh wait, yeah I have some names for the other relics in mind, as well as their personalities already thought up. The alternate reality story is something that I would have months to plan if I do decide to go for it, maybe even a year who knows, the next new story from me is going to be after this one is over, I don't want to give myself too much to worry about. And as always, thanks for sticking with me for so long.**

 **Thank all of you for the reviews!**

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Chapter 42- Surprises

"Is everyone here?" Rhea asked as she looked about the room, counting the heads of both Teams RWBY and RNJR, the latters leader who is still on the way. Beside them are Mercury and Qrow, Nicholas Arc who is standing in the corner in silence, and they insisted that Tai is on his way.

"Yeah, we are." Qrow yawned. "What's going on? Did Hector get himself into trouble again already?" The old huntsman drawled.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Weiss said with a sassy roll of her eyes.

"He just told me to go get you guys, so that's what I did." The Fall Maiden shrugged her shoulders and sat beside Yang.

"What did you have to go tell him?" Yang asked her. "You left in quite a hurry."

"Eh, only about that time I almost died." Rhea said with another shrug and an adorable smile.

"WHAT!?" All of Team RWBY, Qrow, and the present members of RNJR exclaimed in unison. It's been a month since the battle, and they've all had their fair share of close calls. But Rhea is precious, and therefore anyone or anything that threatens the girl will have fury of every kind falling upon them in due time.

Ruby dashed up next to Rhea and gripped her shoulders.

"Who did it?" She asked in the most angry and intimidating tone Rhea has ever heard before.

"Er… can we wait for RJ first? He's better at explaining stuff then I am." Rhea stammered as she herself was terrified by the look on the silver eyed warriors face.

"Oh you poor thing." Yang said as she hugged Rhea from the side and pulled her into her chest. "Don't worry, we're here to protect you."

"Mmph- ang, mm fine." Rhea mumbled between the two masses of flesh in her face.

"Sh, everything will be okay now." Yang whispered to her fellow Maiden.

"Alright, so back to serious things- not saying that Rhea's case isn't serious." Mercury quickly added when he saw the glares of everyone he betrayed at Beacon. "But Hector called us together for a reason, and from what you've guys told me about him then I would guess that he has some kind of plan that he is going to share with us. Since he was the one who came up with the plan that got everyone here in the first place I wouldn't put it passed him to be doing the same here." He explained as he tried to put his foot back on his left leg.

"He's right." Jaune said, drawing the attention to himself. "I've probably spent the most time with him other then Ruby, he was the one that came up with nearly everything that got us through our own journey, honestly I would be more surprised if he didn't have something important like that he wanted to tell us."

"We're not splitting up again." Ruby said after a few moments of silence.

"Ruby-" Ren started.

"The last time we split up he lost an eye and a lot of his sanity. I don't know if you guys have noticed, but he is so different then the last time we saw him, the look in his eye…" She trailed off with sadness.

"I noticed it too." Qrow spoke up. "I've trained him for a good time, and besides the eye color change he looks like he's seen some things that he is not sharing with us. He already has two voices that aren't his in that head, like Jauney here I would be more surprised if he wasn't at least a little affected by that. Not to mention that Salem no doubt has her eye on him."

"... What was he like?" Rhea asked suddenly. "Before he was like that I mean." Her wolf ears flattened against her head, she feels bad that she wasn't able to see that, she looks up to him so much that she only focused on the good things about him and not the things that could have been bothering him.

Everyone except Nicholas laughed at the question, the memories of Hector shenanigans before the Battle of Haven are fond memories.

"I remember that he got his arm stuck in a tree, and I had to go get him." Jaune started the list of things.

"He's a funny guy, always used to make puns with me to bother Weiss." Yang added.

"He is one of the few people that was quickly able to get close to me as a friend, despite his annoying quips and touchy nature." Weiss said with a shake of her head.

"He rode an Ursa with me!" Nora exclaimed.

"I knew you were up to no good that day." Ren said underneath his breath. "But yes, he was, and still is, always able to keep a conversation with me, and I am not one for talking much."

"He was just so happy." Ruby finally spoke up. "He let me ramble on on things I knew he didn't understand just because it made me happy, he always found a way to make me laugh or smile and oh, don't even get me started on the arguments he would have with Professor Ozpin."

Everyone laughed at that, there was one time where they argued about how they eat food, and kept constantly switching control and it was like a light show with red and green constantly flashing in his eyes. Hector ended up throwing the chopsticks in the trash and ate with his hands while everyone just knew Ozpin had a funny look on his face.

"Oh yeah! Aren't you his girlfriend now?" Rhea asked with a giggle.

Ruby blushed and widened her eyes, the memory of Nora sending everyone a group messaged of both herself and Hector kissing to literally everyone besides her uncle and father.

But her uncle was in the room at this very moment.

"... When did this happen?" Qrow asked in a monotonic voice and a blank expression on his face. The laughter died off and everyone started whistling a tune and playing on their scrolls. Leaving Ruby to fend for herself even as she spat the word 'Traitor' at them.

"Uuh… this morning…" Ruby bashfully admitted now that the cat was out of the bag.

"Huh…" Qrow rubbed his chin. "I was wondering why you were snuggling up to him on the bleachers earlier. I thought Yang would have sicked her claws on him before you got the chance."

"Wha- YANG!?" Ruby pouted jealousy toward her sister, who suddenly found herself put on the spot.

"Woah woah woah I didn't like him like _that_!" She denied with a wave of her hands.

"Oh I know firecracker." Qrow laughed. "Trust me, I know _exactly_ how you liked him." In truth he already figured out that both Ruby and Hector were together as soon as he saw them holding hands for a split second before entering the training room where Jaune and his father fought. But he is now having way too much fun teasing both of his nieces at the moment to reveal that secret.

"Uncle Qrow!?" Yang slammed her hands on the table and a rare blush of red covered her face. "I thought I told you to keep that a secret!"

"What secret!?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, what secret?" Taiyang asked, drawing attention to himself and a bewildered Hector is staring at the scene before him with a wide eye.

"I don't think I want to know…" Hector said with a nervous laugh.

"I don't want to know either." Nicholas said quietly to himself, the only one hearing him being his son who sent a relatable nod in his direction.

"Oh, you lost that privilege when you announced to the world that you're dating one of my daughters." Tai said with his voice dripping with passive-aggressiveness. "Or is it _both_ of my daughters now? I know I was quite the ladies man back in my younger days but I never had two girlfriends at once."

"... Technically I didn't say _who_ I was dating, you're just making assumptions." Hector played with fire.

Taiyang stared at him, and jaws dropped when they witnessed Hector in a weakened state make a smartass comment to the man who will not hesitate to castrate him if he said the wrong thing at this time.

They fell closer to the ground when Taiyang started laughing, not hysterically, but enough for him to pat his shoulder and smile at him.

"You're lucky you saved everyone's lives and that I like you." Tai said as he walked with a slight limp to Qrow and sat beside him.

Hector visibly let out a sigh of relief that the tense moment is over, and stayed standing as he walked over to one end of the table. The eyes were still on him as he did so, they were waiting for him to say something, and were wondering why he had a glove on his left hand only.

"So… I have some bad news for you guys, depends on how you take it, it would probably be even worse for some." He started off with, shaking off the minimal amount of nervousness he felt. After talking to the whole world a few dozen times with the help of Knolly, speaking to all of his friends was something much easier to do.

They needed to know what had just happened, but Hector didn't even know how to begin. Ozpin has been a part of their lives for years, and for Qrow definitely even longer then that, this was going to make everyone angry, sad, and betrayed, but they need to know just in case anything happens.

Ruby stepped up to his side and placed a hand on his arm. Her hand is soft and comforting, and her smile even more so.

With a deep breath, Hector began.

"Ozpin betrayed me, he tried to take over my body permanently." The news hit hard, he could tell, Ruby recoiled with shock, and even had tears welling up. Yang got so angry that her flames lit up in her eyes, and even her hair was flickering just a bit, she was never fond of Ozpin and his secrets once she found out that he was keeping stuff from them, and this made her hate him. His own team, Jaune, Ren, and Nora also shared the same sentiment, they were with Hector the whole journey to Vale to find Rhea, and the whole time they thought that they could trust Ozpin, and this betrayal makes them all clench their fists. Weiss and Blake were more shocked then anything, after all this time, how could this happen?

Nicholas Arc didn't know how to feel, Ozpin was his headmaster once, and hearing that he is suddenly still alive, and now that he is a traitor is a hard pill to swallow. He remains silent.

Mercury didn't have much of a reaction. He only scoffed, it turned out what Salem and Cinder told him about Ozpin were right all along. He never trusted him in the first place, so it is no skin off his back.

Taiyang stayed quiet, but the look on his face says it all. His first wife ran away because of that man, and his second wife died because of that man. The both of his daughters nearly died for that man on many occasions. Hell, even he has nearly died for that man on several accounts.

"You resisted him?" Qrow asked, he had one of the worse reactions. He trusted Ozpin for so many years, and to hear that his sister was right the whole time… he is going to need a drink after this.

"Yeah, I just barely was able to. Knolly let me know something was up. Did you know that he could do that?" Hector asked as he looked at Qrow. "Don't lie because I have Knolly here to help me out."

Qrow was caught in a bind, and now the hostility was directed toward him, he had to tell the truth, lying would only make things worse. "I never agreed with it, but yeah I knew. I just never thought he'd try it on you." He told the truth, but even then he definitely has lost the trust of at least some of the people here.

"It's fine." To his surprise, Hector was the one to say that. "I understand that you were loyal to him, I felt the same way, he kept things from _all_ of us, he would have sacrificed every single one of you if it meant getting what he wanted."

"How do you know that?" Nicholas asked.

"The Relic of Knowledge, I call her Knolly. She is basically omniscient when it comes to pretty much everything. I asked her what is going on with Ozpin and she told me, and trust me… it wasn't pretty." Hector explained to the older Arc.

"I knew that we couldn't trust him!" Yang exclaimed angrily. "My mom was right this whole time… and none of us believed her!"

"Wait." Taiyang stood up, and stared daggers at Hector. "How do we know that you aren't Ozpin? And Hector is on the inside right now begging for us not to listen to you."

Hector knew that this was coming, he figured something like this would happen after asking Knolly what would happen. Even Ruby backed away a few inches, trusting him but at the same time being careful, they would never really know. Knolly couldn't talk to them, and Ozpin would have all of his memories if he did succeed in taking over his body.

" _Is that really the only option?"_ He asked the relic.

" _If you wish to have their complete trust, then yes. If you don't, they will never be rid of the doubt that they have now, and it would ruin your relationship with the silver eyed girl."_ Knolly explained, not really giving him any other option by that last part alone.

With a sigh, he reached down to the blue glove on his left hand, something he snuck out of an employees only locker room on his way here. He hesitated, and looked around at his friends, who are still waiting for him to defend himself. With a deep breath, he explains how he did it in three words.

"I had help." He said as he slipped off the glove, revealing the black slightly pulsating symbol engraved in his hand. They don't recognize it, but Mercury does.

"That's her symbol." Mercury said. "That's Salem's symbol, I've seen that symbol hundreds of times. You… got _her_ help?"

"Yes, it was the only way." Hector told the truth shamefully as he held the back of his left hand up for everyone to see.

"Why would Salem help you though?" Blake asked. "What did it cost you?"

"Ozpin's curse." He answered truthfully once again.

"W-what do you mean Ozpin's curse!?" Qrow asked with a hint of panic.

Hector sighed. "I mean that it's broken now, he's on his last life. If I die, he dies too, and he'll be gone for good."

"So you're telling me- all of us, that you sacrificed the man that was the brains of this whole operation to kill Salem just so you can stay in control?" Qrow asked.

"How could you _still_ be defending him?" Yang snapped. "I may not agree with how Hector resisted him, but I'm _glad_ that he did. At least he is willing to tell us the truth when we ask for it!"

"Yang, you don't understand." Qrow pled. "Ozpin was the only one who could-"

"What? Defeat Salem for good? News flash uncle he's had a thousand or more years to stop Salem, and he's failed _time_ and _time_ again, if you ask me I think it's time for someone new in charge, it's not like Ozpin did much anyway." Yang ranted, and for once Qrow didn't have anything to retort with. "Hector is the one I side with, and that isn't changing."

Nicholas Arc left the room without a word, he just doesn't understand anything that is going on and felt like he was trailing in territory he didn't want himself or his family caught up in. Jaune saw him leave and makes a note to go talk to him about this.

"Yang…" Hector choked out, he wasn't expecting this kind of support.

"I agree with my sister." Ruby declared, and she grabbed Hector's hand as she did so. "Hector is trying, and he did something that must have been hard for him to do. Out of all of us, I think he knew Ozpin the best. He had to sacrifice one of his greatest friends so he could save us. He might as well has saved our lives again."

At this point, a single tear fell from Hector's eye, he was speechless at the amount of support he is getting here. This was not what he expected at all.

The next to stand up for him was Mercury, much to everyone's surprise.

"You stood up for me in front of the world, if I didn't stand up for you now, I'd be a coward. I'm with you to the end." He declared with a nod in his direction.

"I think it goes without saying that we are with you Hector." Ren said, to which his teammates both nodded in agreement to.

"The same goes for us." Weiss said with a smile, as did Blake.

"You basically adopted me, so I am with you as well." Rhea said with a bright smile.

Hector laughed at that, and hugs Ruby to his side as he is filled to the brim with happiness.

"Thank you, all of you. This means a lot to me, and Qrow?" He looked to the red eyed man, and the last remaining Branwen. "You're still my friend, and I hope you still consider me as one, we all need to be in agreement here though. Are you still with us?"

Qrow sighed and took a very long swig from his flask, before finishing with a burp and answered his question. "As long as my nieces are with you, I am with you."

"Yes!" Ruby and Yang exclaimed, and even though Yang was just lecturing her uncle, she is still excited that their relationship isn't ruined. They both run up to the man and hug him from both sides, effectively trapping him.

"Hey hey! Come on you're going to make me spill my drink." He complained even as he hugged the girls back.

Hector laughed and finally took a seat, next to Rhea who immediately hugs him from the side.

"I'm sorry!" She cried into his shoulder.

"For what?" Hector asked.

"I left you there all on your own, I should have been there for you, should have known that something was wrong… I'm sorry." The faunus girl cried.

Hector felt a warmth in his chest as he hugged back the young faunus that has imprinted on him.

"There's no need to apologize, I just happen to have a magical voice in my head that can tell me all of the right things to say." He joked, even as the young girl punched him lightly.

After a few minutes of making up with each other, unfortunately things had to get back to serious work.

"So is there any other reason you called everyone here?" Taiyang asked. "I assume it wasn't just so you can hug Ruby in front of me." He teased.

"No, as much as I would love you death glaring me every day if I did anything more then hug her in front of you, I like my balls where they are." Hector said with a smile, before it turned into a thin line. "But yeah, it's about what Rhea here told me earlier today."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that." Nora said to herself. "Wait… why do I only remember like half of today?"

"Moving on, Rhea encountered the Winter Maiden." That alone was enough to make everyone serious. "They fought for a bit, but Rhea was soundly defeated by her fierce frozen flame, but she did not have the intention to kill her, only to tell her to pass on a message to me."

"She took the Relic of Creation as we were fighting to save Atlas, and in order for her to not be hostile toward us, she wants me to go to Vacuo, find and claim the Relic of Destruction, then come back and find her and she'll negotiate terms with me and me alone." He explained simply.

"Oh great, so we have to go to Vacuo, find the Summer Maiden, somehow convince her to open the vault and give you the Relic of Destruction, and then go _back_ to Atlas, and again _somehow,_ you find the Winter Maiden, and convince her to give us the Relic of Creation, sound about right?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, basically I think that's what Volume 7 of this shit is going to be." Hector said with a chuckle.

"Wait what?" Rhea asked.

"Oh yeah, TL:DR I'm pretty sure I am from another dimension." Hector said to the faunus Maiden. "Even I forget that sometimes."

"... What?"

"So yeah, that's the next course of action for us." Hector said as a perplexed Rhea tried to understand and process what he had just said. "Oh wait, one more thing. I have to go pick up Knolly from the vault back in Haven, so I am going to need you to come with me Yang."

"Why do you need the Relic of Knowledge? Don't you already own it?" Weiss asked.

" _Im lonely."_

"Knolly conveniently left out that I can't use her full power when I don't have her physically with me." Hector explained simply. "Also she's lonely, somehow."

" _It's always hot in here!"_

Weiss sighed when all eyes landed on her next. "Alright, I suppose I have to provide transportation to these kingdoms, when are you going?"

"That's the hard part." Hector sighed and looked down at his hands. "I need to fully recover before we do anything, as I am now I wouldn't be very useful against a Maiden just in case we have to fight them in order to get them on our side. Which could take quite a while with the rate that I am going at so far- Knolly how long do I have to recover?" He asked the relic as soon as he remembered that Knolly knows the answer to nearly everything.

" _Exactly five weeks, four days, and thirteen hours. Also as a side note, training would actually speed up your recovery, at that point you can shorten it down to three weeks and two hours from today."_ Knolly said as she formed on his shoulder, visible to only him.

"Oh wow that's convenient." Hector said with a smirk. "I need at the very most five weeks, less then that if I train."

"How does that work?" Ruby asked.

"No idea, but apparently it does in this case. Probably because it would make my magic come back faster, I already have most of my aura back." Hector said with a shrug.

"Okay, but you are not going without us this time." Ruby said sternly, getting up in Hector face as she did so. "You are _never_ going to be on the other side of the world from me again, understand mister?"

"Uh… yeah, I don't got much of a choice there do I?" Hector chuckled nervously.

"Nope." Ruby said with a giggle as she pecked his cheek and pulled away.

"Awe~! She already has you wrapped around her finger!" Yang teased as she nudged him with her elbow from behind.

"Yeah, yeah shut up you." Hector said with a light blush on his cheeks. "You are going to be the one training with me by the way, you're the only one here powerful enough to push me to my limits since you've become a Maiden, so you and Rhea are going to be my main sparring partners."

"I'm alright with that, I can vent out some frustration about my little sister getting a boyfriend before I did." Yang said with a grin.

"... Please tell me you're joking, I am not _that_ strong yet."

"Hector, I think you are forgetting something _very_ important." Taiyang said with a glare.

Hector looked perplexed for a second, it wasn't like he was doing anything wrong, but then suddenly remembers what they talked about on the way here.

" _You are talking to me about this why?" Taiyang asked._

" _Because you have two daughters and I am only nineteen years old, so excuse me if I am just a little nervous."_

" _She already sees you as her guardian Hector, you've already imprinted yourself onto her whether you like it or not, I am actually impressed with your mature decision."_

" _Thanks… I guess. It's just a lot to handle, I never thought I would be doing this so early."_

" _You already got the papers from Ironwood before you did your speech, so technically you are already a parent."_

" _Yeah, thanks for the reminder."_

"Oh, yeah that reminds me." Hector said as he cleared his throat. "Here." He slid a paper over to Rhea, who eyed it up and down curiously as she read it. The widened her eyes with shock and began to tear up with joy.

"What is it?" Yang asked as she looked at the paper, and her eyes widen and her jaw slacks open as she points to the paper, and then back at Hector.

On the bottom of the paper said this:

 _Rhea Anani, estimated to be thirteen or fourteen years of age_

 _Officially adopted as a daughter by Hector Rivers Jr, nineteen years of age_

 _New official name: Rhea Rivers_

 _Signed by General James Ironwood_

He has stood up from his seat and knelt down in front of Rhea, who looks to be so happy and filled with joy.

"Yeah… those are adoption papers." Hector said tp Rhea with a nervous smile, his friends gathered around for support of both of them. "I know it hasn't been a long time since we've met, and I _technically_ don't _have_ to ask your permission, but I am going to ask you anyway. Are you okay with being my…" He took a long, _long_ deep breath.

"...My daughter?"

"Yes!" Rhea exclaimed as she jumped in his arms and hugged him tightly. "I've been waiting for this moment my whole life!" She cried into his chest as he patted her ears and began to tear up with joy himself. She had spent most of her life in an orphanage, and has never met her parents, she was told that her mother dropped her off here

"And now it is official." Taiyang said with a smile. "Hector is a parent."

That took a lot of processing before anyone really figured out what that meant.

"Wait what!?" Ruby exclaimed just before she fainted.

* * *

 **Two weeks, six days and two hours later**

"Come on Hex!" Yang teased, even as she was nearly out of breath, her red eyes flaming and her hair bright with fire. The two of them have been training for hours already, and they haven't even had lunch yet, constant training has made the both of them much stronger, and Hector has been regaining his power more and more every day. "You can do better than that!"

"Ha! You say that but I know you're going to be the one who gives out first this time!" Hector retorts, currently in his Kaioken times twenty state. He can't go any further, but this much is exactly what he needs to at least stand up to a Maiden. But in due time with the combination of his step-daughters magical healing and Jaune's aura amplification, his recovery will be completed fully in no time.

Yang has had her way with him for the past couple of weeks, making it clear who was the stronger one. In their first session Hector was barely able to keep up Kaioken times five without strain, and so Yang dominated the first few sessions with her semblance alone. His attacks weren't strong enough to take her down at such a low power level. But as time went by and he began to get more and more of his power back, he was slowly catching up, all the way until Yang was forced to start using her Maiden powers.

She was forced to start using them after a week and a half when he recovered enough to be able to go Kaioken times fifteen, and then that was where the real training began to kick in. Since he has a knack of getting into fights with Maidens, training with one is going to be a lot of help in the future, and even if times twenty isn't enough, he always has his last resort, which would be going Kaioken times thirty and above. At that point his aura becomes blue rather then red, but he hasn't dared go that far yet out of fear of putting himself into another coma and waking up to several worried/angry friends and family.

On the brighter sides of things, Hector has became much closer friends with Yang. Ever since she gained the Maiden powers, she has to pull her punches and her semblance in order to train with her team and friends. Mercury has been victim to her accidentally releasing some of her power when he was actually winning in one of their spars. But against Hector, she has no need to hold back, and she always spoke through her actions rather than words. She has been able to get such a great grasp on her powers as well, fighting with more elements instead of just ice like her predecessor before her. She is dabbling with fire and lighting as well, using both at the same time even.

Everytime to throw a punch and clash with each other, they get filled with excitement and adrenaline. Fighting against another one so powerful such as themselves and _not_ being in a life or death situation happens to be a lot more fun then let's say Hector fighting Cinder or Raven like he did in the past.

Unlike those times, he's got his own cheer leaders this time.

"Go RJ!" His step-daughter cheered happily, cupping her hands over her mouth as she recovers from her own spar with Hector earlier. Once he regained enough power, he was able to start training her himself again, and she has been able to control her power much easier this time, and found out that she doesn't have to use fire all of the time, she started using ice instead, and thus fixed the occasional problem of her burning people sometimes with her touch, and then added a new one by nearly giving Zwei frostbite. But besides her maiden powers, she started training with her aura in an attempt to find out what her semblance is. Having Maiden powers is fun and all, but if she runs out of magic then what would she have as a backup? Nothing, she hasn't unlocked it yet, but she feels like she is at least making progress. Hector keeps reassuring her that it will come with time and experience, and also keeps telling her not to expect it to come out of nowhere like his did.

"Whoo! Go both of you!" Ruby cheered on beside her, not able to pick a favourite between her sister and her boyfriend. Their relationship has only blossomed with time, and shows no signs of stopping. It took some time for Ruby to come to terms with basically being a stepmom to Rhea at this point. But the precious innocence that the younger girl displayed just couldn't make her say no, and after a heartwarming conversation with her significant other about her choice. He spun her around in a hug and smothered her with affection. That was another thing she loved about him, he was always not afraid to show physical displays of affection, even if they were in front of people. Of course she was the same way and probably would have smothered him with it either way. But she enjoys the random kisses and hugs that she gets, and will _never_ say no to a free cookie.

Weiss forced them to take their training outside where they couldn't make floors cave in as they trained, she had enough to worry about with basically a whole kingdom breathing down her neck to see if she is any better than her father, and even with all of her work she still finds time to hang out with her friends. As well as visit her mother and brother in a mental hospital. It turned out the Whitley had a major mental disorder that made him uncaring of others emotions, and made him only care about himself, which made Weiss feel terrible since she believed that she failed as a sister, he was her younger brother, and even though he tormented her during her time at Atlas, she will do everything she can to help him recover his sanity, as well as her mothers. Who is in a similar situation.

Hector grinned as he pulled his fist back just as he was about to clash with Yang again, and her overwhelming speed prevented her from pulling back even as she realized what was going on, and was promptly punished for it by his trademarked knee attack to the gut.

His grin was wiped off when she grabbed onto his leg, and spun him around a few times to disorient him and make him nauseous, before throwing him into a nearby wall that has been brutally abused over the weeks. It cracks even more when his shoulder makes contact with it, but his flamed do not die out, and his pain tolerance shows once more as he immediately kicks himself up off the ground and launches himself back toward the Spring Maiden, and they once again get locked into a skillful display of hand-to-hand combat, with neither of them losing ground.

"Looks like your father is back in action." Ruby said with a smile toward the young maiden, who hide her embarrassed blush and smile.

"Y-yeah." Rhea replied.

"When are you going to start calling him 'dad'? You two have been family for a few weeks now, and I _know_ that he is just waiting to hear that from you." Ruby teased with a nudge of her elbow.

"I know it's just… isn't it a little too soon? I mean don't get me wrong, he's great. He's caring, kind, funny, and he always makes sure I get enough to eat and drink." They both share a laugh at that. "He's kinda over doing it, but I understand since he became my guardian just a few weeks ago and wants to make everything perfect."

"That's how he is." Ruby said with a pleased sigh. "Ever since we got together he's _kinda_ the same way with me. He kept saying that the day we got together felt like the longest day of his life, and I found that to be just adorable." She said as she smiled even wider at the sight of the excited look on his face as he fights her sister, it should be ending anytime now if she is judging correctly by the way their movements are slower and more sluggish than three hours ago. She turned seventeen just a few days ago, which earned her an extra amount of hugs, cookies, and kisses. Even Mercury decided to _finally_ let her work on his legs, and got a very good upgrade added to them, and a color changed. Instead of the ugly dark gray, he got jet black legs, and their upgrades are top notch. She can't wait to see him use them in combat again, she is annoyed that he has to make the proper adjustments and calibrations himself though. She feels like he has been doing that for days already.

"I don't know if I want to let go of RJ though, it is such a catchy nickname." Rhea said with a sigh of her own.

"You know you are the only one allowed to call him that right? Not even I can call him that, and I'm his girlfriend!"

"Well _im_ his daughter, so I outrank you." Rhea sassily remarked.

Ruby gasped as her sassiness. "How dare you pull the rank card!" She said with a dramatic hand placed over her heart, but her laughing betrayed her fake distraughtness.

Any further conversation was cut off when a blinding orange light made them shut their eyes tight, and both Yang and Hector flew away from each other, the explosiveness of the last full power clash drained them of the rest of their energy, and put their aura down to critical levels.

Conveniently, Hector was the one to land literally right in front of Rhea and Ruby, and he cracked his eye open and rubbed his right hand with his now gloved left hand. Ruby was happy to go into Atlas and get him a stylish looking and most importantly black and red fingerless glove to go with his outfit. Along with a custom silver rose design identical to her pin that she wears on her shoulder, as her own clever little touch. It also acts as a way to distract Hector from Salem's symbol by using her as a distraction.

"Ow… looks like our draws are still a running theme." He said as he looked up at the two most important girls in his life at the moment. "Hey daughter."

Rhea flushed with embarrassment once again. "H-hey RJ." she greeted back.

"You look like you're getting back in shape." Ruby piped up, saving the Fall Maiden from any further embarrassment.

"Yup!" Hector exclaimed as he jumped back up to his feet the use of his hands. He then pats his arm and flexs just a bit, his shirt hugging to his bicep comfortably. He smiles when his muscles don't burn in protest like they did before. Instead they are just sore, as muscles should be after a workout. "Im almost back at a hundred percent, basically there already if you don't count me going passed times twenty."

"That's great to hear!" Ruby said with genuine excitement.

"Yeah, I got tired of watching Yang kick your butt all the time." Rhea sasses.

"Hey! I am too young to have to deal with your sass!" Hector said as he pointed an accusing finger at her.

"Isn't it supposed to be me being too young to sass you?"

"I know what I said."

"Psh, you're too much." She began to laugh.

Yang recovered from her own tumble, and quickly made her way toward the group conversation.

"Hey! You really got the hang of this now, I actually had to get serious in this one." Yang complimented as she fist bumped Hector with a smirk on both of their faces.

"What can I say? Magic works in wondrous ways." Hector said with a shrug of one shoulder.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Yang said as her flame eyes finally die out. "I think that's enough for me for today, if another one of our punches clash I think I'll actually break a knuckle, even without Ebony and Ivory your punches still pack a punch."

"Those poor things weren't even salvageable after the battle." Hector said as he wiped away a magical tear. "I literally melted off most of the metal."

"Yeah, the metal _I_ worked very hard to recover after the battle at Haven." Ruby said with a pout as she pushes up against Hector with one shoulder. "All those hours of work on your birthday present just so it can melt away in just a few months."

"Awe, c'mon Ruby, I said I was sorry! Hell, I even helped convince Mercury to let you upgrade his legs." Hector said as he instinctively wrapped an arm around her shoulders and shifted her against his body comfortably.

"Mmm, I don't know, I might need more gifts in order to forgive you fully." Ruby teased, something she has become quite fond of doing since Hector never really expects it from her.

"Get a room you two." Yang teased, making the both of them suddenly remember that they weren't alone. "But enjoy the time that you have left together to relax, with Hector back at full strength we should waste no time in getting route set back to Haven, this time by Bullhead instead of walking the whole way." She made sure to send a glare at her younger sister as she said that.

"Hehe… it was a good idea at the time?" Ruby said nervously, it has become a running joke between everyone about her decision to walk all the way to Mistral from Patch, something that she deserves way too much.

"In her defence, we all did kind of do the same thing when you all went to Atlas and RNJR went to Patch. So everyone is at fault here." Hector came to her defence.

"At least we won't have to walk through _three_ continents this time." Yang sighed. "I'll talk to Weiss about it later, I'll leave you all alone for now." She said as she gave a two finger wave goodbye and started making her way back to the Manor.

"Heh, it's strange." Hector said after he took a seat between Rhea and Ruby. "I had all this power before, but now it feels like its more _mine_ than ever before, does that make sense?"

"I mean no but I can try to understand." Ruby smiled nervously. "It's probably because you had Ozpin and Knolly to help you out with that, and now that Ozpin is being quiet I think that gave your body a chance to finally get used to the magic on it's own, since your aura takes up most of your reserves now."

"Yeah, I guess you're right on that one. I'm glad I didn't lose any of my skills though, that would have sucked to have to relearn."

"Yeah, it would have sucked to not have a free pass to becoming the strongest huntsman in the world huh."

Hector winced, that was the metaphorical line not just being crossed, but being jumped over. "That was a low blow and you know it."

"I might have."

All of their stomachs growled at once, signalling to them that they should have a well needed lunch.

"Im hungry." Rhea whined.

"I've waited for this moment my whole life." Hector said as he clapped his hands and rubbed them together.

"RJ no!"

"Hi hungry…"

"Please no…"

"Im Dad."

Rhea groaned and started punching his chest lightly, even as he continued to laugh and Ruby go into a fit of giggles.

The Dad jokes have only just begun.

* * *

 **Jesus, I wrote this entire chapter in a day! Had to stop because I had work but I managed to finish this before I went to sleep. I had to get a chapter out since it was delayed because of me writing the Halloween special, which again is one of my proudest works yet.**

 **Did you guys enjoy the fluff I put into this? I know I did.**

 **So yeah, Hector officially adopted Rhea, I wonder how that is going to turn out. It was so cute though wasn't it?**

 **Another question for you guys… I have been writing fanfiction for a little over six months now, and I have been wondering if you guys would be okay with me starting P a treon so I can start being paid for this. If I started getting paid for this it would help me out a LOT in real life, but if it is an unpopular topic with you guys then I might not do it, so please, let me know ASAP before I convince myself to just go for it.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading my story!**

 **Please review and let me know what you think so far! I look forward to hear all of your thoughts and opinions!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way, shape or form.**


	44. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 43

**AN: Okay, it was brought to my attention that my memory has failed me with a certain line last chapter. Astra the guest reviewer pointed out that Ruby is actually allowed to call Hector RJ, and I am sorry for forgetting that line, I was too busy thinking about the future and finding it amusing. For now, the line from last chapter will stay, and you can just ignore that little mistake, it's not like it ruins the story or anything... Ignore it, makes everything better if you do. Thank you for understanding!**

* * *

 **Now lets see what's going on in the reviews, we are almost at 200 reviews! Like dayum, with all those words I can make a short story.**

 **raheem05: They will never stop!**

 **Zeldawolffang: I'm glad that it did! There are plenty more to come!**

 **Bwburke94: Eh, just a little bit. Though he was literally to only father Hector was familiar with, since Nicholas wasn't really a good option because they don't know each other personally.**

 **Guest 1: I'll remember everything you've suggested, though I cannot make any promises that they will make it in. Mercury's upgrades are something that I have been planning for a while now. Thank you for your suggestions however.**

 **Guest 2: I'll remember that, thank you for letting me know**

 **Kage-kitsune9001: There are plenty more the come!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Hector is the kind of guy that always tells the truth, no matter how hard it may be to get out. That is one of the reasons why Ozpin didn't tell him a lot of things. No, Hector always had a way to borrow her power, but just didn't know how. Breaking Ozpin's curse was how he was able to unlock that ability, a very dangerous one of course. I bet I surprised a lot of people when I had Hector adopt Rhea, everyone thought they were going to have a sibling like relationship, but I decided to say fuck it and go all the way. Also it fixed the problem of me forgetting her last name so many times. No one, he has been waiting for his moment his whole life, and now he can use up all that ammo.**

 **Azure Tangeson: Lol, I'll think about it, and of course they are going to team up! It would be a missed opportunity if I didn't go for it.**

 **Astra: You should be both scared and excited, because I guarantee that you are going to be laughing by the end of the special. I definitely could have given that more of a pinch, I wanted to go back and remaster the first 15 chapters or so and leave a little breadcrumb trail that you won't see unless you look for them. While Ozpin is renting the place as you say, in Oscar's case, when Ozpin wants control, he can take it. In this case with Hector, he couldn't take it, because he could be resisted, something that does not happen in his reincarnations. Alright, I'll give you** _ **another**_ **hint about the Winter Maiden, even though I think I said I wouldn't… white… that's it, if I gave you anything else it would have been too easy, if you figure it out from that then just say that you got it, I don't want anyone else to know just yet. Yeah I can safely say that Hector is not going to turn into that. Technically when I read your reviews there is a voice in my head, so that's a thing. Lol, that very well be Yangs little secret, I am glad someone figured that out finally. Don't be sorry man, I put off writing lemons for a long time myself, so I just had to get one out there as 'practice' yeah, that. I understand that, I don't have too much experienced with characters being put on the spot and having to get themselves out of it, it was definitely a learning experience though. I gotta learn more words, sorry about that. You'd think after six months of this shit that I'd learn some new pronouns. The curse mark that Hector has is something I can't explain here, but the pros and cons will be shown later in the story. Remember that Tai is crippled now, he can't fight anymore, at least not at the level he was at before. Shit that just rhymed… damn it Keen Halloween. Nice verbal Orchid cosplay there. Officially, for this story, volume 6 is over, the fanmade version I created of course, and volume 7 has already started once Hector woke up from his coma. Hey, not pretty sure,** _ **pretty**_ **sure. I was** _ **very**_ **specific on that one. It was just a little callback when this story was a self-insert, until this guy became everything I wanted to be minus the cursed shit he's got going on. Knolly isn't just stuck… she's lonely. Damn you figured that out fast, I kept forgetting Rhea's last name so that played a big part in legally changing it… im joking of course(nervous sweatdrop). Kaioken red is 1-29, blue is 30-60, ? is 61-100. That's that. Uh… I think they need to be charged? I dunno, I never looked into it but I am pretty sure the Maidens can work their magic. You don't know what Dad jokes are? Hehehehehehe… you'll find out soon enough. Halloween special is one of my proudest works because as I wrote it I laughed at almost every line. You better not be disappointed, because I spent all day on it and my head hurt. Don't worry about not being able to pay me dude! I am more then happy enough with you just reading and enjoying my works. I am doing as much research as I can on the topic, and will get back to you all on what is going on with it soon.**

 **Sanjo Vista: You're not even caught up but I am going to leave this message for you. Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing many times now!**

 **Thank you all for the reviews! Damn, I think last chapter got the most reviews out of all of them, extra thanks to you all!**

 **Now let's get right to the story!**

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Chapter 43- No More Nice Things

"Rhea Rivers what are you doing?" The unlikely hero asked as he looked up to his step daughter who is flying defiantly above him with a pout on her face. "You're going to run out of magic eventually and I am going to have to catch you y'know."

"Never! Not until you stop those jokes!" His stepdaughter yelled back from about thirty feet up in the air.

"Pfft, is this about that joke from earlier?" Hector said with a stifled laugh.

* * *

Half an hour earlier...

 _Hector is seen with Nora, who is barely keeping her snickering to a minimum as she watched the young parent poke Rhea Rivers with a ruler, who is trying to focus on reading her book happily donated to her by one of Jaune's sisters. She keeps trying to write it off as one of those things that her weird stepfather does._

 _Until finally, he poked one of her wolf ears with it, and that is when she had enough._

" _What are you doing!?" She finally inquired with a hint anger in mixture with annoyance in her voice._

 _Hector almost couldn't say it with how much he was laughing._

" _I am measuring your patience." He said as he pokes her once again with a ruler with a barely concealed snigger. "Turns out you got a few feet of it."_

* * *

Turned out that Rhea didn't want any of it, and flew out the window with a loud whine even as Hector and Nora fell down laughing together. Blake was the one to point out to the leader of Team RNJR that his daughter has been sitting in the air for about ten minutes, and understood why when he explained why she must be up there. She happily volunteered to go look for Ruby to help defuse the situation before anything went wrong.

"Yes! That is why! Which is why I am going to sit up here in the air until you apologize." The young Fall maiden said as she crossed her arms and pouted defiantly.

"You know, you're blocking out the moon from my angle. Speaking of the moon, you know they made a restraunt up there?" Hector asked with a grin.

"Stop…" Rhea growled at him.

"Great food, but no atmosphere."

"AGH!" Rhea flew a little higher in hopes of getting out of earshot, but the higher she went the harder it was to control herself because of the cold fast winds.

"Rhea you know I can jump that high! Get down here this instant! We're supposed to have dinner in a few minutes!" Hector said from the roof of the Manor, he jumped up there while using his semblance as Rhea was flying higher into the sky.

"Only if you say sorry for making those stupid jokes!" The wolf faunus snapped back and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Only if you get down here first!" He offered as he extended his arms out toward her and flamed up with his Kaioken, he is one of the only people that can withstand her heat, and plans to use that comfort of hers to his advantage.

"Girl don't make me jump up there and be a parent!" His words said otherwise…

"First time for everything!" Rhea shouted back.

"Oh ho ho!" Hector was genuinely impressed with her defiant words. If only she didn't skip the whole cute baby phase and went on to her teenage angsty phase. Reminds him of Blake in a way, if she wasn't so quiet most of the time. But of course, Rhea is his baby girl anyway, no matter how much angsty of a teenager she may get.

"Fine then you asked for it!" Hector said as he prepared to jump, pumping aura into his legs as well as using his semblance to multiply his strength.

"Wait, wait, wait no!" Rhea said as she desperately waved her hands in an effort to try and dissuade Hector from launching himself at her at breakneck speeds.

But it was too late.

Hector slammed into his stepdaughter and wrapped his arms around her, the weight of his body way too much for the young girl to handle as the air is knocked out of her lungs. They plummet down back toward Remnant just as fast as they soared through the sky, and Hector adjusts himself so that his back is facing the frozen sculpture that Weiss has just finished making as a decoration for her home.

Only for it to be completely destroyed by the flamey duo.

The ice is completely shattered into thousands of little shards, and Weiss is left aghast as she looks down to see Hector on back with stars in his eyes with his very recent stepdaughter with the same dazed look as imaginary plastic dugs revolve around their head, red for Hector and white for Rhea.

Weiss sighed and shook her head. "... I want to be mad, really, I do." She said as she pinched her nose as she stared at the sight before her. "But honestly, I am more confused about that fact that my friend and his daughter suddenly flew out of the sky and destroyed my freshly created Schnee sculpture made of ice. Care to explain?"

"Uh…" Hector murmured something incomprehensible as he shook his head to be rid of the stars. "It's very _ice_ to see you." He greeted with a dizzy smile as his blue eye sparkled.

"Ugh, this is why we can't have nice things you know!" Weiss exclaimed as she began walking and back toward the manor. The moonlight shone on her back as she did so. "Dinner is ready and Ruby is looking for you, I suggest you do not arrive late."

"Y-yeah! We'll be there!" Hector shouted back to her as she slammed the door shut, making him jump at the loud noise.

He then sighed and looked down to the recovering Fall Maiden. "You feel that? That's what I call tough love." He said as he stroked her ears, earning him a few unconscious pleasured moans in response.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him until she decides to make herself known, a certain silver eyed girl has finally found him. She walks up behind the two unaware magical beings and stomp her foot to get their attention, which she does of course. Earning a yelp from the young man as he stands up quickly and carries his stepdaughter with him. He looks around the area looking at the shards of ice and large crater in the ground beside him, before finally mustering up enough courage to look Ruby in the eyes.

"I can explain…" Hector says with a nervous half-smile.

"Uh huh, i'm sure you can" She crossed her arms, she is also trying her best not to laugh. Trying out a little trick her sister suggested for her. "You know how long I was looking for you?"

"You saw me this morning…" Hector hesitantly pointed out.

"A _full_ hour and a half." The girl in red said as she stepped closer to her significant other.

Hector actually felt nervous for once, he has never really seen his girlfriend with such a scolding look on her face, reminds him of his Mom in a way. That was until he caught the corner of her mouth barely curl up a bit. Then he realized that she is definitely like his Mom in that regard.

"You actually had me for a good minute there." The unlikely hero admitted as he sagged his shoulders and shook his head.

At this point Ruby couldn't keep it in any longer, and begins to let out all of her laughter after walking by and started pulling him by the arm. "I can't believe that actually worked! You're usually so immune to teases like that." The warrior said as she pulled him inside.

"You call that teasing?" Hector laughed. "I'm not as immune as you think, just takes the right person to get it out of me." He said warmly as he brushed his forearm against her shoulder, making her blush because of the subtle compliment.

"That must make me special." Ruby said as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear with a smile on her face.

"Oh you thought I was talking about you? Whoops, should have been more specific."

Ruby playfully punched his shoulder. "Dick."

"Whoa! Ruby that's a big word right there!" Hector exclaimed with genuine surprise, he doesn't think he has ever heard any profanity from the silver eyed warrior in the year that he has been on Remnant.

"So? I'm seventeen, not ten, and Yang is my sister. I got quite the vocabulary stored up in this head." Ruby bragged, racking a few knuckles gently against her head to emphasize her point.

"Heh, guess you're right. I just wasn't expecting it."

"Does it make you… uncomfortable?" He could tell how shy she was as she asked that, knowing her she would really want his approval, even though she wouldn't realistically need it.

"Uncomfortable? Hell no, if anything I am just even more proud of you." Hector said with a laugh as he ruffled her hair roughly but playfully, earning himself a whine of protest as she futilely tried to push away his strong arm.

"Why do you always do that to me?" Ruby asked with an adorable pout.

"Because." Hector answered in a way didn't really answer her question, he even added a shrug to it to rub it in that he knew exactly what he did.

As they chatted a bit more, Hector felt Rhea move against him a bit, he knew that she was awake for the passed couple of minutes now, but didn't want to embarass her even more than he already has already during his time as her legal father. Instead, he simply rubs her ears like he knows she likes, the soft smile that Rhea has on her face warms his heart. He gets a few odd looks from some of the Schnee staff members, and he can't really blame them. The news quickly spread that he adopted a girl, a faunus girl even, and it is not every day that a young human adult adopts a young faunus girl as his daughter.

In truth he was just going to become her legal guardian, and that would probably make there relationship sibling-like. But after doing a short background check with Ironwood on his way to make his speech he changed his mind. What he heard made him sad, as a baby Rhea was simply left out in front of the orphanage by her mother. No one saw her face so she hasn't been identified even up to this day, but there is a great chance that she could still be alive today given at how old Rhea is.

All there was a letter, explaining the situation that the mother simply couldn't take care of the child because of unexplained reasons, and gave her name and last name, she was never seen again after that.

Ever since Rhea lived in that town that he visited over a month ago. He doesn't want to think about how hard it must have been for her. The faunus have never really been popular in the past, and only now only due to his speech and efforts with the new White Fang division, which bears the older White Fang symbol and is run by none other then Ghira Belladonna have people finally been calming down around them. Rhea has been through trouble given her faunus status, even if it was a rather tame town when it came to the racism. Then suddenly she gained Maiden powers, and that made things worse for her, she accidentally burned people, and couldn't control her power well, which made it difficult to make friends. As far as he knows, Oscar Pine was her only friend, and what a choice of friend she made. It seemed like fate decided to have the boy involved with him in some way. Hector wonders how he is doing today.

After going through all of that while waiting for his speech, he decided it would be better to just adopt her. Since he made the assumption that all an orphan wants besides food, water, and a place to stay was someone who loved them. Hector was more than happy to become that person for her. It may make things a little more difficult in the long run for him, because now he has to balance time with his stepdaughter and saving the world. But on the other hand he really doesn't give much of a shit about that, as long as he is able to bring a smile to her face, then it is worth it.

Now if only Ruby would stop staring at him with that 'Aw' look on her face.

Back to business now.

"So, I am basically back at full strength now." Hector points out. "You know what that means right?"

Ruby's demeanor changed as he said that, she knew exactly what that meant. That meant that the little vacation they took is coming to an end.

"Yeah… we have to leave soon. That is what this dinner is about, the last adjustments to the plans that we have set up." Ruby said with a sigh. "Are you sure you're at full strength? We could always just put saving the world on the shelf for now." She joked.

"Ha, if only Ruby. But sadly we have already taken too much time out of our busy schedule." Hector said with a sigh of his own. "It's been fun, for how long it lasted for."

He doesn't know this, but Ruby and his friends decided to make a pact to help make him happier. They all noticed his change of demeanor, the look in his eyes-well, eye now. They know that he must have seen a lot of things, and all know about his encounter with Tyrian, and how Salem was digging her claws into him. Ozpin betraying him and the curse mark on his left hand must have not made anything better either. So each of them did their own things to help him feel better.

Ruby definitely had the one easiest jobs, but gave it her all anyway. Their relationship blossomed faster then any normal one would, and she has gotten a _lot_ better at kissing because of it. They spent a lot of time alone together, and have grown even closer together as best friends and lovers.

Yang's was arguably the easiest, since besides Ruby she has spent the most time with him during training. She did what she did best, and constantly made puns and teased him at every opportunity, since before that he always fought fire with fire, sometimes literally. Over time Hector went from ignoring them, to cracking a smile at them, and then occasionally teasing back, and before he realized it they were back at their back and forth banter. The training for him to regain his strength only added to how close they got with one another.

Mercury had the hardest job, since he wasn't really close to Hector at all besides association. But he felt that he owed him, Hector played a large part in his self-redemption, and defended him in front of the world. So in turn he swallowed his pride, and asked him for help. Girl help. And boy, did Hector have fun with that one, even though he unfortunately had to promise not to tell Qrow.

Weiss didn't have much time to do anything on her side, but was able to relate to him about having a scar on their faces, specifically around their left eyes. So she has something planned herself, something that will very soon come into fruition.

Blake was surprised that Hector liked books, and so that made her part of the agreement easy. The two of them didn't really become friends by conventional means, more because Blake felt that she owed him everything for what he did at Haven, and even before that. She helped him by happily providing him with books of her choosing, and was even more pleasantly surprised when he _liked_ the books she provided. They have a little secret between them that no one shall ever find out.

Romance books were wonderful pieces of literature is what they agreed to.

The NJR of Team RNJR had their own plan, and by their own plan it was Nora who did mostly everything without even giving her teammates have much of a say in the matter. Jaune was smart to not go against her, and Ren was just thankful that she had something to distract her besides himself. She 'convinced' her leader to follow her into a room by pulling him by the arm, and what was there surprised him immensely. It was a birthday party, since they were never able to celebrate it when it actually came around after the battle of Haven. All of his friends were there, even Qrow, Tai, and Zwei. He nearly forgot that Zwei was in Atlas, and he was promptly reminded about his presence when the dog jumped into his face and licked him on the mouth as a way to say hello.

That party was one of the happiest days of his life, and the memory of Nora chugging chocolate syrup will forever be in his memory.

"Yeah… it really has been." Ruby said as they pressed their shoulders against each other.

They walked in silence for a few minutes more, until they finally found the room that Ruby was searching for. The Schnee Manor was a place hard to memorize.

"This is the right room right? No more stalling?" Hector asked as he started to 'wake' Rhea up.

"Yeah, this is it." Ruby confirms with a nod.

"Alright Rhea you can stop pretending to be asleep now." Hector said as he let the girl down on her feet.

"Y-you knew?" Rhea Rivers asked with an embarrassed shade of red on her cheeks.

"Yeah, I was thinking that maybe I'll save you from the embarrassment, and then I realized that I stopped caring." He joked as he rubbed her head one last time before pulling her hood over her head.

He then changed his expression from playful to serious, silencing any whining the girl may have let out when he kneeled down to her level. "This is where things get serious, if you want to I don't mind if you want to stay here, you'll be safer that way."

"No!" Rhea denied right away, and blushed at her own boldness. "I mean, no. I don't want to be away from you." She said as she looked to the ground.

Hector felt his heart warm up again. This angsty teen had her cute moments.

"Alright, just had to ask one more time." Hector said with a small smile as he stood back up from the ground. He then looked to Ruby who was still smiling at him with that damn 'Aw' look on her face.

"Would you stop it with that look?" He asked as he suddenly feels a little too hot under the collar.

"What look?" Ruby innocently asked as she leaned up toward him. "No idea what you're talking about."

"Tch." Hector didn't respond to that, and placed his hand on the door knob that lead into the dinner-slash-planning room that they will be stuck in for probably a few hours, unless he gets lucky and it turns out to be much less then that if they come up with something unanimously.

That was until Ruby placed a hand on his arm first, and looked up at him with pleading eyes. The kind of look that he instantly understood when he saw it.

"Rhea go ahead and get in there. We'll be in there in a sec." Hector said with a soft smile as he made room for Rhea to walk passes him.

Rhea understands this, and nods to both of them with a smile on her face, and runs right in after making sure that the two of them are out of sight of the doorway just in case there were any lingering gazes.

As soon as the door closes once again after hearing Rhea make up an excuse for the two of them, Ruby gently hugs herself and presses her face into Hector's chest. SOme well needed affection before they begin the first phases of their next journey together where they won't have a lot of time for such actions.

"You know we'll still have times for hugs on the Bullhead right?" Hector chuckled as he ran a hand through her soft black and red hair.

"Mhm."

"Then there's the whole walk through the desert, then there's Haven which to this point I still don't know where to go to first."

" _It's okay, I can wait. You can surprise my brother Destruction with me when you claim him."_

"Nevermind, desert hiking comes first." He added after a decision is finally made with the Relic of Knowledge. "Did you know that the relics have genders by the way?"

Ruby finally laughed at that one, she lifts her head just enough for him to be able to see her silver eyes, which glimmer in the lighting that they are under. "No, can't say that I did."

"What's up then? Normally you're too shy to b the aggressor in our make out sessions." Hector teased with a one eyed wink.

Ruby rolls her eyes but blushes madly anyway, it was just too easy sometimes. "I just want to savour the moment…" She said with a hint of sadness that was easily readable.

Hector felt his heartbeat begin to speed up just a bit, he presses his forehead against hers, and they stay like that for a few more seconds. Then Hector lifts her chin up and plants a passionate kiss that lasted three seconds but felt like it lasted much longer. Ruby leaned in to deepen the kiss, but he pulled apart right as she mustered up the courage to try it. Hector laughed at the pout that she gave him and pecked her forehead before parting from her and placed his hand on the doorknob once again.

"Is that enough to keep you satisfied for about an hour or so?" He asked as he turned his head to look over his shoulder.

"Eh, I can live." Ruby said as she prepared herself to walk in.

Hector chuckled and nodded at her, and then opened the door and… found zero plates of food, and at the table were all of his friends, and even General Ironwood.

"I feel like I have been fooled and I am offended." Hector said as he felt saddened at the sight of no food, he was really looking forward to filling his stomach, even though it is still pretty early in the day more or less. Even if it is dark outside, time was weird like that.

…

He realizes that he _has_ been fooled.

"Glad to see you could join us kid." Qrow greeted with a nod. "I was wondering when you were going to stop sucking my niece's face."

"Took a while convince her-" He was cut off as a pair of hands speeds up to cover his mouth, silencing whatever he had prepared as a comeback.

"Hey guys good to see you how are you doing?" Ruby stammered as she then dashes to the nearest open seat she sees that just has to be right beside her older sister who she no doubts has plenty of teases ready for her.

"Yeah, that." Hector said with a shake of his head as he took a seat beside Qrow, and on his other side is Taiyang, and he stares at the glove with the silver rose design on the top of it and arches his eyebrow. He is conflicted on whether that is a good or bad thing, but it is better than having to see that cursed mark.

"So, what are we going to talk about first?" Hector asked the room as everyone is set up. He figured that he didn't want any unnecessary details on why the General of the Atlesian military is present in this meaning.

Ironwood was the first to stand up.

"I have something of an idea that would be crucial to improve your overall combat prowess, Weiss Schnee's idea of course." He added as he nodded toward the no-longer-an-heiress' direction.

"That was fast, what do you have in mind?" Hector asked.

"If you are willing, Doctor Polendina has offered and already created a cybernetic device to let you regain sight in your left eye." Ironwood explained simply and with a small smile.

Hector widened his eye, and unconsciously rose a hand up to feel the spot where his other eye once was before he tore it out of his own head. He doesn't hesitate to give his decision- wait… Doctor _Polendina!?_

"I mean I accept of course, thank you Weiss." Hector said with a wide smile toward the new SDC lead. "But is this the same Doctor that created Penny?"

"How do you-"

"It is better that you don't finish asking that question, I really don't feel like explaining how I know things I shouldn't again." Hector said with a sigh, it was just so hard explaining where he is from and how he knows everything that he does.

"... Understandable." Ironwood cleared his throat. "Yes, he is the same you are referencing to, and he was more than delighted at the prospect of creating a cybernetic eye for you. I must warn you though, he may try to do some… tests with or on you, he is a very… curious individual."

"I'm sure it's nothing I haven't seen before." Hector laughed, quickly remembering everything he has been through. "Looks like there's going to be yet another cyborg in the group." He said as he looked at Mercury and Yang, who grinned at him in response.

"Before we get off topic." Ren interrupted politely. "If I may, are the transports ready to take us to where we need to go?"

"Yes." Weiss answered before Ironwood could. "I have personally handled that, they have been ready for some time now. Unfortunately, as you all already know, I cannot accompany you this time."

"It's fine Weiss." Jaune said with a warm smile. "You don't need to explain yourself to us again, we understand, you have a kingdom to look after."

Weiss nodded appreciatively to the blonde knight. Once he got over that obnoxious crush on her, he actually turned out to be a great friend, though she can't ignore that annoying butterfly feeling in her stomach, she does her best to ignore it anyway.

"So let's get to the serious stuff now." Taiyang spoke up and leaned his elbows on the table. "Hector, his daughter, Yang, and Ruby are going to Vacuo, right?"

"Yeah, that's the plan." Hector confirmed.

"And Jaune, Blake, Nora, and Lie here are doing what again?"

"We are going to return to Beacon." Blake answered this time, filled with determination. Returning to Beacon to join in the effort to relinquish the school of the Grimm has been something she promised herself to do once she reunited with Team RWBY, she owes it to the school and its people after running away after the tower fell.

"Right, and Qrow and Mercury are going to try and look for the Winter Maiden while you guys are gone." Taiyang said as he leaned back in his seat, and then traced a a hand over the large scar on his chest that has crippled his stamina immensely. "While I sit back here because I'm no good in a fight anymore."

"Hey, stop that." Hector, to his surprise rushed to cheer him up before even his daughters could. "You had a hole in your chest, you would have been dead if it wasn't for Rhea healing you just in time."

Rhea laughed nervously at the thought of saving this man's life, even though she saved hundreds already with her actions in the Battle for Atlas.

"Don't go thinking that you're useless or anything of the sort, you stalled Hell long enough for Yang and my team to catch up with me, if it weren't for you, they would have been killed. You did enough for many lifetimes already."

"Heh, rub that brown off your nose already." Taiyang joked as he nodded at his daughters boyfriend.

"Nah, I gotta get as much of it as I can if I want to stay alive." Hector joked back.

Nora suddenly gasped loudly, earning the attention of everyone there, they were wondering why she has been so silent for a while now.

"We need new team names again! Ren, hurry come up with one that has Blakes name in it!" Nora exclaimed as she grabbed Ren by his shirt and nearly lifted him out of his chair.

"Team JBLN, or Javelin. I know that the B is weird, but its all I managed to think up." Ren automatically replied with, he has been thinking up several names in the meantime for this very moment, he mentally thanks himself for being proactive.

"Great job Renny! I'll reward you later~" Nora sang as she calmed down.

"Nora please…" Ren said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay… now I got to think of something for Myself, Rhea, Yang, and Ruby." Hector wondered out loud as he tried to think of something.

"Should we really be worried about team names right now?" Ironwood asked, this has been the oddest meeting to save the world he has ever been a part of.

"Jimmy, just leave them be. This is normal for them." Qrow said as he took a long swig.

"What the hell do you do with three R's and a Y?" Hector asked loudly as he growled with irritation and frustration.

"Ooo I got an idea!" Rhea raised her hand like she was in school.

"What do you got?" Hector asked with a grin, prepared to be amused by whatever idea she may have.

"What about Team HRRY? Using your first name instead of your last name."

"Okay, and what does it stand for?" Yang asked.

"Hairy!"

Yang bursted out laughing, while Hector and Ruby could barely conceal their own amusement.

"Is it bad…" Rhea asked shrunk in on herself, raising her hood over her ears out of shyness.

"No, in fact, that is a great idea!" Hector cheered. "Team HRRY it is then! Are you all ready for a tiring and hot journey through the desert?"

"I wanna be a co-leader!" Ruby exclaimed her desires.

"Not even going to try and say no to you!" Hector said right away with a thumbs up.

"Whipped." Yang teased.

"Hey!" Hector pointed a finger at her. "Stop that."

Yang chuckled at rolled her eyes.

"Right, so it seems like we got everything memorized." Qrow said with a sigh. "If you guys don't mind, I am going to get ready to get started, and that means you." He gestures to Mercury. "Are going to get ready with me."

"And here I thought I was going to get some more time to calibrate these things." Mercury quipped as he patted his new legs that are covered by his usual gray and black pants.

"You've been 'calibrating'," Qrow said that word with air quotes. "Those things for a lot longer then you should have, I think you're just trying to get out of our training because I keep kicking your ass."

"Ha! You wish that was the reason old man."

"Hey! You're not on my good side enough to be able to say that to me." Qrow said with an accusing point of his finger toward the grey haired teen.

"I…" Ironwood hesitates to speak for once. "I see that you have all come to an agreement on what you should all do, if I may Mister Rivers, I would like you get you started on your augmentation as soon as possible."

"Why do you have to say it like that? Just say that you wanna give me my new eye and leave it at that." Hector said with an arched eyebrow. "But yeah, I guess I should go ahead and do that right away. Are we all good?"

Everyone either said yes or nodded their heads, while Nora slammed her fist on the table and gave him a challenging smirk.

"I'll be good, but only if you can beat me in an arm wrestling match! I wanna see if you really regained all of your strength!" Nora said as she flexed her other arm and showed off her muscles.

"I don't think that is nece-"

"You're on!" Hector cut Ironwood off and started walking toward her while rolling his shoulder and flexing his right arm, luckily they are both right handed, so that is going to make things much easier.

"I…" Ironwood was at a loss for words as the table was quickly set up in a way that gave the two of them enough room to sit down and lock their hands together.

"Yeah Jimmy, harder than you thought huh?" Qrow taunted as he left the room with Mercury close behind.

Hector was once afraid of Nora's strength, but now is confident that he can win. If he can punch so hard that it would destroy Grimm, then he thinks he can match up against Nora. But soon he will realize that striking strength is not the same as lifting strength.

"Okay! Are you both ready?" Yang asked as she officiated the arm wrestling match. "Remember Hector, no Kaio-whatever okay?"

"Yeah, I got it." Hector said as he grinned and shifted himself into a more comfortable position.

"This is what I am doing for my free two hours…" Weiss said as she pinched the bridge of her nose and sat a good distance away from the two powerhouses.

"You better be ready fearless leader! I hope getting beat up these last three weeks toughened you up for this." Nora said as she prepared herself to start at the drop of a hat.

"Ha! Just try to beat me!" Hector retorted.

"You got this RJ!" Rhea cheered, waving a flag that has the words Team HRRY on it, she doesn't even know where she got that from.

"Ready…"

Hector and Nora tensed up, and their muscles bulged.

"Set…"

They gripped the edges of the table to give themselves more strength.

"Go!"

Instantly the metal table bends as the two powerhouses push against each other, neither of them moving so much as an inch, and they begin to sweat almost immediately at the amount of force that they are both pushing up against.

"The unstoppable force, meets the immovable object!" Yang commentated. "Who will win?"

Hector's arm moves back just an millimeter, but to Nora it was the first step to victory. She grinned when he began to be pushed back even more.

"Ha! Looks like you're going to need another week pretty soon." Nora taunted through her gritted teeth.

"Not… yet!" Hector said as he mustered up strength beyond his limits and evened out the playing field, surprising himself and everyone around him.

"Impossible!" Nora yelled as she found herself being the one pushed back now.

"... What am I watching?" Blake asked no one in particular as she witnesses the scene before her.

"I have no idea…" Ironwood said from beside her.

Before the match could continue any longer, the metal table suddenly snapped in half under the pressure, and both Hector and Nora fell on top of each other and into a pile of limbs and broken dreams.

"HOW!?" Weiss exclaimed after watching yet another piece of her property being destroyed before her.

Once the dust cloud settled, thanks to the help of the Spring Maiden activating some wind in the room and lead it out of the room, it was seen that Hector's arm was on top of Nora's, and they both had swirls in their eyes.

Yang grabbed Hectors gloved hand, and rose it.

"We have a winner!" She announced, earning a pained groan of defeat from Nora.

"Yay…"

* * *

"My arm is going to be sore for a while." Hector complained as he rubbed his bicep.

"Maybe you should not have participated in such an immature competition of strength then." Ironwood scolded as he lead the huntsman through the Atlesian facility that did not take long to get to, Ruby and Rhea both wanted to come, but they were not allowed to because of protocol. They are eagerly waiting for their loved one to return.

"You don't know Nora like I do, when she wants to do something with you, do _not_ say no." Hector shuddered at the thought of Nora being angry. "Never…"

"Hm, I will be sure to remember that." The general said. "We are here, are you ready to meet the most brilliant scientist in the world?"

"I thought you said he was a doctor?"

"He is many things… now go in there, I have another meeting to attend to before I retire for the night. I will make sure there are armed guards so that no one will find you in a vulnerable state, at least not without trouble."

"Why would I be vulnerable?" Hector asked, suddenly much more nervous then before.

"You will see, good luck 'Hero of two kingdoms.'" Ironwood said as he opened up the door and ushered him inside, closing the door behind him before Hector came to his senses and changed his mind.

"Ah! The Hero of two kingdoms!" An man with orange greying hair and bright green eyes in a lab coat exclaimed as he ran up to him and grabbed his hand without asking to shake it.

"Hey…" Hector greeted back, his hand felt really uncomfortable soft and for some reason… sticky.

"A man of few words! I can respect that, come now good sir! If you would just sit there and let me jam this thing into your face you will regain sight in your left eye!" Doctor Polendina said as he held up what Hector assumed would be his new eye, and a white rubber glove wrapped around both of his hands.

"Jam it into my face? What?" Hector asked as he took a step back. "Okay as much as I hate seeing only one side of my nose, I'd rather not have that thing be forced into my head."

"Nonsense! A man such as yourself has saved thousands! This is but my thanks to you!" The scientist said as he gestured to the stool once again.

"... Are you okay?"

"Oh heavens no." Polendina senior answered with a hearty laugh. "I am afraid I lost most of my sanity after seeing my daughter get torn apart on live television that was being broadcasted to the whole world."

Oh… oh gosh. "Alrighty then…" Hector didn't want to make the man any crazier then he already was, so he took the seat as he was told and prepared himself for pain. "How bad is it going to hurt?"

"Oh immensely, I would consider you to be careful of your tongue." The doctor warned as he held up the eye shaped device in front of Hectors orbital eye socket, and held it open with his other hand.

"Oh, okay th- AAHHH!" Hector yelped and gripped the left side of his face, and felt something fill the void that was once his empty eye socket. "The fuck was that!?"

"That, my dear friend. Is science." Polendina senior said with a pleased grin on his face. "It should work as soon as you open your eye, the pain mainly came from me attaching the cybernetic device to your optic nerve. I was genuinely surprised to see that it was in relatively healthy shape!"

Hector panted as he opened and closed his left eye, which at the moment looked like a white ball in place of an actual eye at the moment.

"How does this thing work?" Hector asked when he realized that he still couldn't see out of that eye.

"Simple! I must press this button! Which I shall do! Now!" The doctor answered as he pressed a button on his table, and Hector felt an oddly comfortable feeling in his head.

The next thing he new the robotic eye in his head lit up, and he was able to see right away, when he demanded that it move, it moved, and the cornea and iris took on a more natural look. The eye even matched his other eye perfectly in color, with two ocean blue eyes now staring back at him when he looked in the mirror. With a wholesome laugh he rose his hand up to his face and traced the sore muscles around his new eye, they were very sore, but he had an eye there now. He looked more human, which meant a lot more to him then he thought it would have.

"Wow… this is amazing!" Hector praised the man. "I… I feel this! It moves and even looks real how did you do this!?"

"Eh, took a few sleepless nights, but I managed it." The doctor said with a shrug like it didn't take a lot of work to create.

"I can't thank you enough." Hector said as he gripped the mans hand and shook it, not caring about the disgusting feeling he once had any longer. "I have to repay you someday."

"And you can do so now! I wish to take some blood tests, as well as do a scan of your body to see if I can find any abnormalities that allows your body to be as strong as it is! Fighting against two Maidens and a being more powerful than a Maiden is unheard of! God tier even!"

"How do you…" Hector shook his head, it would make sense for the most brilliant mind on Remnant to know something like that. "Alright, if you say so. But I can assure you that I am no God."

" _You certainly have the strength of one!"_ Knolly complimented.

"Thank you Knolly, but yeah whatever you want to do, go ahead I owe that much." Hector said as he re-took the same seat he was once in.

This Polendina guy didn't even ask who Knolly was, but Hector was too happy to have his eye back to notice. "Splendid! Now just sit here as I prepare the needle."

Hector used to have a fear of needles, but over time he overcame that fear, but now? That fear is making a return.

"That… is a big needle." Said needle was about four inches long and thicker then normal, meaning that it is meant for taking out blood fast.

"Nonsense, this is the smallest I have." That didn't do anything to help him out.

After swallowing his fear and letting the doctor-scientist draw some blood, he watched as he put the vials in some sort of device that began to scan his blood, beeping every time it found an abnormality.

It beeped a lot.

"Okay then! As that continues, please step in here and the scan will begin, this will tell me how dense your muscles are and how strong your bones may be, I understand that you have been through dislocations, but never any breaks?"

"That is correct." Hector said as he rubbed the spot where the bandage was located.

"Understandable, I will make a note of that." The doctor threw his notebook on a nearby desk as he said that. "Now just stand there and let me work my magic."

"Alrighty." Hector said as he stood straight like a pencil just in case.

When the green scanner ran down his body, he noticed the doctor's facial expression change drastically, and to see a scientist such as Mister Polendina _surprised_ is not a very comforting sign. He looked like he has just seen something that he has never seen before, and looked like an excited child. Like he had just discovered something.

"Interesting… _very_ interesting."

He said that with a bright smile.

* * *

 **Geez guys, I was going to stop writing after the arm wrestling bit. But nooo, I just had to squeeze this last part in there. I will be honest, I wanted to rush this part out so we can get to the next arc of the story just a bit faster, because I have been planning on it for a long time now. Red Rivers is fun to write, I got too many ideas for them.**

 **Just to make things clearer for those who may not understand.**

 **Team HRRY (Hairy), consisting of Hector, Ruby, Rhea, and Yang are going to Vacuo to find the Summer Maiden and then get the Relic of Destruction.**

 **Team JBLN (Javelin), consisting of Jaune, Blake, Ren, and Nora are going to go Beacon to help fight against the Grimm there and try to take back the school.**

 **Qrow and Mercury are going Winter Maiden hunting, and they are going to have their own little arc.**

 **Also, Hector got that little foreshadowed cybernetic eye. Yay for him, now I can finally write eyes instead of eye.**

 **Lastly, we got Penny's dad making a reveal! Go him! I don't see this guy much in many fics, so I shoot him in there for this last bit, also I bet you guys are waiting to see the** _ **abnormalities**_ **that Hector has in his system.**

 **Next chapter may or may not begin the next arc of the story, and at this point I can safely say that in this fanfiction. Volume 6 has been over once the dragon was defeated, and then there was a couple of filler chapters, and now Volume 7 is officially starting, so yay! Can't wait to see where this one leads us.**

 **Volume 7 of this story is by far going to be the most action packed so far, just you wait to see what kind of shit I thought up… hehehehehe, you guys are definitely not going to see a lot of these things coming. This volume is going to be my best yet!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of the story!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way, shape, or form.**


	45. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 44

**Here we are again with yet another chapter! Yet again I find myself amazed at the growth in popularity of this story. 200 reviews guys! Damn guys, I know I said this before but I can make a whole other story with all those words that you guys wrote for me.**

 **Speaking of reviewers, let us thank the ones from last chapter!**

 **Zeldawolffang: I covered you in a PM, but thank you again for the review.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Cutesy moments are really fun to write, just heart squeezes everywhere. Eh, Mercury is leaving a breadcrumb trail, I haven't really planned** _ **too**_ **much on other pairings, but what would you think on that one if I went through with it all the way instead of just constantly teasing about it? I didn't want everyone going to Vacuo, because simply I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. The return to Beacon was going to come much sooner, but with the characters that I have to work with, two maidens, a silver eyed warrior, then there's Hector, and then there's Jaune with his buff and everyone else. It would just make it** _ **too**_ **easy to clear the Grimm and it wouldn't be much of a battle, you all already know that Hector and his pals can go up against an army of Grimm and come out on top. So I decided to spice things up a little, then there's the Qrow and Mercury thing, they will get small updates, mostly just them bonding and training, and of course there is Marcus Black, that arc has yet to be concluded so there is that to watch out for. Team names are hard but I am glad it worked out. Doctor Polendina is a pretty underutilized character in my opinion, and I thought instead of some random OC scientist that I would bring him in for a chapter or two. I didn't want to make it a big fuss about Hector's new eye, but everyone will have their own reaction to it. Your wonders will be answered now!**

 **Bwburke94: Hairy and Javelin may not be close to colors, but they may make you** _ **think**_ **of a color, such as Team HRRY, you will think of hair, and thus a color of hair, be it whatever pops up in your mind first, then there is Javelin, and if you are a Pyrrha fan you would think of her weapon, which would remind you of red and gold. So y'know, that was what I thought of as an excuse for team names that aren't anywhere near colors. And thank you for being by 200th review!**

 **Astra: First things first, I am sorry about that spoiler I added a warning to it now, and another thing I am sorry for was are the hints I pushed on you. Please forgive, you will find out when we get there in about 15 chapters. And as for Knolly, It was hard to keep going back and forth between pronouns so I just said fuck it and went with the girl pronouns, keen Halloween was a prime example of this. I will never forgot that sentence, everyone** _ **does**_ **have a little Flamingo in them, I know I do. I have to come up with all this shit. Next holiday special will probably be for Christmas or Thanksgiving, I am definitely doing something for Valentines, other then that I don't really know, depends on whenever I check the calendar. Dad jokes are for restricted only to those who are dads, that's what makes them special. Anyone who is a fan of TFS would get that reference, and Hector won't admit it but he is a bit salty that he can't fly, he is sensitive about it. Schnee sculpture, nuff said. The only one who can stare someone like Hector down like that and effect him in that way is Ruby, because obvious reasons. You would be right with all those guesses, Rhea is more popular then she has ever been. What I meant by romance, I meant 'Romance' books, they are literature and art, you shall not talk down on Ninjas of Love. About giving Rhea the talk… yeah, that has occured to me as well, and I can very much say that she hasn't been given the talk yet… look forward to those paragraphs. Weiss is pretty much the Queen now yeah. The team names were hard man, I mean, what** _ **do**_ **you do with three R's and a Y? Javelin was just much easier, and I just went fuck it with Hairy. Mercury's legs will be shown off soon, no worries on that one, and Rhea's too innocent to be teased about being whipped. Nora is much stronger than before, because everything that has happened and she is older. But Hector has plot armour so she never stood a chance. Lets just say that Weiss has quite the bill in order to repair everything that they broke. Dude I never thought to question of Yang's arm works, so I took that logic and put it in eye form. That means Hector can pop his eye out at any time… Hehehehehe… Polendina is quite the character. Hector is not as strong as a god, that was just to stroke his ego a bit. I am so happy you remembered that from Team HAMR. This chapter was fun, and the return of Ilia to the group is going to be quite the scene, interesting and all that. But who knows what may happen on the way there? Thanks for everything you just said in that last paragraph, I'll see ya in the next one.**

 **GoTeam: This is a canon divergence, so while everything in RWBY vol 6 besides Ozpin being a dick basically fucks this story so far. I will continue as planned, so this is it's own separate story from the main storyline. Trust me I thought of all the same things when I watched the episode. To answer your question, the story will continue as planned. Which will be basically a major AU at this point since I am way too deep to try and steer it in the direction of the cannon.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

 **Now let is get on with the story!**

* * *

Chapter 44- Even More Surprises

"I really don't like that look on your face… Like at all." Hector expressed his concerns as Doctor Polendina looked more excited then he had any right to be about finding out something that not even the other person knows, especially when it is about their own body.

"Oh, my apologies, I was simply aghast at this display of luck! I have never seen a body like yours before, this opens the door to so many possibilites!" Polendina cackled away as he pushed away at buttons in a random sequence.

"I would like to get out now." Hector said as he prepares to punch his way out of the chamber.

"No! Please, I am nearly done!" Polendina pleaded. "I apologize for my rather eccentric and unorthodox methods, but believe me when I say that this is for the sake of scientific discovery!"

Hector sighed and backed away from the glass. "What do you want me to do then?"

"Strip naked and activate that semblance of yours." Doctor Polendina ordered with a straight and serious face.

"..."

"..."

"... Okay,how about I don't strip naked, and I'll activate the Kaioken, deal?" Hector asked instead of going through with the urge to break himself out what he now thinks is a prison for the mentally insane.

"Ah, understandable, not many people are able to withstand being in a state of undress in front of an old man, I can see that." Doctor Polendina said as he scratched at his beard with one hand.

"Oh you can _see_ that huh?" Hector muttered under his breath, such conflicting emotions, he almost forgot that he had his eye back. "Whatever, what was that thing you found out about me? You didn't tell me yet and you keep looking at that scanner thing of yours.

"Ah! How could I have forgotten!?" The scientist sticks his face in front of the high tech device once again. "Ah, you are human correct?"

"Last time I checked, yeah."

"Interesting, it says here that you have one thousands eight hundred and twenty one abnormalities within your body." Polendina said as he flipped the screen around to show Hector, who widened his eyes at everything that it listed. "You have abnormal muscle growth and density, your bone type is something I have never seen before, and don't even get me started on your blood type…" He went on a rant about scientific stuff that Hector can't even begin to understand in the slightest.

" _Uh… Knolly could you simplify everything he just said?"_ Hector asked the relic.

' _Of course! In short you have enhanced muscles, and by density he means you have more potential than any other species to get stronger, faster to, you have a healing factor as well, which would explain your fast recoveries during sparring and training sessions. Your skin is highly resistant to elemental damage, your brain waves are through the roof, and your heart beats faster than a running engine, furthermore you-'_

" _Knolly please, I can't keep up with you."_ Hector thought as he rubbed away a headache. " _Ten words or less please."_

' _Very well."_ Knolly cleared his nonexistent throat. " _You are strong as fuck in unnatural ways."_ She said in a happy, chirpy tone.

" _See? I understood that, I was going to scold you about cursing but then I realized that you are a few thousand years older then I am."_ Hector thought with a chuckle as he gave his attention back to the doctor, if he could be called as such.

' _As I expected.'_

"- And it seems that you have a bit of Grimm in you, though that is not _too_ surprising, I could already tell, you seem to have that side of you under great control." Polendina senior finally finished explaining.

"Huh, I knew about that but everything else you said was certainly interesting." Hector said with fake interest laced in his voice.

"Ah but there is one more thing I did not find the answer to!" Doctor Polendina exclaimed. "While you are certainly human, and part Grimm, there is a third side of you that I cannot understand nor explain, here let me show you." He zoomed in on three types of cells. "That is a human blood cell, and the one beside that one is a Grimm cell, within minutes we were able to study the blood of the Grimm, and found out scaringly little about them."

"And the golden one?" Hector asked as he focused in on the final cell, which has been blown up to fit the entire screen.

" _That_ is what I can't understand! I can't find anything within our records that are even _close_ to a cell such as this. You are something Remnant has never seen before! Or at least part of that something." Polendina continued. "I can recognize some parts of the cell, such as a very mild understanding of this particular kind of cell membrane, as well as the mitochondria. But besides the basic parts of the cell that even a fourth grader can point out, there are many that not even I can recognize, such as this particular ribosome, or that rough endoplasmic reticulum."

Hector was interested in learning about this, but it was as the doctor said, it has some traces of basic cell organs, but other then that it is completely foreign. He does think that it looks cool though. The golden cells and everything.

"How much of this have you found?" The hero asked next.

"Ah, these particular golden cells take up about forty percent of your body, with the other two being balanced out at thiry each. You are more of this foreign race than anything else in your body." He explained. "You are _very_ special Mister Rivers."

"Well… since I didn't really notice anything different in a bad way, I guess you're right." Hector said as he looked down at his own hands. " _Just what the hell am I then? Even Knolly doesn't know what that could be… If the Winter Maiden is right then I should be able to find out once I grab the Destruction Relic."_

"Alright, thanks for explaining that to me, I'll activate my semblance now." Hector said as he prepared his body and mind activate the Kaioken.

"Marvelous, you may begin whenever you are ready."

Without a second start, Hector powers up to a basic low power Kaioken, and a very hot feeling takes over his body, not so much that it hurts, he has become accustomed to the downsides of the ability that he barely feels it anymore.

"Incredible, Your bone and muscle have both increased in strength, density, toughness, and dexterity threefold! As well as a spike in nerve activity and brain waves." Polendina said as he wrote down notes and absorbed everything into memory. "Could you go further? Let's say… as strong as you need to be to take on a Maiden in combat?"

"Hm…" Hector thought on this, he literally just got good enough to go this far, he doesn't want to over do it. But then again, he was just fighting a Maiden empowered Yang yesterday, so he supposed that it wouldn't be too much trouble. "Okay, I am going to go times twenty, is this chamber able to handle extreme increases in temperature?"

"Of course! The glass and metal are infused with Tungsten, which has a melting point of thousands of degrees." The doctor said with glee.

"So you do have some metals that I know of." Hector said with a low chuckle, it brought some comfort to him that not everything from Earth is forgotten to Remnant. "Alright, going this far hurts a bit, so I am not going to hold it for long without any purpose." He said as he tensed up even further, drawing power from deep within and letting it out all at once in a blaze of red flames.

"Kaioken times twenty!"

Hector feels the familiar burning pain and the way his muscles screamed in protest as he pushed his body for beyond any normal limits. Though in battle he feels nearly none of it, the adrenaline that pumps through his veins is what keeps the pain at bay so he can focus on fighting, that and he has felt much worse pain then this before. After going times sixty, twenty is child's play compared to what he felt then. At least he isn't bleeding from every opening on his body though, that really sucked.

The machine beeps even more, and the doctors cackles are loud as he claps his hands in excitement. "This is amazing! Everything is increased twenty-fold now! Including reaction time and all the major senses. You even have an increase in that golden cell count, I suppose we could call them G-cells for now. Incredible!"

"G-cells? Alright I guess." Hector said as he rolled his shoulders. "Are we done now?"

"Close… forgive me but from my sources I thought it was seen that your aura shined blue during the battle for Atlas, can you tell me how that came to be?" Polendina asked as he once again gave him his full attention.

"That was when I went beyond twenty, I went Kaioken times sixty, and it gave me the boost I needed in order to defeat the villain I was up against, it nearly killed me, would have if it wasn't for the healing powers of my friends." Hector explained.

"Would it be too much to ask you to go up to them point where your aura turns blue? I am very curious to see what happens to your body when such a thing happens."

"Uh… I dunno doc, when I said it nearly killed me I wasn't not exaggerating, it put me in a month long coma, and I didn't really turn blue on purpose at the time." Hector explained his reluctance.

"I understand that, from these readings any normal man or woman would be dead if they experienced the same level you are at after about a minute. Perhaps if you didn't go to sixty it would work? Maybe times forty? For just a few seconds, it would be more than enough for me to work with here." Polendina plead. "Once you return I should have a much better grasp on what makes you as powerful as you are, and then we can see if we can use that information to help people." He sounded genuinely happy about the thought, and he didn't even sound crazy as he said it. In fact, Hector dares to think that he looked and sounded hopeful.

Reluctantly, Hector accepted his reasoning.

"Damn it, fine I'll do it, you get five seconds at times forty is that clear?" Hector said as he prepared himself. "I s _wear to the twins gods of this world if I knock myself out because of this I know who to victimize."_

"Yes! Thank you for this opportunity! I now have a new goal to strive for!" Doctor Polendina exclaimed as he pushed away at the buttons, saving whatever progress he had already to his main hard drive and resetting the machine in order to get the most accurate results. "I am ready Mister Rivers, go forth!"

Hector took a deep breath an concentrated, digging deep into his magical reserves to bring out the same yet weaker strength that he had when he defeated Hell. Then after snapping his blue eyes open, lets his power explode.

"Kaioken times forty!" His red flames turn blue, and grows even larger. The pain is much more intense then before, almost as much as it was at times sixty. So much so he nearly collapses as soon as he enters this state, his heart felt like it was about to explode, and his nose began to bleed.

* * *

 **Yang and Rhea**

"Huh? Do you feel that Yang?" Rhea asked her fellow Maiden, as they were talking about what they were going to do in Vacuo, and going over the map of the kingdom, suddenly she sensed a surge in unfamiliar magic, though not nearly as strong as it was over a month ago, but definitely much stronger then he was when he was training with Yang.

"Yeah, I felt that to." Yang confirmed. "He was holding back on me! The dick!"

"Uh… yeah, RJ definitely was doing that… yeah."

* * *

 **The Winter Maiden**

As she cooks some meat over a flame, and let her hood down in order to begin eating it, she perks her head up as she to senses a familiar sure of energy, the same kind she felt as she was making her escape with the Relic of Creation.

"Again? What are you doing this time?" She asked in an irritated tone.

She was annoyed because while she did manage to steal the Relic of Creation, she still hasn't been able to wield its powers or any of its abilities, she gave up in favour of filling her stomach up with food, and now she accidentally blew out the flames with her powers.

"When you get here I am so going to make you pay for that." The Winter Maiden said as she bit into her slightly cold and undercooked piece of meat. It doesn't matter that it tasted like shit, as long as it was edible. She could have as much water as she wanted thanks to her powers, but she always cursed her inability to heat up food with her powers and had to resort to normal means.

"Hurry up and get the Relic already, being in hiding for fifteen years has made things _really_ boring." She said to no one with a full mouth.

* * *

 **The Summer Maiden**

"What do you mean you're fucking closed!?" The 'Warrior of Lightning' exclaimed as she let her power crackle against her skin and into the sand beneath her.

"I-I-im sorry miss, but me and my workers are tired, we need to rest in order for us to have enough energy for tomorrow's shifts." The poor manager of the pretty run down restaurant said in an effort to calm down the much more powerful woman.

"Bah! To hell with you then!" The Summer Maiden said as she spun around and stomped off, every step turning the sand into glass upon contact, further intimidating the people behind her.

Then suddenly, she felt a very faint, but all too recognizable surge in magical power.

"Not getting weaker on me are ya bud?" She asked her destined competitor even while knowing he is much too far to hear her. "Not as powerful as you were before, though still looking like a great fight. Looking forward to meeting you 'Hero of Two Kingdoms'." She said as she flew off toward Shade academy, the people there give her food, so she likes them.

* * *

True to his word, Hector powers down after almost exactly five seconds, and smiles to himself when he is able to keep consciousness. The agonizing pain throbbing away with his fast heart rate. He wipes away at the blood on his nose, and then at the corners of his mouth.

" _Just like old times huh Oz?"_ He thought to himself, and as expected he gets no response.

' _You were blue! Like me! Awesome!'_ Knolly adorable cheered in an adorable way of adorableness. Such synesthesia was attained.

"So… hah… how was that?" Hector asked as he caught his breath, the burning lung pain slowly fading away. His new eye was in perfect condition still, so that was a very good sign.

The doctor was at a loss for words. "I… wow… I… don't even know where to begin, or even where it ends." The doctor cleared his voice. "I need time to think about this, time to...adjust to this discovery that I need to decipher."

"Why? Is something wrong?" Hector asked with a tilt of his head as the full body machine finally opened back up to let him out.

"No, no, nothing like that." The doctor sighed and sat back in his chair. "As was predicted, your body gained a forty-fold boost, but there is something that I need to look into in order to understand it properly. Your aura was doing something I've never seen before, and believe me when I say I am an expert on aura."

Hector chuckled, remembering Penny. He wishes he could have met her. "Yeah, I can only imagine."

"I apologize for the fact that I am not able to explain in detail, when you return however I can promise you that I _will_ have an explanation for what I had just seen. These G-cells also need studying, do you mind if I take blood? I only need but a few drops, perhaps even the blood on your hands after your wiped yourself."

"Yeah sure." Hector complied immediately, but instead of dragging the blood on his hand on some sort of test tube he opted to give him fresh blood straight out of his veins. The needle had some trouble piercing his skin and into the vein, but after switching to a sharper needle in penetrated like a hot knife through butter.

"Thank you Mister Rivers." Polendina senior said with a wide smile as the two shook hands once again. "For this opportunity to learn, I haven't been able to learn anything for years. Years I tell you!"

"Haha, no problem man. When I get back you can tell me what you managed to find out, I am afraid that I will be in areas that I won't be able to respond to your messages if I were to give you my number, but I will come back and see what you found out."

"I couldn't ask for anything else." The doctor smiled and showed now signs of the crazed man he was just minutes ago. "Now get! Daddy Polendina has some work to attend to!" And there that thought went. "And you have Maidens to defeat! Women to woo, and power to display!"

Hector shook is head and chuckled at the old man's antics as he went to work right away, there is no doubt in his mind telling him that the scientist didn't cancel everything for the next year in order to focus on his, and honestly. He is just as excited as he is to find out about himself. Even if he collects the Relic of Destruction first and finds out that way, he would still go back to check on the results of Doctor Polendinas work.

"I'll see ya then, I have a trip to plan." Hector waved goodbye as he walked out the door, and was met with the face of Winter Schnee no less. "Oh, I don't think I've met you yet."

"Winter Schnee." Weiss' older sister said with a nod and held out her hand. "I apologize for not meeting you earlier, I was recently reinstated as a huntress and was able to resume my duties, I hope it is not a bother for me to join Qrow Branwen and Mercury Black on their mission to locate the Winter Maiden."

"Okay then, I'm fine with it, just make sure they are." Hector said in a pretty uncomfortable tone, he is not used to all this professional business talk, and talking to literally the personification of both of those things isn't going to make things easier.

"Thank you Mister Rivers-"

"Okay I am going to stop you right there. Call me Hector, it feels weird that someone of actual military status calling me sir or Mister, besides Ironwood though because of Ozpin playing shitty roommate." Hector said with a wave of his hand.

"Of course… Hector. But if I may, you are already have the status of a huntsman, and have already earned many titles for yourself. I also owe you a great deal of things, such as saving my younger sister at Haven, and then going even further to save the entire Kingdom of Atlas. Everyone here feel as if they are indebted to you."

"Well you don't need to be." Hector snapped in a louder voice then he really meant to. "Look… yeah I get it, I saved a bunch of people, but it wasn't just me. You know Weiss has been wanting to see you right?" Winter winced at the mention of her sister. "I think instead of talking to me about saving the world you should go talk to her."

"I… I understand si-"

"Hector." Hector corrected politely.

"Hector, thank you for the advice." Winter nodded her head. "I just wanted to speak with you, I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Not at all." Hector smiled. "I would chat with you more, but I sorta gotta go to the other side of the world and back real quick." He chuckled and walked passed her. "Make sure you and Qrow don't kill each other in front of Mercury. I think he'd die laughing if he saw that." He quickly waved goodbye before rounding the corner, leaving the eldest Schnee standing in silence.

"Interesting man isn't he?" Ironwood asked as he seemed to have come out of nowhere, startling Winter out of her stupor.

"Sir, yes, he is. After everything I've heard about him I didn't think he would be like… that."

"Oh trust me." Ironwood smirked and placed his bionic hand on her shoulder. "He is much worse than what people say."

* * *

"Im back-"

"What happened!?"

"Why did you spike up like that!?"

"Were you in a fight!?"

All three of the girls he will be traveling to Vacuo with asked him an assortment of questions all at the same time, so much so that Hector could hardly keep up he wasn't expecting it so much.

"Oh gosh, I guess you sensed me power up?" Hector asked uselessly as he scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile.

"Duh!? How could me miss it?" Rhea asked with a pout, her wolf ears twitching with irritation.

"I freaked out when they told me! The last time they felt that from you you were put in a coma!" Ruby exclaimed, glaring up at him with another pouty look even more intense then Rheas.

"Yeah dude, even I was able to tell very easily, what were you doing over there?" Yang asked finally.

"They ran some tests on me, and I had to power up really high like that. Turns out I got G-cells, whatever those are." Hector explained simply with a chuckle. "Where are the others? I thought they'd be here with you guys." He added as a way to change the subject.

"The others were waiting for you to come back." Ruby answered for him, thankfully coming to his rescue when he mentally asked for it. "They're leaving soon, and they already let Miss Goodwitch know that they are returning, really all they need is you to get over there and see them off."

"Ah, alright. I'll make sure to ready myself for the bear hug Nora is going to give me." Hector laughed, he was sad to see them go, but he knew their reasons. Beacon was their home, and it was taken from them by the Grimm, as much as he would like to go with them and kick some more Grimm ass, he can't. The world is riding on this journey to collect all of these relics, and thankfully they understand that to. His team… the team he was elected the leader of… he is going to miss them.

"What are G-cells RJ?" His stepdaughter distracted him from his thoughts with a question and a adorable tilt of her head, her ears even flapped as she did so, just adding some extra cuteness to it.

"Ah, I suck at explaining smart people things… uh, alright basically G-cells are what's been giving me all this strength that I have, I don't have much else besides that so we are all just going to have to wait for the scientists to find out or when I get my hands on the Relic of Destruction." The sole male of Team HRRY explained the best he could with the information he had.

"Hm, alright." Ruby shrugged, content with the information as is Rhea and Yang.

"Well… I have a joke for you if you would be willing to hear it." Hector said as he leaned in toward his daughter, who was currently trying to cover all four of her ears but only managed to get her human ones.

"No please." Rhea pleaded.

"Yes please!" Yang and Ruby exclaimed, ignoring the betrayed expression on Rhea's face.

" _Well,_ like I said before I had some ideas on paper… but I ended up counting them as _tear-able_ ideas!" Hector delivered the punchline with a boisterous laugh. Yang and Ruby found it hilarious, while Rhea and squirmed, almost flying away at that moment if it weren't for Yang, another Maiden, who could easily catch up with her and bring her back to her oh so annoying stepfather.

"Ah, you're too much." Yang said as she playfully slapped his back.

"Yes, yes he is too much." Rhea agreed to a different context of the saying.

"Awe, c'mon Ray!" Hector hugged her to his side and ran his hand through her hair, making sure to brush passed her ears in the way that he knows she likes it. "I guess I just have an… _eye_ for the good stuff!" Hector exclaimed as he opened his left eye, revealing that he does in fact have a new eye there instead of just an empty red hole covered by an eyelid.

Ruby gasped, and Yang smiled. Rhea even ignored the terrible pun and also looked up at him with a bright smile on her face.

"Yes! I don't have to look into just one of your eyes anymore!" Ruby cheered as she latched on to his arm and hugged him, and let Rhea get the other side and push her head into his chest.

"Looks like we got yet another cyborg in the group!" Yang said as she prepared a high five with her own cybernetic body part, which was happily slapped by Hector's more human hand, making a loud clapping noise that made Rhea wince because of her four ears situation.

"Yeah, I finally can stop looking at just one side of my nose. You have no idea how annoying it is not being able to see the other side of your nose!" Hector said with a shudder as he remembers himself from just a few hours ago. "Anyway, is it alright if I catch up with you all later? I should go say by to Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Blake. The former three I spent the last half a year with traveling to Patch on foot and went through hell with."

"Of course!" Ruby said with an easy smile. "Weiss is still preparing our own Bullhead, so we are going to be leaving again soon."

"Have to warn you though, dad is going to see us off, as well as Uncle Qrow. So y'know, no pressure." Yang warned in a way that told him that she was going to enjoy that sight.

"Oh great, yeah, no pressure." Hector shrugged as he reluctantly broke away from the two most important girls in his life. "Rhea wanna come with?" He asked as the girl stuck to his side, her arms still wrapped around his arm.

"Mhm." Rhea hummed, making Yang and Ruby 'aw' adorably at the way she answered him.

"Hehe, you're too cute you know that?" Hector said as he patted her ears, earning a pleased smile from his stepdaughter.

"Mhm." Rhea hummed once again as they reached the door.

"What about Ruby!?" Yang asked loudly just before he closed the door, making him open it and peek back in the room.

"Ruby? Oh she is just the most beautiful there is." Hector said with a wink, something he hasn't been able to do in quite some time, and the sight of it combined with the compliment made Ruby go red and hide her face with her hands. "See ya in a few!" He said as he left while laughing, obviously pleased with his girlfriends reaction to his words and actions.

"Oh you are just too precious." Yang teased her sister as she desperately tries to recover from blushing as harshly as she did. "I'll make sure I give you two some alone time some time during the trip." She added with a wink as she went back to looking at the map of Vacuo.

Ruby didn't even try to ward off her sisters teasings. For the first time. Ever.

Yang will remember that.

* * *

"Hey guys! You're gonna leave without saying bye to me?" Hector called out to his friends as he appeared from the doorway to the helipad. Luckily the Bullhead wasn't on, so it didn't cover the sound of his yell with noise.

As soon as he finished talking, Nora wrapped him in the previously predicted bear hug and cried into his chest. "I'm going to miss you second fearless leader!" She cried into his chest, even though somehow the moisture from her eyes didn't get wiped onto his shirt.

She then blew her nose in her shirt, and her mucus _did_ get wiped on his chest, Hector resisted the urge to yell, and just opted for hugging Nora back and squeezing just as hard as her.

"Im going to miss you to Nora." He said as he pressed his face into the crook of her shoulder and fake cried along with her. "We shall ride Ursa together upon our reunion."

"Yes! We shall! We shall command the Grimm to be our loyal subjects!" Nora exclaimed with a mixture of a cry and a laugh.

Hector looks into her green eyes, and she looked into his dark blue. Sharing an unspoken message as they both burst out laughing and devolve into an actual quick normal hug.

"Is that normal?" Blake asked Ren.

"More than the occasional Grimm." He answered almost immediately. "They have grown quite close with each other during our journey, I dare say that he will be the one she misses the most."

"Yup!" Nora confirmed as she skipped passed them and rested an elbow on top of his shoulder.

"Huh." Blake nodded, accepting the truth as fact. It did explain everything honestly, with Ren finally Nora's official boyfriend, she needed someone to fill in the best friend forever slot, and Jaune would cover her other best friend spot. Because no one would deny the Valkyrie queen of her best friend slots.

"Jaune, man." Hector and Jaune shared a fist bump, Hector noted that the bump felt a lot stronger then any of his previous fist bumps, and he likes that his friend has gained such strength in such a short time. "Keep kickin ass alright? And how does it feel being back in the leadership position?"

"Eh, it's not as intimidating as it was before. My biggest fear is what is going to happen to my lunch once the Bullhead takes off though." Jaune said with a shudder as he remembered the first time he met Yang and Ruby, and the screech Yang made when he threw up on her shoes.

"Good man, and your family? They're okay with you going through with this?"

"Well… it took a while, I kinda had to explain everything that is going on with the world, and they took it well but… let's just say that we have someone tagging along." Jaune said with a nervous chuckle.

"'Someone tagging along?' Really Jaune?" Nicholas Arc asked as he stepped out of the Bullhead, in full combat gear and a confident smile on his face. "Before you ask, yes I am tagging along, and no I am not taking over the leadership position unless I have to. Someone from the family has to make sure he doesn't get himself killed." Nicholas said as he pat his sons shoulder. "The girls are going back to Ansel, a friend of mine is going to make sure they are taken care of, though… Rosemary had a few choice words for you Hector." He said as he spared a glare at the unlikely hero, who whistled a tune and rubbed the back of his head as a result.

Nicholas sighed. "She wants you to pay her a visit once the war is won, and trust me when I say that is not what she actually said."

"Message delivered." Hector rubbed the bridge of his nose at the thought of Jaune's twin. "She does know that I am taken right?"

"Oh she knows, I know she does."

"Nice, alright moving on then." He nodded at the older Arc, and looked to Ren and Blake. The quiet ones of this bundle of love. "I know you two are going to miss me right? I mean…" Hector leaned in to whisper to Blake, who leaned in herself to hear what he had to sad. "We gotta finish the final installment of N.O.L."

Blake nodded reassuringly, and even chuckled a bit at his words. The final book of N.O.L was one that the both of them enjoyed very much… for the story.

"I will miss the amusement you provided." Ren said as he offered a handshake.

Instead of shaking his hand like a normal person, Hector pulled him into a hug and lifted him up into the air. Even spinning him around a little just because he felt like it, after letting him go Ren shook his head and chuckled once. "I will also miss your wise words Ren." Hector said as he actually shook his hand and nodded at him.

Once all of his goodbye-for-nows were finished, he finally pulled Rhea out from behind him, and held her by the shoulders in front of him. Rhea laughed nervously and pulled up her hood, all the attention on her being too much for the young girl to handle.

"Rhea here wanted to say some things to you all before you left, and I refuse to be her messenger." Hector said as he rubbed her shoulders in a weak attempt to calm her down.

"H-hi." Rhea waved, and the three other members of RNJR looked at her with soft expressions. "I never really… thanked you for helping save me from my village… so… thank you, you're all really funny." That last part made them all laugh, and Blake smile as she watched the affectionate display of comradery.

"Of course little Ray-Ray! We are our aunts and uncles!" Nora exclaimed as she knelt down to her level.

"Yes, I am inclined to agree with my significant other." Ren added, doing the same.

"I'll be the coolest one, so whenever you want a cookie let me know." Jaune said last as he knelt down.

Rhea smiled brightly, and jumped into all three of them for a hug, which was more than happily reciprocated. Hector felt his heart beat just a bit faster as he watched his daughter be so happy. She deserved it, and he will do his best to give her a happy life.

"Hector." Blake called to him as she stepped up to his side.

"Hm? What's up?" Hector asked as he turned to face her.

"I was wondering if I could ask something of you… or rather the Relic of Knowledge… if you don't mind of course." Blake said apprehensively.

"Oh, sure. Knolly do you have energy for some questions?" Hector asked the relic in his mind.

" _Yes! I have been stocking up on power for weeks now, I have plenty of power to go around!"_ Knolly happily replied.

"She or he says yes." Hector nodded.

Blake smiled, and cleared her voice. The adopted a sadder expression. Her question was not an expected one.

"Where is Adam? And what has he been doing since he lost at Haven?" She asked, making Hector lose his smile and adopt a serious expression. She lowered her voice so that no one would hear her ask the question, he nodded, and gave the okay for Knolly to answer the question.

He received a vision.

* * *

" _Hah… Hah…" Adam panted as he walked through the forests of Mistral, or more like limped with the injuries he sustained during the battle of Haven._

 _Cinder was dead… Hazel heavily wounded, and those two brats scurrying away with him… he was alone, the White Fang won't follow him after this, not after abandoning his brothers and sisters._

 _Adam rose a hand to his mask, and tore it from his face, letting it fall to the ground and stab itself into the dirt. For the first time in years… he didn't care who saw his face…_

 _He's given up…_

(Damn, so this is what happened after Haven? I was wondering where he was… and since when were these visions in the first person perspective?)

* * *

 _Months later… Hector thinks it is the present…_

 _Adam is living alone in a remote village mostly occupied by other faunus, he is helping build the village. His old red blade named Wilt dawning a new sheath, and all of his White Fang colors have been forgotten. He looks like he has been protecting the village from any Grimm or bandits who dare try to harm it, by the look of the trees he is still in Mistral…_

(Ilia is not going to like that…)

" _Adam!" Another faunus, a ram one to be specific, called to him. "Help us out with this log will ya? You have aura and we don't."_

" _Okay." Adam answered simply as he picked up the log with ease and carried it to its desired location._

 _Later in the night…_

 _Adam entered a cabin, occupied by other sleep faunus. He has just returned from slaying Grimm that strayed too close to the village, and trusts the night guards to keep any more away while he gets some sleep._

(This… this is what he has been doing?)

 _He enters the bathroom to freshen himself up, taking off his coat and letting it fall to the floor, he runs a hand through his red and brown hair, and already feels better by just the mere contact of the air touching his skin._

 _He then looks down into the sink, almost like he is thinking about heavily. Then looks at the mirror and at his own face. Then into his own eyes…_

 _His silver eyes…_

* * *

Hector widened his eyes, and the vision cut off from there. The blue shine in his eyes disappearing. The knowledge of another silver eyed warrior almost too much for even he too handle.

"What happened? Where is he?" Blake asked, both concerned for her friend, and eager to find out where Adam is hiding.

Hector couldn't do anything but look at her, until he finally regained enough composure to answer her question.

"Adam has silver eyes…"

Everyone heard him… and everyone gasped in shock and surprise.

"Rhea… change of plans." Hector said as he spun around and started on a path back to Yang and Ruby. His daughter quickly caught up with him after muttering a final goodbye to RNJR, and grabbed onto his name. "You guys go to Beacon, I'll handle this." He said to his friends as he walked away.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Change of plans," He repeated. "We're dropping by Haven first." Hector answered right away.

"I found someone I need to convince to help us."

* * *

 **A/N: ;) Now who was wondering where Adam was this whole time? I know some of you asked me about him, and well… here is your answer! I'm not going to say anything else about it, you'll just have to wait and see what I do with this. I was building up this shock factor for so long! Did I get ya? Did I?**

 **Some of you may think that Adam was being OOC, and if you think that, fine, then he is. If it makes the story work, then it is fine with me if I have to alter his personality a bit for the sake of the plot and story. But still it wasn't my intention to make him OOC, he is still Adam Taurus, so I will do my best to stick to his RT given personality. I hope you understand.**

 **Next chapter will probably be the official beginning of the new arc, and yes Blake not saying anything about his eyes will be mentioned before any of you ask, and yes she isn't just going to be forgotten after this chapter and be left to go fight at Beacon. I'm not going to leave that hole unfilled.**

 **Okay, so there was some of you who asked me about RWBY Volume 6, and all I am going to say is this. This fanfic is NOT following RWBY cannon, it is it's own story, and will have its own ending, at this point you can call it a major AU I guess. So everything will continue as normal. Like I mentioned before, I might make a cannon version of this story, but that is only after this story is completed, I have too many stories going on as it is.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way, shape, or form.**


	46. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 45

**Hello everyone! And welcome back to another chapter!**

 **Lets see what you guys and girls thought of last chapter:**

 **CinderFall201: Sorry to disappoint you, but no. G-cells are not related to Godzilla, Hector is strong but not THAT strong. Anything above times 30 has blue aura, he had blue aura when he fought Hell at Kaioken times 60. Adam has been absent for a while, and this plan I had for him has been in the making for a long time. He is only OOC if you actually see him as OOC, I will of course try to make Adam as close to his character as possible. I already have some plans for the canonical version of this story, and you are in luck because there is going to be an Omake of a sneak peak of what I have in mind for that future project.**

 **Zeldawolffang: We have more than cookies! We have Dad jokes!**

 **Azure Tangeson: Unfortunately, no, he is not part saiyan. But I might do an Omake of TFS Vegeta and Hector in the future now that you brought it up, who knows.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Humans on earth and Humans on Remnant in this case can be like close cousins, us being the most weaker of course. But in this case Hector is a lot more then just that, I don't wanna spoil anything so I am going to leave that up in the air. I am glad you liked the goodbyes! Fluff is something I am always happy to create. Adam isn't really being** _ **good**_ **per say, he has still done terrible things that are irredeemable, but as for what is going to happen to him, is another spoiler I do not wish to delve into. For your side note, I will keep that in mind :)**

 **SuperKaiokenGoku: Thank you for everything you just said! I hope you enjoy what I have coming up!**

 **Thank you all for reviewing!**

 **Something that more than one person asked me is if Hector is part saiyan. And I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but no. He is not part saiyan, that last part of him will be revealed further down the line. But for all you dragon ball lovers out there, I will be doing a Dragon Ball Z X RWBY crossover sometime in the future, that will be the next super big story probably, Idk, just bear with me for now.**

 **I decided that I am going to do something special for you guys, at the end of this chapter, there is going to be a sneak peek at the canonical version of Unlikely Hero, if you haven't watched at least episode 1 of Volume 6, then you have been warned, Spoiler warning. I hope you guys enjoy it!**

 **Now let's get right into the story!**

* * *

Chapter 45- Speeding things up

"We have to go, _now_." Hector said with urgency as he geared up, tieing his new combat boots as quickly as he can.

"I am coming with you." Blake declared for the third time.

"Yeah, I heard you say that the other eighteen, and a half times I didn't give a shit." He replied with his voice dripping in sarcasm. "Tell me this Blake, you and Adam were really close right?"

Blake narrowed her eyes, but nodded anyway. The rest of the newly created Team HRRY are also all getting ready to go, their mission starting much earlier than intended.

"So tell me how the absolute fuck you have never seen his eyes before?" He asked, ignoring the way Rhea winced after hearing him swear, he makes a note to apologize for that later.

"Hey now," Yang came to her partners defense, much to her surprise. Hector narrowed his eyes at the blonde maiden, but stays silent and lets her speak. "There has to be a good reason, I mean, the guy doesn't look like the most trusting and sociable person."

"No, he's right Yang." Blake cut her off before she can continue. "I knew he had silver eyes for a very long time."

"B-Blake?"

"Why didn't you tell us? Or me? Ruby? Why not tell _anyone_ about this?" Hector asked in a much softer voice, even if his tone is still hostile.

"Because I never highly doubt that he actually knows what his eyes mean, and I didn't think he would've ever considering helping us." Blake began. She waited for anyone to interject, but when no one did she took it as a sign to keep going. "I still think that, I know Adam better then any of you, I… I have also spent the most time with him. I _know_ for a fact that he doesn't know how to use them, and even if you or any of us did manage to _somehow_ convince him, we would be wasting time in training him when we should be using that time to gather the relics, and building an army to attack Salem."

Hector stared at her for a few more moments, that felt like many minutes to everyone else, he began to pace back and forth for about a minute or so, everyone waiting anxiously to hear what he thinks about this. Until eventually, he finally sighed and looked back at Blake straight into her yellow eyes.

"I understand where you are coming from Blake." He said, everyone released a breath they didn't know they were holding, but were more or less relieved that this isn't going to be anything too major. "But you have to understand the position we are all in. Mercury said that the only silver eyed warriors alive right now are Ruby, and maybe one other person. Now there is a pretty good chance that the silver eyed warriors are the only people that can defeat Salem for good, even if we have to waste time training him, having double the power will be worth the time." Hector explained.

"What about the plans we already had set up?" Jaune asked.

"Well, I just thought of this, but I think if we all take that Bullhead that you five were going to take earlier, and stop at Haven first, we can grab Knolly."

"What's a Knolly?" Nicholas asked out of confusion.

"He means the Relic of Knowledge." Jaune quickly cleared the air for his father.

"And then we can go after Adam, at most I am going to give the bastard a day to work with us, he will either try to redeem himself, or I am going to turn him in."

"No, I'll handle that part." Yang all but growled out.

"Okay, Yang will be the one to turn him in." Hector easily accepted, with the way Yang is now, Adam wouldn't stand much of a chance against her. "Then whatever happens with him, then we can take the Bullhead to Beacon, drop JBLN off, and then we can take it the rest of the way to Vacuo."

"Why don't we grab the relic of Choice while we are at Beacon?" Ren suggested. "That way we can get things done faster."

Hector's expression darkened, and he shook his head. "I did think about that, and it would be a great idea, but the thing is…" Hector sighed. "I just don't know where the Relic of Choice is, Ozpin cut off that memory from me before I was able to stop him."

"Can't you ask Knolly where it is?" Ruby asked next.

"There's still a whole dragon and an army of Grimm that we would have to take care of, it'll take a week to get to Haven, and then it'll take a few days to get to Beacon. During this time Salem could be planning something to go after the Summer Maiden, the more time we spend away from her puts her more, and more at risk of being attacked or taken, and then we could lose the Relic of Destruction, and believe me when I say that is the relic that we really don't need Salem getting her hands on." Hector explained. "I wish I could stay and help Beacon out, and we all will while we wait for the Bullhead to refuel, as much as we can, but time is something that is not on our side right now."

"What do the other relics even do?" Yang inquired.

"As far as I know, the Relic of Destruction can cause mass destruction when paired with the other relics, on its own though it's like a very powerful sword, I plan on using that as a weapon once I get my hands on it. For only good means of course." Hector added when he saw the concern on the others faces. "I was able to keep their abilities memorized in my head. Creation can well, create. I don't really know the extent of that ones powers yet, but I can probably do a lot of good with it."

"And choice?"

"That… is probably the most dangerous one out of the four." Hector said. "Imagine this: I would be able to make you make the choice to forget everything about yourself, forget how to breathe even. And paired with the other relics, it can work on a global scale."

Everyone shuddered at the thought. But, they are also very grateful that Hector is being honest with them about everything, if it were Ozpin in his position, they don't know if he would have told them the same. No, they know he wouldn't have.

Ruby touched his forearm, and when he looked toward her he nodded and smiled warmly, before getting back to business.

"That's why Ozpin hid that one to the best of his ability, I doubt anyone else in the world knows about it, and it could very well not even be in Beacon for all we know."

"Yeah, I think we get it now." Yang stopped him with a wave over her mechanical hand. "So enough about that, if we are going to return to Haven, I think we should all leave right now. We can ration out the food on the ship and then resupply at the school, I am sure they would be more then willing to help out given that we have 'The Hero of Two Kingdoms' on our side."

"Ugh, don't call me that please." Hector groaned, and the mood was lightened just a little. "And yes Blake, I am not going to stop you from coming with us to go speak with Adam, even I am not that stupid."

"T-thank you." Blake nodded her head appreciatively.

"Is everyone geared up?" Nicholas' voice caught everyone's attention, and they all looked at each other to see if they are actually all geared up and ready to go. "As much as I like listening to kids discuss plans better then any council would, we should leave as soon as possible like we just said we would."

"We do that a lot don't we?" Nora grinned.

"Yeah, I think we do." Hector chuckled. "Looks like you three aren't getting rid of me anytime soon."

"I don't think I would survive if both Jaune and Nora were telling me about how much they miss you." Ren jokes.

"What!? Why am I a part of that?" Jaune asked with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Your face says everything." His father laughed. "I thought you had enough siblings, I am sorry I was never able to conceive you a brother."

"I am not even going to dignify any of that with a response." Hector said as he typed away at his scroll, sending Weiss a quick message that literally everyone is leaving right now instead of later. She'll understand… he hopes.

* * *

 **One Week Later**

" _Alright ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving in Haven in about an hour or so. Which means Mr. Vomit Boy can finally get off my Bullhead."_

Said Vomit Boy was busy throwing up in the toilet that was for some reason never located in a Bullhead before, everyone is happy that it is there, because if not then they would be at least chest deep in puke.

"How do you even throw up this much?" Hector asked as he rubbed his back to comfort his friend. "You have thrown up at least the same amount of weight of a few people by now. Has this always been a thing?" He asked Nicholas who was on the other side of his son.

"Unfortunately." He answered simply as he patted Jaune's back, he has been stuck in the bathroom all day, and poor Rhea has had to wait and cross her legs tighter then any Beringel can choke a person out.

"Agh… I am so sorry. BUUUAH-"

"Yeah this is all you daddy Arc." Hector said as he jumped away from the splash of toilet water and throw up from getting on his shirt and/or skin. He has become very fond of this shirt, it actually doesn't burn away, _and_ it made him look badass, at least more badass than usual.

"The burdens of being a parent." Was the last Hector heard from the elder Arc as he shut the door behind him, and entered the part of the Bullhead that people were able to rest in, it turned out that this was a special kind of Bullhead meant for long distance and comfort, which meant that there were beds.

The bad thing about that though, is that there were only four beds. Which meant people either had to share, or lay on the floor. And of course it was not as easy as it sounded.

* * *

" _Okay, how are we going to do this?" Hector asked as the Bullhead was already taking off at breakneck speeds._

" _Renny and I got this one!" Nora cheered as she pulled Ren into one of the beds with her, no one dared try to deny her the choice._

" _Okay, we got three beds left, and seven people…" Hector sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His specialty was punching things until they died, not deciding who and who doesn't get to sleep in a bed._

" _I'm fine with the floor." Nicholas said, making his job slightly easier. "Either that or the cockpit beside the pilot, just in case he needs to take a nap or something."_

" _Alright, so now there's three beds and six people." Hector looked around, and saw Ruby blushing madly, Rhea blushing madly, and Yang staring him in the face with a teasing smile. Then there's Jaune, and Blake who both look like they'd rather be anywhere but here, the former looking a little green in the face._

" _I think I am good with the floor." Jaune spoke up first. "We slept on the ground for more nights then I can count, and I think this floor looks slightly more comfortable._

" _I think me and Blakey can share a bed!" Yang teased._

" _No! Im taking the floor thank you very much." Blake said as she defiantly walked away and instead sitting on the floor took the only chair in the room._

" _Alright, now there's four and three beds, which means someone else needs to take the floor, or people have to share…" Hector thought of all the implications of what that might convey. "I can take the floor, I wouldn't want to make anyone awkward or anything."_

" _No, I think you'll take a bed and sleep with one of your sweethearts." Yang countered right away, appearing behind the taller man and pushing him toward one of the beds roughly._

" _Y-Yang I don't think that is a good idea."_

" _Is something wrong with Ruby?"_

" _No of course not!"_

" _And Rhea?"_

" _Okay fine I'll take a damn bed." Hector sat down on the bed, and he too began to feel embarrassed at the thought of sleeping with a woman, or his stepdaughter. He has already slept with Ruby before, but that was an in the moment thing, sleeping together just to sleep together is much more of an embarrassing way to describe it._

" _Awesome! I'll take this one…" Yang said as she fell back onto one of the last open beds. "And one of you take the other, and the other gets to sleep with Hector over there!"_

" _Yang, since when did you want Ruby to sleep with a man before?" Hector asked with an arched eyebrow._

" _You touch her like that around me and I'll cut you." Yang threatened, her eyes flaming for just a second before going out._

" _Noted. Well I am not about to force anything, so I am going to lie here and try my best to go to sleep before the inevitable happens." Hector said as he laid his head on the surprisingly very comfortable pillow and shut both of his eyes, he kicked off his boots and got more comfortable with a stretch and a yawn._

 _Now Rhea were left with a choice, either Ruby sleeps with him, or Rhea sleeps with him. And both are feeling just as awkward as the other. That is until Rhea smiles nervously and takes the last open bed, condemning her unofficial stepmother to her fate._

" _Sorry, but the age difference is too close, even if he is my stepdad."_

" _You know, I can put you to sleep like you're a princess. It's like that one story about a male pig putting his kids to sleep, you could say he's quite a boar."_

" _I also don't want to have to deal with that, all night." Rhea heard Hector begin to stand up. "And no! I'm fine with putting myself to sleep."_

" _I-I-I…" Ruby didn't know what to say, do, or think, and instead took a hesitant step forward._

' _Okay, I've done this before, I can do it again, yeah… I'm a huntress! What do I have to be afraid of?' Ruby thought to herself in order to hype herself up._

 _All that hype went away when she saw her boyfriend take off his shirt, revealing his scarred body, which is also very enticing with the way each muscle looks…_

' _Abort missions! Abort! I can't do this!'_

 _Before she could flee to the other side of the world, Yang gripped her by the wrist, and looked into her eyes with a teasing smile._

" _I could always save you the trouble and take the spot for myself." She teased, obviously not meaning it in the slightest. But Ruby didn't need to know that._

 _Ruby went at the speed of sound and tackled Hector in the bed, not taking any of her clothes off and using her hood to hide her face and head from view while also using it as a blanket_

 _Hector just wanted to get comfortable, but now he is rubbing his chest of the pain he had just experienced, and now he has Ruby taking one of his arms away from it and hugging basically her entire body to his side. It was already night time, since it took longer than planned to get everything ready, and they went back on the idea of going a week without any food or water in favour of not starving to death. But the more time that went by, the more he realised the situation he is in, and the more heat rose up to his neck and face as he did so. The beautiful Ruby Rose, who has grown even more beautiful as she grew just a bit older, beside him pressed up against his side._

 _Then that is when his mind went to other places, and he felt his pants tighten._

 _The he remembered what Yang just told him before, and so his pants became more comfortable and manageable._

 _Instead, he turned on his side, because that is how he likes to sleep, and he hugs Ruby. No words need to be shared about this, Yang was already snoring, and Nora was too, with Nicholas probably chatting with the pilot or maybe even flying it for him at this point, and then there's everyone else in the room. Though, maybe Blake might still be awake, if the nightlight in the corner of the room means anything, probably reading another one of her "Romance" books._

 _What he didn't expect was to see two silver eyes staring back up at him, and for him to instantly freeze on the spot, and his heart began to beat faster._

" _Uh… goodnight?" Hector made it sound more like a question rather than an actual goodnight._

 _If it wasn't for the dark, Hector would have seen how red her own face was. They haven't shared a bed since the day they got together, this was just the second time._

 _Ruby leaned up and pecked him on the lips, then proceeded to bury her face in his chest and begin to go to sleep. Hector was left with mixed signals, and he chose the easy way out and just went to sleep._

 _He had good dreams that night. The war they are all a part of being forgotten for just a few hours._

* * *

The memory of that night made him feel joy, embarrassment, and happiness. Hector shook his head and stepped up to a window, seeing the familiar forests of Mistral, reminisces the moment he first woke up in said forest.

The memory seemed so long ago, despite it only being just over a year, when he woke up with Ozpin in his head, and kicked him off on _quite_ the adventure. If only Ozpin was in a talking mood, he is sure that he must be thinking of the same thing. Then he remembered the Battle of Haven, his first real battle that almost killed him on two different accounts, but in the end they came out the victors, and he gained a very old friend. It amazes him how far he has come with his Kaioken, he thought his limit was times twenty, and he had Hell to thank that he figured out that times twenty is _far_ from his true limit.

Then there's Ruby… no words can describe how thankful he is to have her in his life. It is simply an amazing feeling. Not to mention all the lifelong friends he has, and then there's Rhea, his stepdaughter that is just six years younger then he is.

…

If he ever sees his mom again, that is going to be quite the story to tell her.

Said step daughter jumped up beside him, but she was too short to see out the window, and being the great dad that he is, he lifts her up by her hips and holds her there so she can see outside. She giggled when he did that, for some reason she found it fun. He wondered why that was because she can fly. But he won't dare even think about wiping that happy adorable smile on her face.

" _We haven't been this close in a long time, I can't wait to be held in your grasp once again!"_ Knolly cheered from within his mind.

"Don't worry Knolly, the first thing we do is getting you out of that vault with Yang's help." Hector assured as he let Rhea down, they were beginning to land.

"Hey Hex!" Yang called to him as she threw on her leather jacket. "Ready to go?"

"I've been ready since I woke up this morning." Hector said as he rolled his shoulders and tightened the glove on his left hand, he hasn't taken it off since he put it on, except to take a shower of course. Even then the symbol seems to taunt him everytime he looks at it, reminding him that Salem still exists with every waking second.

"Great, because look out the window again." Yang pointed to the window, and this time it was Ruby and Nora who sped up to grab each of his arms and pull him back to the window, and this time instead of a forest of trees, there were dozens, if not hundreds of students all cheering for them, or for him. He honestly doesn't know at this point.

"Wow…" Hector said as he touched the window and nervously waved back. "How did they know that we were coming?"

"Weiss let them know in advance, something about a quick visit before going off on our next missions." Blake explained for him. "Though I think they are more excited for you than anything."

"I am really not enjoying this hero status I've got going on for myself."

"You should have thought about that before putting on a light show for all of Mistral to see." Nora said as she nudge him with her elbow.

"Was I really that bright?"

"Nah, I just posted it on every social media about who you were and what you did and it kind of blew up from there." Nora admitted shamelessly, shrugging her shoulders just to solidify the fact that she is not sorry for getting him popular throughout the entire world.

"That explains some of it… alright that's cool, I can deal with this." He coughs and looks away from the window, his face was pale, and he was sweating just a bit, making his skin shine in the light.

He was not ready for this.

"Don't worry RJ." Rhea grabbed his hand, the first time she reached up for it herself instead of Hector grabbing it on his own. Hector looked down at his stepdaughter, seeing her smiling brightly at him, her orange eyes glimmering. "That makes me the daughter of the hero of two kingdoms."

"Doesn't really have the same ring to it, but I appreciate the effort." Hector chuckled as he reached over with his other hand and scratched behind her ears. If she had a tail, he would bet his life that it would be wagging every time he did that to her.

" _Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for landing. Bringin' it in slow."_ The pilot said through the intercom.

After a bit of holding on to the bars that are generously provided for your own safety, Hector wondered how the beds haven't moved an inch since they got on the Bullhead. The obvious answer would be that they are bolted into the floor, but now. He got on his hands and knees before to see if that was actually the case. And of course, it wasn't. Those beds didn't obey the laws of physics at all. His head hurt as he tried to figure out a logical reason as to why exactly the beds never moved at all, there was some turbulence on the way to Haven. He tried asking Blake, who didn't really care enough to actually try answering it, and then he asked Ren, who seemed to have just as much trouble trying to figure it out, but then finally, he just gave up and blamed it on fate. That's always a good enough answer for him.

"Since Qrow dipped on being the headmaster of this place, who is the new headmaster of Haven?" Ren asked as the Bullhead finally landed.

"Apparently this guy named Albedo was appointed the new headmaster once Qrow left his post." Nicholas answered for him.

Yang and Ruby gasped, before smiling brightly and looking to each other. "You mean the headmaster of Signal is here!?" They both asked at the same time.

" _Former_ headmaster of Signal Academy." Nicholas corrected. "He got promoted, and since Haven didn't have a headmaster, and the training academy in Vale didn't really get a lot of students, he was the only option, not to mention the only one who volunteered to take Leo's place anyway." He explained.

"Oh my god I loved him!" Yang cheered. "He was awesome!"

"I feel like I am missing something here…" Hector said as he scratched his face with a single finger.

Ruby then gasped again, and grabbed Hector by the arm. "Oh you have to meet him! He'll love you I'm sure!"

" _Really_ think I am missing something here." Hector repeated.

"Sorry Hex, but Albedo was basically like the best headmaster and professor you could have asked for." Yang said with a hardy laugh as she pat him on the back. "You'll understand once you meet him."

"After we get Knolly though right?"

"Psh, fine. You do have the medallion thing though right?" Yang asked with an arched eyebrow.

Hector widened his eyes, and even pat his pockets searching for the item that was once used to open the gateway to the vault previously, only to find his pockets empty besides his scroll.

"... Looks like we are meeting the headmaster." Hector ended up giving in with a nervous chuckle.

"Then we look for this Adam guy, correct?" Nicholas asked.

"Yup, then we look for him, once I get the relic strapped on my hip." Hector affirmed. "By the way, when is this door going to open? We've been standing her for like five minutes already.

"I think the pilot doesn't want us to go." Nora said as she wiped away a fake tear.

" _The pilot was too busy celebrating the fact that you kids are going to give me a break until this thing is refueled and resupplied."_ The pilot said with a groan.

"We'll miss you too Mister Pilot!" Nora waved back toward the cockpit, and happily went ignored.

The door began to open finally, and the small glare from the sun shines into the aircraft for the first time since they took off. Actual warm weather being more than welcome to everyone, the freezing snow of Atlas has taken its toll on everyone's mind, they bask in the warm air and the way the suns rays contact their skin.

It is quickly short lived as a thunderous roar of fans and the like began cheering for them.

Hector put on his best public face, and waved back at the crowd, holding his daughter's hand as they all step out of the aircraft as a until rather then one by one. The group of nine instantly being attacked by a flurry of flashes and questions from literally a dozen people or more at once.

"Yes, yes, I know, I did a lot of good things. Yes, no, no, no- the fuck kind of question was that? Also no, and yes this is my stepdaughter." Hector cleared his throat, luckily he wasn't alone, as it seems like his friends are also going through the same thing, questions and cheers being thrown their way, even if he still seems to have most of the attention from the crowd.

"I know you all must be happy to see us, but we are on a very important mission right now, I would greatly appreciate it if we can speak to the headmaster in private so we can get things moving along." Luckily, these hunters and huntresses in training actually have a few brain cells, and they quickly get things moving along, opening up a wide path for the whole group to get into the school, but at the doors waiting for them?

Was a black haired, fair skinned, mustache wearing, and bearded man in a black and yellow suit, and a trail of red rose petals trailing towards him.

"Headmaster Albedo!" Ruby cried as she completely misses, the headmaster expertly sidestepping her while keeping his gaze on the blue eyed hero.

"Yes yes, it is great to see you as well! Now, Hector is it?" The headmaster asked as he extended his hand out to shake his.

"Yup, that's me, I have some things I need to speak with you about, as well as any embarrassing stories you can tell me about Yang or Ruby." Hector greeted with a smirk.

The headmaster laughed. "Yes, I have plenty I could tell you, but first I think it would be best if I hand off the Relic of Knowledge to you like you planned. I assume Miss Xiao Long here is the Spring Maiden yes?"

Everyone stared at him with bewildered expressions… that was a lot for one man to know off the top of his head when no one told him anything about it.

"How did you…" Hector began, but trailed off, he can only hope that the students around him didn't understand what the headmaster meant.

"Ah, that would be my semblance. I just looked into your eyes and boom, I know your entire past. Handy isn't it?" Albedo quickly explained with boisterous laughter.

" _Where the fuck has this guy been? Talk about an OP semblance, I have so many questions now..."_ Hector thought to himself as he tilted his head.

' _Headmaster Albedo has spent his time at Signal, and has only traveled far and away to Haven for the first time in two dozen years. He is very dedicated to his students.'_ Knolly explained for her master.

"Alright… I'll have to ask you not to do that to everyone here please." Hector said as he walked in, the group following him as they walk passed Ruby who is still face down on the ground groaning in pain.

"Of course, now if you'll excuse me one second." Albedo coughed a few times to clear his throat, the hall of Haven that was once a battlefield so long ago was now full of students loitering around, taking pictures, and chatting. "ALL OF YOU BACK TO YOU ROOMS OR CLASSROOMS!" Or at least that _was_ what they were doing before they fearfully ran away from the booming voice of the headmaster. Once they were all gone, Albedo cleared his throat once again, and faced toward the group of nine.

"I love this guy." Yang said with a laugh as she helped her sister up off the ground.

"There, we wouldn't want everyone knowing about our little hidey hole now will we Ozma?"

"What did you just call me?"

"Oh nothing, now I am a man who likes to get business done as fast as possible, if you would please." Albedo suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared in front of a statue that looks like an ancient genie woman, and before we knew it, the amulet was keyed in and the elevator was ready to go. "I am afraid I am only comfortable enough with four of you going down there at once, so if you would please make a hasty decision."

"I don't like that guy." Blake whispered underneath her voice. "Okay, obviously Hector and Yang are the ones that need to go, we don't really need anyone else to go down there do we?"

"Ooo! Can I go!?" Rhea asked cheerfully as she floated in front of Hector and Blake.

"Course you can." Hector answered right away, not really able to say no to that face of hers. "Anyone else wanna come?"

Nora rose her hand.

"No, anyone else want to come?"

Nora sadly put her hand back down.

"I'll go!" Ruby said as she zoomed to the center of the elevator, where Albedo patiently awaits with his arms presenting the elevator as if it were some sort of prize to be taken.

"Alrighty then, this is officially one of the weirdest days ever." Hector said with a nod as himself, Yang and Rhea began making their way to the elevator. "You guys wait for us up here, we shouldn't be that long."

"I am still trying to wrap my head around everything." Nicholas said to no one in particular.

"It's better if you don't try to understand, we have days like these all the time." Jaune explained to his father.

"How do you understand the fact that a week went by when it really just felt like minutes?" Nicholas asked.

"We have off days a lot." Nora said, to which Ren and Blake nodded to. The two that Nicholas deemed the smartest of the team he is watching over.

"What the hell did I just get myself into?" Nicholas wondered as he shook his head with a sigh.

"You'll find out soon enough." Ren told him.

* * *

"Wow." Hector said out of awe as the elevator descended. "I haven't been here in a long time."

"Imagine how I feel." Yang said as she looked down at her own hands. "I have this weird tingly feeling.

"I feel like I've been here before…" Rhea couldn't quite place her finger on it.

"T-that would be because one of the previous fall maidens were here before, don't worry you get used to it, Yang feels the same way right?" Ruby stammered, hoping that her older sister would play along.

"Y-yeah, I feel the same thing." Yang lied with a smile and a thumbs up.

Hector wondered if Cinder's body was still at the bottom of the chasm… no one really looked for it anyway, but since Rhea is here then she has to be dead. Nothing could be at the bottom of that abyss but jagged rocks anyway, and if it were water then she would have either drowned or bled to death.

" _I feel right at home."_ Knolly shared her thoughts.

"This won't be your home much longer Knolly." Hector said with a smile. "Your new home is going to be with me now."

" _Awe, youuu~"_

They soon reached the bottom, and the familiar layout of the Spring Vault laid before them, looking as if a fight of catastrophic proportions actually didn't happen here. The bridge was in perfect shape, the tree was blooming even more then before. If anything, this place looks better than it ever has before.

Hector whistled as he looked about the room. "I wasn't able to see this place for its beauty the last time I was here."

"I barely got to see this place at all." Ruby said, her voice echoing throughout the cavern.

"I can see Rhea is having fun here." Yang pointed out the young girl flying up to the tree, picking out some of the glowing leaves and was bewildered when they dissolved in her hands.

"Yeah, well. There's the door." Hector pointed to the vault door, he as here so long ago, he remembers putting the relic back in here, before in a few months regretting his decision and has now returned to reclaim the relic. He doesn't plan on ever putting Knolly away again.

"Ha, nice one." Yang caught the hidden pun in his words, and they shared a laugh as they each stepped closer and closer to the door itself. As they got closer, a red trail flooded into Yangs body, very reminiscent on how it traveled into Raven's body when she and Hector were fighting almost to the death. Of course, a green trail, although feint, also traveled into Hector's body, reminding him that Ozpin's souls is still very much a part of him.

Then there's Ruby, who keeps waving her hand through the trails, and this ruining the moment that the Spring Maiden and Hector are having. "Sorry!" She yelped when they both stared at her with 'Really?' expressions on their faces.

Yang stepped closer to the door, and with her human hand, gently touched the surface of the golden vault door, and as soon as she does the door begins to slide itself open in an ancient opening mechanism from the bottom up, until the same path of stone appears in front of them, following by the sight of the golden and blue colored magical lamp, floating patiently in front of them.

Hector was the first to enter, as soon as he does a very comfortable warmth covers his whole body, then Yang walked in next, feeling the same gentle heat. Rhea landed right beside her, bright orange eyes aghast at the sight of the seemingly endless sea of sand.

Hector took one step at a time, the relic both literally and figuratively beckoning him to get closer, and he does. He stops right in front of the physical embodiment of Knolly, the ancient all knowing being that resides within the relic. He reached out his hand and touched it.

Only for a blue mists to burst out of the relic, and for a jewelry wearing genie looking blue woman appeared, visible to only himself. This woman has blue and black eyes, and she was _much_ larger than Hector ever thought she would have been. He looks up at her with his own blue eyes, and then looks down at the relic still intertwined with his fingers around it.

"You… are Knolly?" Hector asked with a chuckle.

"Why yes!" The spectre of Knowledge answered. "I have been waiting you for so long my master, my name is Jinn."

"What- you have a name already!?" Hector asked, ruining the special mood that they were just entranced with. "Why didn't you tell me!?"

"You never asked master." Jinn, or Knolly stated. "I like Knolly anyway, it was very creative of you." She laughed… _laughed_ at him, damn ancient magical being full of magic was _laughing_ at him.

"I can't with you." Hector said with a shake of his head, he swore he could have heard Ozpin chuckling from deep within his mind.

To everyone else, it looked like he was arguing with the air, and they almost thought that he was crazy until they remembered that he kinda has more than one voice in his head. So he was actually pretty insane once they thought about it.

"The hero of two kingdoms everyone." Yang said sarcastically as she waved her hand in his direction, still arguing with the relic of knowledge.

"No, no, whatever." Hector finally surrendered, Knolly, or Jinn, or whatever seemed satisfied with his submission. "Can they see you? Or is it still just me."

"Unfortunately my dear master-"

"Okay, Jinn, Knolly, listen, don't call me master when you're in this… this form of yours, it makes me feel a little awkward." Hector ordered.

"What will you have me call you then?" Knolly asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Just call me Hector."

"Understood Hector. Unfortunately you are still the only one who can see me, I might be able to make them feel something when I am around, but other then that, it is just you." Knolly explained

Hector nodded and understood her reasoning, at least now it was confirmed that Knolly, was in fact female, and it definitely showed. "So are you going to be like this… all the time?"

"Only when you call upon me." Jinn answered simply.

"Alright, now what about this thing?" Hector jingled the lamp in his hand. "When I am fighting this thing can get in the way, is there a way you could get smaller? Like a ring or something?"

"Of course! Just put your ring finger through my hole."

"..."

"…"

"Knolly… I know you know what that sounded like."

"Possibly, but the order still stands Hector."

"Alright fine, just don't be weird about it." Hector sighed as he put his finger through the ring at the top of the lamp, thankfully earning no reaction from Knolly as a result. "Now what?"

"Now I must tighten around you." Jinn said as the ring tightened around Hector's finger, and the entire thing began to glow blue as it was molded into a different smaller shape.

"Goddammit Knolly." Hector said, knowing very well that she meant to teasehim. Why does everyone tease him so?

The lamp morphed into something much much smaller, a ring. The blue glow disappearing to reveal a gold ring with a blue gemstone in the middle, the blue stone glows just a bit as well, and it engraved in a very small unrecognizable language, if Hector had to guess it would mean Jinn.

"Wow, this is actually perfect." Hector praised the new relic as he brought his right hand up closer to his face so he could get a better look.

"I figured it would make things much more manageable, maybe even give you extra punching power against your opponents." Jinn explained as she tapped the stone with her finger.

"Yeah maybe." Hector chuckled. "You should get back in the ring though, as you know we have a lot of things to do in such a short time."

"Understandable. You should now be able to use me more often with much less drawback." Knolly said as she flew back into the ring in a cloud of blue mist all until her head was the only thing visible. "I look forward to reuniting with my brother Destruction." She said just before she returned to the ring fully.

"Yeah, if he's anything like you I might just go crazy." Hector retorted as he turned back around to see the very confused faces of the rest of Team HRRY. "Mission accomplished, Knolly has been acquired."

"We noticed…" Yang pointed out.

"Yeah I am sure you did, how do you like my new ring?" He asked as he showed off his new golden ring.

"Ooo, didn't know Ruby proposed to you already."

" _Yang!_ Stop that!" Ruby shouted as she waved her arms around embarrassedly and blushed.

"Haha, well, I think we're done here now, right guys?"

"Yeah, this place is really pretty, but I get that we have things to do." Rhea said with a smile.

"That is why you are my favorite daughter." Hector said as he hugged her to his side, earning an adorable whine and pout out of the girl, but she didn't try to pull away, which made her even more adorable.

"What was that other name you said? Was that one of the other relics?" Ruby asked curiously.

"No, that would be my name." Knolly said out loud, and everyone heard her…

Everyone.

"Hector was that you?" Yang asked without turning around, even as a blue mist flowed around her body.

"No, that would be me." The same voice answered, making Hector sigh and shake his head.

"You are such a liar Jinn." He said under his breath.

"Hello!" She suddenly appeared in her spectre form, visible to the naked eye in front of everyone. Ruby gets scared and jumps into Hector's arms, Yang jumps backward and cocks her weapons, and Rhea hides behind Hector's body, the sudden appearance of rather large blue woman being too much for them to process.

"I am Jinn, or Knolly, you may address me however you wish." The woman chanted.

"What Knowledge do you seek?" She asked with a smile.

* * *

 **Well then, that was a little treat for all of you. Since Volume 6 has been out for three weeks already I figured I can jump into some actual cannon stuff, do not worry, this will not affect the story too much. Knolly will still be Knolly, though she will be called Jinn sometimes. Of course this story is not following the cannon, so everything else that you see in the show, besides the names of the relics or minor stuff like that, is most likely not going to happen.**

 **If you read Blind Huntsman, then you will know exactly who Albedo is, he is a character that I decided to have in this story because why not? I find his character fun to write, and he is more or less the same as he is in that story, of course with a few changes so he isn't just a copy and paste. I figured that since I have a Headmaster Rivers in that story, I'll have a Headmaster Albedo in this story.**

 **Now if you are here for the sneak peek at the canonical version of Unlikely Hero, Following The Path, then you shall wait to no longer!**

 **If you haven't at least watched Volume 6 Episode 1, then do not read this, this is your only spoiler warning.**

* * *

 **Train Fuckery**

"Ozpin you're buggin' if you think I am going on the top of this train." Hector said with a grimace as he peeked his head out of the window. Watching as Team RWBY and Qrow face up against

" _Would you prefer it if I took control?"_

"On that front you can go fuck yourself." Hector replied as he pulled himself back in the train, and was met with the faces of scared and confused passengers, and then there was his own team, Ren, Nora, and Jaune coming up behind him, all looking at him like they are waiting for orders.

"What's going on?" Jaune asked finally after a few seconds.

"Uh, alright well there's about a hundred Grimm out there, being lead by an even bigger Grimm. Moral of the story, you need to-"

" _We."_

"Ugh fine, _we_ need to go up there and help RWBY and Qrow fend them off." Hector reached behind his back, and slipped on Ebony and Ivory, cocking them in place and making sure they are loaded with lighting dust. A loud crash was heard above them to prove his point. "I think we should go up there right about now." Hector said as he made sure the Relic of Knowledge is strapped firmly to his hip, before once again peeking his head out of the window.

As he hesitated, Jaune, Ren, and Nora all climb up to the top of the train, and begin fighting off the Grimm in hopes of protecting the civilians.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, I hate you for choosing me for this suicide mission." Hector said as he started to climb out, his heart leaps into his throat once he sees just how high they are.

They were very high.

" _How is it that a man who is able to defeat a Maiden in single combat is afraid of as measly as heights?"_

"Because humans weren't meant for flying Ozpin!" Hector exclaimed as he pulled himself up onto the roof of the train.

When he makes it up there, it is like a scene out of a video game. Highly trained teenagers dashing around slaying monsters, one guy with dark skin and a golden gun that definitely compensates for something, and then there's Qrow fighting off against a giant Grimm monster by himself.

Then there's Hector, who immediately gets set upon by one of the dozens of Chimeras, and then an actual dozen more attack him.

"Already!? I just got up here!" Hector roared as he charged right through the onslaught of black, white and red. Getting dogpiled momentarily before breaking free with another roar.

"Kaioken!" He yelled as he punched the head off of one of the Chimeras. Then proceeds to jumping, ducking, punching, and kicking in every direction that he can.

"Oh hey, he's finally here." Qrow mumbled to himself as he flew a short distance away from the Sphinx. "Oi! Hector!"

"What!?" Hector yelled back as he killed one more monster. "I'm a little busy making sure I don't get torn apart thank you very much!"

"Well go make sure the passengers don't get torn apart, and get that idiot to turn off the turrets!" Qrow yelled back.

"Fine! I'll go after Tweedle Dum!" Hector yelled back as he backhanded one more Grimm and sprinted after the guy running away from the fight while swiping away at his scroll, turning on automated turrets and armour on the train.

Some of the turrets aimed at Hector, and he gulped as he paused for just a second.

Then they started shooting at him.

"Ow, ow, ow, fuck OW. WHY!?" He yelled as he sprinted through a hellfire of bullets, blocking them with his face, chest and arms as he tries to catch up with Tweedle Dum. Luckily he has an ocean of aura to protect him, and then there's Ozpin's shield that _finally_ pops up to protect him. "Why didn't you do that sooner!?"

" _I thought you had it."_

"Noooo!" Hector yelled as he pushed through, finally catching up with the dumbass and grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him into the bubble with him.

"Agh! Why Are they shooting at us!?" He asked frantically as he tried to wrap his head around this spectacle.

"No idea, but unless you want to die I suggest you turn them off!" Hector shouted at him, feeling the vibrations of the bullets bounce off the back of the bubble.

"B-but, the passengers."

"You think the turrets are doing us any good right now!?" Hector gestured around him to prove his point. "Shut them off, or I swear to god I will throw you off this train myself! I was not planning on getting shot at today when I woke up!'

"Okay fine! I'll shut them off- TUNNEL!" The older man suddenly screamed, pointing over Hector's shoulder to the upcoming stone quickly getting closer and closer.

"Oh shit… TUNNEL!" Hector echoed as he tossed the man behind him toward the opening between train cars. "TUNNEL!" He repeated just in case they didn't hear him the first two times.

"He sprints as fast as he can toward the opening to the train, ignoring the blur of red and white as it zipped passed him, and he almost didn't make it.

He slid on his belly, and made just in the knick of time, landing on his head as he crashed through the window of the train car door.

He then wondered how the hell Tweedle Dum still managed to break his arm.

* * *

 **And there you go boys and girls! What do you think so far?**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the chapter as a whole, I look forward to hearing your thoughts!**


	47. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 46

**Hello everyone! And welcome back to yet another chapter! I just had to remind myself that I have 250+ people who are following this story are regularly read every update, so you know, that was fun. And oh very stressful. That is a quarter to a thousand by the way, and I have no idea if this story is somehow going to get** _ **that**_ **far… Jesus Christ I am going to need some help breathing if I ever get to quad-digits.**

* * *

 **Let's see who reviewed last chapter!**

 **CinderFall201: As far as I know, in this story at least, Adam was just born with silver eyes, but I just thought that since Adam** _ **always**_ **has his eyes covered, and that character short they made kinda teased us about him finally revealing the rest of his face that I might as well go with the popular theory of him having silver eyes, I gotta bring him back into the story somehow anyway. And of course Jinn/Knolly will be getting much more dialogue in the future! I have too much writing them as it is.**

 **SuperKaiokenGoku: Oh yeah, a very interesting story indeed. Just wait until you read the next twenty chapters or so.**

 **GoTeam: Of course I am going to bring back Ozpin into the story! Eventually... With everything RT finally revealed there's no way I could just let him take a back seat until a certain point in the story.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Thank you! It was just a sneak peek at what's to come.**

 **Guest 1: You would be very correct in that regard.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: I covered you in a PM my friend! Go check that out if you haven't yet!**

 **Guest 2: I can hardly wait to actually start writing it!**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Now I have a question for you all, would you like it better if I called Knolly Jinn? Or would it be better to keep it the same as before, which is Knolly? For now I am going to switch between them for this chapter, because I don't really know what to choose myself.**

 **Now let's get right back where we left off!**

* * *

Chapter 46- Knowledge is the key

"AH! What the hell is that!?" Yang asked as she jumped back and cocked her weapons instinctively.

"Calm down!" Hector tried, and failed to calm his friends down.

"Why is it smiling at me!?" Ruby asked as she hid behind him.

"Wow, she's so pretty!" Rhea cheered as she flew around her while giggling like the young girl she is.

"You have no need to fear me, I am what Hector here calls 'Knolly', I am letting myself become visible in your presence, and I will allow each of you to ask me one question." Jinn said as she leaned back as if she was sitting on an invisible chair.

"Wait… _you're_ Knolly?" Yang asked finally, much to the relief of Hector who sighed a sigh of relief. It would not have been good to see Yang panic and try to attack the relic, mostly because she was basically attached to his finger at this point.

"Is that you're question that you wish to ask me?" Jinn asked with a tilt of her head.

"Wait- no I want to ask another one!" Yang exclaimed as she waved her hands through the air, her maiden flames dying out as she did so.

"To answer your question Yang, yes, this is Knolly, and for some reason her actual name is Jinn, and she decided never to tell me that." Hector explained with a huff.

"And again, I will bring it to your attention that you never asked me for my name, which I do not know if I should be offended by the fact that you were never curious, or feel cared for because of the fact that you thought I had none and proceeded to give me one." Jinn's face twisted from a multitude of expressions that were hard to describe, one time she was a little mad, the next she looked happier than ever. That is going to be fun in the future.

"I think I'll go for the second one."

"As will I." Knolly smiled. "Now, who would like to ask me a question first?"

"Can we ask anything?" Ruby asked as she stepped around Hector and closer to the genie looking woman.

"Is that you're question?" Knolly asked with a glimmer in her black and blue eyes.

"Oh geez, Knolly- or Jinn, whatever, they can ask anything right?" Hector asked for the silver eyed girl, much to her appreciation. "And before you ask, yes, that is my question."

"Well then, to answer your question." Jinn teased. "Yes, I am omniscient, I know of everything that the past holds, and what is happening in the present. But I cannot see into the future. I can only allow my master to see glimpses of the future a certain number of times a year."

"Your master?" Yang asked.

"Please ignore that." Hector groaned. "And what did I say about calling me that in this form!?"

"I apologize master."

"Jinn!"

The relic laughed at his antics, and turned her head down to the silver eyed girl, who is looking at her with an expression of sadness, and a mixture of many other emotions. "What is _your_ question young lady?" She asked as she leaned in closer to Ruby.

Ruby looked down and contemplated her options, as soon as she learned that she can ask anything, she already knew what she wanted to ask. But if she _should_ ask it is something that she is contemplating. There are probably many other questions that she could ask, other questions that she _should_ ask whether then this one, but there is only one that will bring her peace. The truth about what happened to her mother, Summer Rose.

"What happened to my mother?" Ruby asked the relic of knowledge.

Yang widened her eyes and faced her, she didn't think that their mothers death would have affected her as long as it did, and then felt ashamed that she hasn't thought to ask the same thing. The same could be said for Hector, the last time he even thought about Summer was… he doesn't think he has ever really thought about her much.

"Summer Rose went on a mission. She was not able to complete her mission, and was defeated." Jinn answered simply, and left it at that.

"We already know that!" Yang yelled, and her eyes flamed up to show her anger. "Tell us something we don't know!"

"You asked me a question, and I answered it. There is nothing else for me to tell you." Jinn said while holding the same smile on her face.

"Bullshit! You've been telling him everything he wanted to know for over a year now!" Yang pointed out, pointing an angry finger at Hector who flinched at the accusation.

"That is because he is my master, my owner, in terms that you will understand. He gets special treatment." Jinn chuckled.

Yang steamed with anger, and stomped up to Hector and grabbed him by the collar. "Tell her to explain _everything_ to us! Not a single detail left out." She demanded as she got up in his face.

Hector didn't fight back, and held his hands up in a surrendering position. It wouldn't do anyone good if they fought in a place like this. "Yang I-"

"It's fine." Ruby cut them both off, and with tears in her eyes gently pulls Yang's hand from his collar. "It was my fault, I should have been more specific." She practically begged her sister to calm down, and eventually she did, and shoved Hector away hard enough that he had to catch himself with his back foot.

"Yang, you still have your own question." Hector pointed out. "Just ask her to elaborate or something of the sort."

Yang froze, and her eyes lit up, then she blushed out of embarrassment because she forgot about the question that she had left. "Sorry about that…"

"It's fine." Hector waved it off. "For a second there I thought you were going to kiss me or something."

"Ha ha." Yang fake laughed as she looked back to the relic, who is still staring at her, waiting for her to ask her a question.

Ruby slapped Hector on the arm in the background for 'flirting' with her older sister, and Hector whined saying that it wasn't like that, which only earned him another light slap. Eventually, they calmed down, because Hector apologized by giving her a hug that she so desperately needed.

"Knolly takes things very literal Yang, ask her something that can be answered with a simple question, and she will give you a simple answer." Hector explained for her quickly before she could ask her question.

Yang nodded her head, and while thinking about what she should ask the relic crossed her arms. After a few moments, she thought of a question that didn't _need_ to be given an elaborated answer.

"How did Summer Rose die?" Yang asked carefully, she was about to say how did her mother die, but that could be mistaken for her biological mother Raven, and she already knew about that story, and didn't want to risk being told a story about Raven instead of Summer.

"She didn't." Jinn answered simply, causing everyone's hearts to skip a beat.

"W-what?" Ruby whispered so quietly that Hector was the only one who heard her.

"Summer Rose is not dead." Jinn repeated with more words.

Ruby fainted, and would have hit the floor if it wasn't for Hector catching her and picking her up into a bridal carry. Yang was at a lost for words, she didn't know how to react to this, she feels so conflicted, yet overjoyed at the same time. She lost her first mother shortly after she was born, and then lost her second mother a few years later, and then lost her first mother _again_ , the same day she finally decided to love her, and become a part of her life, and now, her second mother, the woman that took care of her for her early ages, is suddenly still alive? She almost fainted to, but barely managed to stay conscious by bending over and taking deep breaths every few seconds.

Rhea didn't know what to do in this situation, but when Hector flicked his chin over to Yang, she knew what to do. She flew over and rubbed her back, trying to calm her down with her soothing warmth. It worked to a degree, but it was definitely helping.

Hector's mind was racing, he didn't know what to think either. The things on the to-do list just kept growing and growing, and in all honesty he was barely keeping himself composed. He knows for a fact that Ruby and Yang are going to want to see their mother, wherever she may be. But he feels that he has to put his foot down here if that does happen. They can't risk putting off the trip to Vacuo any longer, and at this point it looks like he may have to go by himself or with Rhea. After having a nice talk with Adam he is going to have to address that. But for now, all he can do is be there for Ruby. Whom he can sense is having inner turmoil because of this news.

"Okay uh, I think that is enough questions for now." Hector said as he mentally called Knolly back into his ring. "Rhea, help Yang get back to the elevator, I got Ruby."

"Okay RJ." Rhea said without argument. She wanted to ask about her own biological parents, to see if they were still around, so that maybe after all of this is done and over with. She could go find them, meet them, and get some closure on a topic she hasn't even talked much about with Hector. But she understands that right now, it seems like it isn't a good time to ask the relic anything, but since her stepdad _is_ the owner of said relic, she can just ask him about it, and she plans to.

This was going to be fun to explain to the others.

* * *

"What happened?" Blake asked as soon as she spotted a fainted Ruby and a very tired looking Yang.

"Uh… I don't think I am at liberty to disclose that information… but it's nothing bad, I can promise you that." Hector said as he walked down the steps, with Rhea helping Yang down the steps, her head beneath one of her arms to support her weight.

"Ruby's mom is alive." Yang said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Or she can just do that, that's fine to." Hector said as he made it to the bottom of the steps, and Ruby began to stir. "Oookay, uh, Jaune here." Hector gave Ruby to Jaune, who barely caught her in time. "Take her to one of the rooms, let her rest, and I want you all to be there for her when she wakes up."

"Huh? What about you though?" Jaune asked with an arched eyebrow. "I think she'd want to see you more then anyone after hearing news like that."

"That's why." Hector answer, stunning Jaune into silence. He then sighed and ran a hand up his face and through his black hair. "When she wakes up, I am not going to want to leave her side. I have to go look for Adam, that is what we came here to do, and we need to get it done as fast as possible. Being held up in this school while waiting for Ruby to feel better is going to take time. Not that Ruby's health isn't important or anything like that." He quickly added just in case. "Believe me, I want to stay with her, I do. But we also kinda have the fate of the world on our shoulders."

"I understand." Jaune said with a smile and a nod.

"I am still going with you." Blake pointed out.

"And I am still not going to stop you."

"Don't worry fearless leader number three!" Nora cheered.

"Three?" Hector felt a little offended by that, but kept his pain suppressed.

"We'll take care of young Ruby and Yang for you! Just make sure you break his legs." The scary thing about that part was that she wasn't joking, she was dead serious about Hector breaking _someones_ legs.

"Ren?"

"I'll make sure she doesn't break any legs herself." Ren said with a thumbs up, pretty much reading Hector's mind and hearing all of his concerns.

Hector sighed, and patted Ruby's head one last time. Tracing a finger over his new ring that he was surprised no one asked him about, probably because of the state that Yang and Ruby were in.

"Rhea, you stay here to. Something may happen and I don't want you to see it if it does." Hector said to his stepdaughter as she walked up to his side. He is afraid that Adam is not going to be very keen on helping them, and might even attack him, and if that happens. Then he would defend himself, and if there was really _no_ way for Adam to be redeemed… he may have to do something ugly that he doesn't want the young girl to see him do, even if she has already seen things that would have traumatized mosts other kids her age.

"I-" She sounded like she was about to protest, but ended up going back on it. "Okay… just be safe please?" She squeezed his hand, and Hector couldn't stop himself from kneeling down on one knee to hug the girl.

"I'll be fine, I'll be back and making dad jokes again before you know it." He said into her ear with a chuckle. "When I return I'll be eager to lend an _ear_." He dad joked as he pointed to one of her wolf ears.

"On second thought, don't come back." Rhea joked as they parted. She waved bye for now and flew off to go help Yang go _back_ up the stairs, followed by the three other members of JBLN and Jaune's dad. The headmaster was absent for whatever reason, but he does not have the time to go search for him.

Blake follows close behind him as he leaves the school, making her presence known by placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked to her, and saw her small smile, and the glint in her gold colored eyes.

"You made a hard decision, which was the right one. I respect your choice." She brought some comfort to him.

On the inside, Hector was distressed, he doesn't really _want_ to do this right now, and he assumes that Yang and Ruby are going to have some words with him once he gets back. That was the nice way of putting it of course. He nodded at Blake, and his real eye flickered blue for just a second as he made contact with Knolly from within his mind

" _Knolly, where is Adam right now?"_ Hector asked the relic in his mind.

A trail of blue mist visible only to him appeared, and there is no doubt that they end of this trail leads to Adam. Just in case, he mentally prepares himself for a fight.

"Follow me, Knolly is showing me the way." Hector said as he starts following the trail, with Blake close behind.

The sun was beginning to go down, and so Hector thinks ahead and predicts that they will get back either in the middle of the dark, or at the crack of dawn.

He sighed, why was it always him that had to get shit down around here?

* * *

Adam slayed a small Grimm that dared to attack him, and stomped its head until it popped like a grape just in case it survived the sharp edge of Wilt. After he is done with the creep, he wipes the sweat on his forearm on his forehead, the drops running down his face and passed his silver eyes. It took awhile for him to get used to not having the mask on at all times, but looking for it would have been a near impossible task, not to mention useless, everyone here already knows what he looks like without the mask on, and it wouldn't bring anyone any good to wear the White Fang mask in a place like this.

The village was a peaceful one, and while the majority were made up of faunus, they were still plenty of humans there to. Again, it took a while for Adam to get used to the presence of humans without trying to kill them, but he got used to it. The flame that was ignited for as many years as it has been has long since gone out ever since Blake abandoned him, the recent attack on Haven just smothered out the rest of the barely lit embers.

After thinking about everything he has done… he sees himself as a monster. He's killed Sienna Khan, the woman who brought so much freedom to the faunus through means that the previous high leader was unwilling to be responsible of. He's killed other faunus for daring to question him, not to mention the countless amount of humans he has killed, innocent or not. After thinking about it, Blake was right. He was a monster, and he is not the same man that he was before.

"Adam Midnight!" One of the humans that was fond of him called him out by the fake name that he gave them. A woman with black hair, and hazel eyes. Her name was Claire if he remembers correctly, and she was twenty years of age if he recalls, same age as he is. "Thanks for defending me from such a dangerous monster." She teased as she gestured to the dissipating Grimm creature on the floor, nothing but a pile of dust at this point.

"I'm just doing what is expected of me." He claimed as he leaned up against a tree, his open black jacket fluttering in the wind. If this was the past him, then he might have told her to go screw herself. But that wasn't him anymore, or at least that is what he liked to think. He still was less than willing to speak to any humans, but he was willing to tolerate them. It was a great improvement from killing kids at Beacon at the fall. He found himself incredibly luck that he hasn't been recognized already, if anyone knew what he looked like, or even recognized his hair, then it would have caused many problems for everyone. He guesses it's because of his new coat, which doesn't have the same red rose insignia that he wore, nor the white design, and then of course there is the lack of a mask.

"Aw, how sweet of you." Claire said sarcastically as she leaned on a tree across from him, her axe like weapon hanging from her hip. A failed huntress as he was told from other faunus, but rather then give up on her dream, she continued training, and aims to take the license test in order to become an official huntress. In a way he can respect her for that, for not wanting to give up. But her personality is what halts him from thinking any more of her.

"Hmm."

"C'mon Adam, your hums, and short responses are getting old here. Throw me a bone here, up for a spar?" She asked with a wink.

"I would destroy you." Adam replied as he looked into her hazel eyes for probably the third time in the short year that he has been with the villagers.

"How do you know that? You've never seen me fight." Claire pouted and crossed her arms.

"It comes from experience, I can just tell who is a good fighter and who is not, and judge them based on how they act, and their choice of weapon." Adam explained as he returned his gaze to the surrounding forest.

"Wow, that must be the most words you have ever said to me"Claire shook her head and smiled. "If only if it wasn't you just stroking your own ego."

"Maybe if you weren't so irritating I could expand my vocabulary."

"Oh ho ho! You _do_ have a sense of humor!" Claire laughed.

"Ergh." Adam growled, and stepped away from the tree to start walking back to the village. "Since you seem like you have a lot of energy, you can take the next watch, I am going to take a break."

"Eh! Wait no- come back I'm sorry!" Claire exclaimed, but it was too late, Adam already disappeared into the shrubbery and trees. With his expert stealth, he was out of sight and near impossible to locate. Claire stomped her foot and growled, then took the shift that Adam was supposed to cover.

"Heh." Adam snickered as he made it back to the village, where the construction of nearly every building is already complete. The villagers even built his own lodge, must to his protest and modesty. But they insisted, and said that they already moved his stuff in there, so he was kinda forced to accept a gift.

His time with the villagers have been peaceful, he has been there to defend and keep the peace. Not that anyone dared to disturb said peace with him around, and with the recent destruction of the branwen tribe there was really nothing else besides Grimm that threatened thim. Though, the humanoid and more animalistic looking Grimm were an eye opener for him, they were slain just as easily as any other Grimm.

He waved back to some of the kids, both human and faunus, who waved at him upon seeing him. He was never good with kids, and god help the child if he ever had one himself, so all he did was be as nice as he can be, and by nice he means allowing them to bug him while he patiently tries not to kill any of them. He saved the young girl with the antlers one time, and she followed him around for a whole month after that, until finally her mother told her to stop bugging him, but even now she still tries to talk to him from time to time.

There was a bonfire in the middle of the village as celebration for the mostly completed construction of the village, burning the excess amount of wood that they had, the thick gray smoke soared into the sky, and was carried by the wind. A beacon to whatever Raider was thinking about having a busy night, but after fending off, and unfortunately killing some of them. They now think more then twice about attacked a village protected by Adam Midnight.

The village don't know of his past, they know him as an unknown huntsman who is not very social. Adam Midnight was the name he chose as a cover for his actual name, since if they didn't know what Adam Taurus the White Fang terrorist looked like, then they wouldn't know who Adam Midnight was. There was a few problems at first where people were actually giving him weird looks, but after showing that he was there to protect them they started to warm up to them.

God bless them, if they didn't accept him into the village, then Adam had nowhere else to go. He was the most wanted criminal in three kingdoms now, Atlas, Vale now since Romans death, and now Mistral. If they didn't accept him, he would have isolated himself from the world. He thought about going to one of the last bases in Vacuo, but decided against it, after abandoning his own soldiers the Fang would not have accepted him back as their high leader, and might have even casted him out. Especially since killing Sienna Khan was not a unanimous decision, no, not even in the slightest.

Without another look back, he stepped into his cabin, and laid back on his bed with a tired sigh. Another tiring day of killing Grimm.

"This is my life now." He said to himself, he says that to himself every night. As if reminding himself that he isn't the man he once was.

Or at least that is what he hopes…

* * *

"Uuugh." Ruby groaned in her sleep, her eyes flickering until she finally snapped them open. Only to see bright green eyes staring right back at her.

"Wakey wakey sleep poo~" Nora sang as Ruby took a few seconds to process what exactly she is seeing, and the screams in terror.

"Nora… I told you not to do that to her." Jaune's dad said with a groan.

"In my defense I tried to stop her." Ren said before anyone could address him.

"W-w-what happened!?" Ruby asked as she curled up in the corner of the room on one of the beds. From the look of the room… it looked like they were in the same room that they spent a few months in before the battle of haven.

"You fainted after Jinn told us that mom was alive." Yang told her, she sits across from her, she has been holding her face in her hands for the passed hour, trying her hardest to understand that her second mother, Summer Rose, is still alive, and after all this time, she still hasn't come see them, and let them believe that she was dead.

The mood darkens immediately, the two sisters who were normally always the chattiest, besides Nora of course, were now so sad, mad, and felt a very large mixed bag of emotions.

"Hey, im back-" Jaune cut his own voice off when he witnessed just how dark the mood of the room was, and slowly placed the bag of food that the headmaster called him over to retrieve and bring back over here. "Hey… uh, someone wanna tell me what's going on?"

Rhea flew over to just above his shoulder, and whispered to him the news that Yang and Ruby just recieved.

"O-Oh, can't believe it slipped my mind… thanks." He whispered to Rhea, who gave him a thumbs up back along with a toothy smile. "So… wanna talk about it?" He asked Yang and Ruby.

"Yes."

"No."

"...Is that a yes or a no?"

"No."

"Yes."

"Uh huh." Juane scratched the back of his head, and looked to his father for support.

Nicholas shook his head, and begged his son with made up sign language to not ask him how women's thought process worked.

"Where's Hector?" Ruby asked instead, looking around the room for a head of short black hair and a pair of dark blue eyes.

"He went to go find Adam with Blake." Ren informed her. "He did want to be here for you however, it was all over his eyes, he fought himself before he went out there."

"I understand." Ruby said even as she looked down at her knees sadly. She didn't say anymore, and no one really knew what to say.

"Just… _why_?" Yang spoke up. "Why hasn't she come back to us?" She looked to Ruby with tears in her eyes, the emotional strain finally being too much for her.

Ruby jumped to the other bed in a blur of red, and both sisters hugged each other tightly as the cried into each others shoulders. Jaune sat on the bed next to them, and gently rubbed their backs in an attempt to calm them down better. Ren and Nora did the same, only that Nora hopped on the bed behind them and hugged them both from behind. Rhea didn't really know what to do, so she squeezed into the middle of all of it to join in on the group hug. The two sisters cried and hugged as they released the pent up pain that they have been feeling for so many years.

Nicholas could only inch his way out of the room, and slowly close the door behind him to let the kids have their little moment.

"I was not expecting this when I graduated from Beacon…" He said as he waited on the other side of the door for things to cheer up.

* * *

Claire whistled a tune as she kept watch for any sort of activity in the woods around her, she then made a farting noise with her mouth when she realized that she was stuck standing around until someone came to cover _Adams_ shift.

"Dumb bull bastard somehow managed to dhoop me, how poetic." She said with a laugh as she paced back and forth in deep thought.

Sounds of feet crushing sticks and leaves underneath them, followed by a muffled curse, snapped her out of her stupor. She pulled out her axe and twirled it in her hand, and prepared to use it to cut down anything that may jump out at them.

"Who's there!?" She yelled in the direction of the noise, and was met with dark blue eyes and a figure that reminded her of a certain hero. "Holy… shit."

"Oh you know me, well that makes things much easier." Hector said as he rubbed the back of his head with a grin on his face.

Blake stood to his side and a couple of feet back, but didn't hide herself just in case this stranger was hostile. "You are the worst at stealth movements." She criticized.

"Hey! You can shut up." Hector said as he pointed an unamused finger at her.

"Holy. Shit." Claire repeated, and dropped her axe to the ground.

Hector suddenly remembered the position he is in and what he aims to do, and turns his attention back to the young woman. "Yeah, yup, it's me. Could you point me in the direction of the nearest village?" He asked as he crossed his arms and leaned on one hip. It was surprisingly easy to find this place, it barely took a few hours.

Another few hours and they would have completed their desired task one way or another. That and all he really had to do was follow the glowing blue trail, he could still be doing that but he didn't want to freak out the girl that they had just run into by just sprinting passed her, and so Blake decided that they should _sneak_ passed her, and everyone knows how that turned out.

"The hell are you doing here hero?" Claire asked with a wide toothy smile. "Don't you have an army to amass?"

" _That_ , was an in the moment kind of thing, but for some reason I feel like no one is going to let me live it down." Hector said with a sigh. "Listen, I'd love to just sit down and talk all day, but I am actually here on a… business trip of sort.'

"Oh, well is there any way I can help?" Claire asked with a raised eyebrow, but still with a smile on her face.

"Yeah… well." Hector looks to Blake, as if asking her approval to tell this woman what they are up to. She nodded to him, and that was all he needed as a go ahead. "I- We, are looking for someone, an old friend of ours, his name is Adam."

Claires eyes widened slightly, instantly thinking of the helpful bull faunus that has been more than helpful over the many months that he has been there helping everyone out. Also, she feels a strange need to keep his presence a secret, if he did something wrong in his past… and the world sent the hero of two kingdoms of all people to go collect him, she has a feeling that she would never see him again if she gave him away so easily.

"I can't say that I do… could you describe him?" Just in case this was all a misunderstanding and they were just looking for someone whose name was Adam, and not the Adam Midnight that she knew, then all this can be left in the past to laugh about.

"Red and brown hair, tall, well built, on par with a huntsman." Blake began to understand, watching the twitches and widening eyes of Claire, noticing all the times that she hit spot on. "Long red sword he calls 'Wilt' and 'Blush', pale of skin."

"I… uh, eye color?"

"... Silver."

That hammered the final nail in the coffin, they were searching for Adam Midnight, the faunus man that has been dear to everyone's hearts for so long now. She could hardly believe it, what could a man such as he have done!?

"What did Adam do?" Claire asked quietly, and it was only due to Blake's four ears that she heard her.

"He is the most wanted man in three kingdoms for murder, terrorism, kidnapping, demolition, and robbery. Along with many other crimes that would take a few minutes to list for you." Blake explained.

"W-what!? No, Adam Midnight would have never done any of that! He is a good man!" She argued, desperate to help her reluctant friend.

"Adam Midnight? Really?" This time it was the hero who spoke up. "Guy couldn't change his first name along with that? We would have found him anyway but still, he didn't put much effort into hiding himself. And before you ask." He cut her off before she could speak out again, those last few words were spoke with such venom that it made her lips shut tight.

"His real name is Adam Taurus, there is no possible way that you haven't heard of him." Hector made her heart drop at last.

"I… uh…" Claire didn't know what to say, she was too overwhelmed with emotion, Adam Midnight- no, _Taurus,_ the most wanted man in the world, was the man that she has been flirting with for many months now. It nearly made her sick to her stomach, but also made her feel a deep sad feeling of betrayal. She turned away from the two of them as the tears rimmed up around her eyes. "The village is that way… just ask around for him there, everyone knows him."

"Thanks…" Hector didn't know what else to say to this girl. Obviously, the vision that Knolly gave him was not a very well descriptive one. There was plenty that was left out that he would have loved to know before making the trip here. He thinks now that Adam has somehow either managed to convince everyone that he wasn't the most wanted man in the world, or that the villagers lived under a rock, because there was not many people out there who could have their hair glow a neon red. That would be a question to ask the man himself when he gets the chance.

He and Blake started making their way to the village, but Hector stopped about just a few steps. He sighed and turned back to the distraught woman. "What has Adam been like to you and everyone else? Has he changed?" He asked, he just had to know, and he has a feeling that Blake is also overly curious, it was hard to tell with her sometimes.

"A-Adam, he…" Claire wiped her eyes and faced him. "He was such a great help around here. He helped build, he protected us, and was even good with some of the kids." These things brought Blake and Hector much surprise, that was very different from the Adam that they both knew before. "He was hard to talk to, still is sometimes, but honestly…? I think I was falling for him." Now that made them both widen their eyes, especially Blake, who didn't really know what to think of her ex-partner in crime. "Now… I don't really know, but if he was faking it he did a fantastic job."

"Out of curiosity, are their humans in this village of yours?" Blake asked suddenly.

"Humans? Well there's me, and a whole bunch of others that I know and don't know, there are more faunus then humans but we live peacefully together." Claire said as she smiled at the memories that she has of all of them.

Blake remained silent, and answered by walking off. Hector stayed for a few more seconds, seemingly conflicted with the options that he has. "Thanks for telling us this." He said before he went to follow his temporary partner.

Claire didn't make a move to try and stop them, whatever that was going to happen to Adam, it was their choice to make. She wouldn't interfere.

* * *

"So? What are you thinking right now?" Hector asked Blake as they walked side by side, Blake has been awfully quiet this time around, and Hector is the kind of guy who gets bored with the awkward silence, and so asks about it in an attempt to clear the air up a bit.

"Mmm." Blake replied.

"You know I don't speak that language." Hector pointed out. "Yo tampoco hablo ese idioma." (I don't speak that language either)

"What did you just say?" Blake asked finally at the sound of a foreign language.

"Oh you respond to that one but you respond to english." Hector sighed. "Blake, I'm not an idiot, I can tell when you are in deep thought, and I'd rather you not try to kill Adam the second we see him."

Blake sighed and shook her head. "I don't think you'd understand Hector. You didn't know Adam like I did, I was certain that he was irredeemable, still am. I find it impossible that he could have changed so much in such a short time."

"I stopped caring about what is impossible and what is not possible when I went to sleep on my bed as a normal human being, and then woke up in the middle of the forest with an old man in my head in a world that I thought was fantasy." Hector said with a laugh. "Not to mention literally everything that has happened up until now, the term 'impossible' can't really be used to describe much anymore."

"Tch, you and Ruby are equally as idealistic." Blake said with a low growl.

"Oh no, Ruby is much more idealistic at levels than I can never hope to achieve." Hector said with a shake of his head. "But yeah, you really think it is that impossible for someone to change? Just look at me for example, compare me to what I was look before the battle of Haven, and now look at me now, I can hardly recognize myself sometimes."

"You and Adam are much different cases, you haven't killed people." Blake said.

"... I've killed people Blake." Hector said darkly, remembering the time he killed Cinder, and the deadly fight he had against Tyrian. Blake internally cursed herself for bringing up a sore subject for Hector. "Just probably not as much as he did."

"Im sorry I brought it up." She apologized right away.

"It's fine, I've made my peace with it, or getting there I suppose." Hector looked her in the eyes. "I am not going to tell you not to feel what you are feeling, I am not _that_ brave. But I will ask you to at least give him a chance. Having two silver eyed warriors is much better than having one." _Soon to be three if all goes well…_ He added in his head.

"... I can only promise to try." Blake surrendered. "But I will be having some words with him once you are done talking to him."

"Not a problem, I'll try to work my magic on him however I can." Hector said with confidence as he walked with his hands intertwined with each other behind his head. "I think I see the village."

"What gave you that idea?"

"The giant bonfire."

"Hm, that would be something that would get these people easily spotted by people who could be searching for them."

"I couldn't agree more." Hector said as they neared the village.

Surprisingly, no one really seemed to care about them strolling right into the village. But when they thought about it, they did seem to look a little harmless. Blake in her usual outfit, her Gambol Shroud hidden in her long white coat, and then there is Hector. Simply wearing a red shirt and black combat pants, and also unarmed. In a way they might have looked like a couple, as much as the thought disturbed the both of them since they both already had people in their lives.

But then, Hector was finally recognized.

"We've made a horrible mistake." Hector said as a little girl ran up to him with a bright smile on her face, and two ice cream cones in each of her hands. She didn't say anything, but she did offer him one of her cones, to which Hector felt no need to decline her offer. He thought that when all the other kids turned to look at him that hell was about to break loose, but when only one ran up to him he felt relieved.

Relieved, until the girl blinked and her eyes changed color.

They _changed_ color, with a blink...

To brown, and pink…

"Aw fuck." Hector said as he facepalmed himself upon realizing who this 'little girl' actually is.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked as she walked out from behind him.

The girl then changed the rest of her features, to split brown and pink hair for a split second before turning back to just the dark brown.

" _That,_ is what's wrong." Hector said as he narrowed his eyes at her. He hasn't seen her for a very long time, the last time was when he was out with Nora to go riding Grimm, and then to get Ice cream, they had a little encounter, and then she disappeared, and he hasn't seen her since then.

"What are you doing here Neo?" He asked her.

Neo could only smile brightly as she brought the ice cream up to her lips, and licked it.

* * *

 **Wow, cliffhangers are fun.**

 **Neo has returned! Finally! Also poor Hector, everything keeps getting in the way of the plans he spent so long thinking up. First Summer being revealed to still be alive, and then having to go find Adam and realizing that he may have actually changed, and now there's Neo… that's going to make things interesting.**

 **Yeah… a lot of things happened this chapter. I was going to make a segment with Hell and those guys, but I decided to have them show up next chapter. This chapter was full of revelations as it is.**

 **Now about the upcoming canon version of Unlikely Hero, I don't plan on making the story just a rewrite like what some people are worried about. I have to make major changes to the story before the Atlas train scene, one of which is have Cinder survive the battle of haven, and overall change Hector's character and how strong he can get dramatically. Because if he had all of his powers in the canon version, and everything else I plan to give him, it would be boring for both me and you readers since you already will know what will happen with him. Trust me on this, I have plenty of ideas for what is to come, you all know how I like to be original, or at least I try my best to be. I decided I had to publicly say this, because many people have reviewed or PM'd me telling me about their worries for that story. I got it handled though, that little snidbit last chapter was just a sneak peek. Also, since you all know by now that I update 2-4 times a week, then you all know that I write chapters fast. Unlikely Hero: Following the path, is going to be strictly following the cannon, which means once Volume 6 is over for both the show and the fanfic, then I will have to wait until Volume 7 comes out in order to continue the story. I don't want to have another AU like the one I am writing right now. World building is hard… as well as creating your own story from almost nothing but scratch.**

 **Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, or today, depends on whether or not I post it now or later. I am taking a full on break for the holiday in order to spend it with my family, also so I can relax my brain a little. I can feel it getting** _ **Thiccer**_ **with each chapter I post.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far!**


	48. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 47

**Hello all! Welcome to yet another chapter, I bet this one was very well awaited for. But now, the wait is over!**

 **Now lets see who reviewed last chapter!**

 **Guest: just gonna spoil it for you and say that is not the case here, you'll see what her reasons are this chapter.**

 **Zeldawolffang: I bet a lot of you did! But she has returned, no more worries anymore.**

 **Soul109: I do not have a beta, I have been writing this story completely by myself ever for about 6 months now. I'm not really looking for one either, I've been doing alright without one all this time, I'll be alright.**

 **Reaperomega21: I try to edit it the best I can after I write out the chapter, I can get most of the errors, but unfortunately I am only human. But thank you very much for the compliments! It means a lot to me.**

 **Bwburke98: I understand that the whole Summer is alive thing is pretty common, but the idea I have with her is something I think no one is going to expect, you'll see what I mean in the future.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Yes! Summer will be in this story! You will** _ **love**_ **what I do with her ;). Adam will be getting some redemption, and as I was writing it down, I was thinking of something… Adam's favorite color must be red… and he has killed a lot of things dead… and now he seeks redemption… Red Dead Redemption baby, that is what we will call his little arc. Claire is fun to write! I am glad you like her! I have been waiting to bring back Neo for a long time, I hope you enjoy what I do with her!**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **I have began giving more attention to my twitter account that is meant just for you guys, if you want to easily get into contact with me and see the progress of every chapter from every story you can follow me there! Here is the link:**

twitter.c o m (slash)genatools

 **Fanfiction is a thing so I have to chop up the link, if it is not in there let me know as soon as possible so I can fix it. Update: I gave up on pasting the actual link, and did that, lets see if it works.**

 **Lastly, thank you all for 50,000+ views! That's a lot of clicks. Also lastly, thank you all for 200+ favorites! Even more clicks!**

 **Now let's get right to the story!**

* * *

Chapter 47- The Bull and a Neo

Watts wipes sweat from his brow and slumps back in his chair that he had imported-slash-stolen from Atlas before he made the trip to the Grimmlands. He has been hard at work at getting Hell the soul that he has demanded from him, he may have enjoyed the task more if Salem didn't allow the damn creature to boss him around so much, even if she is technically it's mother.

Hell, upon receiving a soul has visually changed drastically, his skin is no longer snow white, and his hair has changed from pitch black, to snow white. His eyes remain the same black and red, almost exactly the same as Salem herself but not nearly as intimidating. He still has the purple veins running through down his face, but it has faded away somewhat. He is still just as aggressive and hostile to pretty much everything except Salem, and when he is with Tyrian, the original one that is, they get along terrifyingly well. Though even that has seemed to have been toned down.

"So, how does it feel to have a soul creature?" Arthur asked Hell as he was tracing his fingers over his arms, actually feeling something different than he did before.

"It's… interesting to say the least." Hell said as he took in a deep breath. "Breathing never felt as good as it did until now."

"Well, it's not like you need to breathe anyway." Arthur pointed out. "You are biologically immortal, which means you don't have to eat, drink, and you are immune to all diseases. But you can still be killed, so keep that in mind and not charge into battle like you did the last time we allowed you to leave the continent."

"I don't aim to make the same mistake creator." Hell said as he narrowed his eyes at the scientist. "But I suppose that these new abilities of mine will come in handy, I assume I am still currently at my previous level?"

"Yes, though just as your human like your counterpart, you can train to become stronger. Your infinite stamina will help in that."

"And what of pain? Will I now feel that as well?" Hell asked as he slips on his coat.

"Unfortunately, as a request from Salem herself, you do in fact feel pain now, just as much as anyone else would. A necessary sacrifice in order to make you more obedient, and powerful I'm afraid." Arthur explained.

"Hm, shouldn't be a problem, if my counterpart can handle the pain of this ability." Black and red flames flare up in his fist as he said that, and it faded away just as fast as it came. "Than I know I can."

"Quite, I trust that you remember your next task?" Arthur asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I do, is Tyrian ready? I mean the _actual_ Tyrian and not the silly clones that you made of him." Hell added as he bore a face of disgust. "That was a terrible idea, they were nowhere near as strong as they should have been. The silver eyed girl just has to stare at them for them to be defeated."

"In that regard, I couldn't agree more Hell. Luckily it seemed that our Queen has also seen that error, and the copies have been dispatched, and Tyrian is now back to normal…" Arthur Watts took a second to think about what he just said.

Tyrian's cackles echoed as he cut through Grimm as training echoed throughout the castle. That was his way of getting back into shape.

"Well, as normal as one could call a man such as he." Arthur corrected himself.

Hell chuckled, the first time he has ever chuckled out of just humor, which Arthur made sure to mentally note. "I would have to agree with you on that front as well creator, before I leave, I do have one more thing I wish to bring up to your attention."

Arthur smiled, Hell has become much more alliterate and intelligent with his speech. Something that he personally adjusted for the creature. "And what would that be?"

"This… magical power within me, I think there is something about Hector we are not aware of." Hell said. "I think there is more to him than even my mother originally thought."

Arthur frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"I don't know how to describe it… him and I are technically the same being, I am just more Grimm than he, but there is just _something_ that makes him what he is, and me what I am. I can barely be considered human, and he can barely be considered Grimm, we are opposites in that manner. But there is also something that continuously allows him to grow stronger with each passing day, I wasn't able to see it until you helped me gain a soul." Hell explained as he looked at the older man in the eyes. "I believe the gods of this world have been meddling with our world more than we previously predicted."

Arthur widened his eyes, and leaned forward while resting his elbows on his knees. "That is a very interesting hypothesis, I vastly underestimated your ability to think and read situations." He complimented. "What else can you tell me?"

"I… don't know, he would know before we would. That is all I have for you I am afraid, but I suggest you study his blood during the duration of my mission." Hell suggested.

"Hm, I'll see what I can do, I will have to see about Hazel and his pursuit in finding the Winter Maiden and _not_ getting himself nearly killed, as well as getting an update from Marcus Black… the latter is harder to work with." Arthur sighed and shook his head at the thought of the white haired man, he has been almost as difficult to deal with as Ozpin. Almost. "But I will get around to it. I applaud you for bringing this up to my attention, before you leave I suggest that you bring it up to the Queen as well."

"Understandable, I'll do it right after I pick up the scorpion." Hell nodded. "Is there anything else I should know about this evolved body of mine?" He asked as he stopped at the exit of the laboratory.

"Nothing that is worth mentioning, you can go about your business." Arthur said with a wave of his hand.

Hell nodded, he was about to leave, but he feels an irresistible word to get the last word off, something foreign to him, but also welcome. He looks back to Watts, who looks back at him, and the stare into each other's eyes for about half a minute.

"... What is it?" Arthur finally asked as soon as a full minute passes.

Hell blinks once, and then says what is on his mind.

"Bitch."

He left the room right after saying that.

Arthur sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Some things never change."

* * *

Neo dances around Hector as he pinches his nose and mutter something about plans being forced to change again. Blake stands back with a conflicted expression on her face, she vaguely remembers the girl. Yang told her that she lost her fight against this one, and almost got killed for it. More than that, she is also partly responsible for the fall of Beacon. But here she is, with Hector of all people, who seems to have met her before. Not only that, but she seems to be happy to see him, which makes things even more difficult for her to understand. She wants to say something, but she just doesn't have anything that comes to mind that would do any good for the situation.

Just what was today?

"Hi Neo, good to see you too. Didn't know that we were friends or anything but okay." Hector said to the mute girl as she inspected his left hand, silently asking him why is was wearing it. "The glove is there for a reason."

Neo than pinched his hand.

"Ow, the fuck?" Hector cried as he rubbed the spot where his hand was somehow pinched hard enough for him to feel pain even through the glove. "I'll ignore asking you why you did that, and ask you why don't you tell me- or sign to me or however you want to communicate to me how and why exactly you found me and why you are happy to see me."

Neo shrugged, and than pointed to an old wanted picture of Cinder, which seems to have been the target for stabbing and other ways to kill a person.

"Cinder?" Hector asked with an arched eyebrow.

Neo nodded, and an old recognizable bowler hat appeared on her head.

"You want to know where she is?" Hector asked next.

Neo nodded once again, still in her little girl look that Hector is trying so very hard not to laugh at.

"Well… Cinder kinda came up with a case of sudden death…" Hector said with a nervous chuckle, not knowing how she is going to react to this news.

Neo widened her eyes, and slouched forward with her jaw slightly agape. She returned to her normal state, her pink and brown hair flowing over her shoulders and eyes becoming mismatched, it caused a few of the other villagers to widen their eyes and start whispering things, wondering if she has been masquerading as a little girl the whole time and none of them noticed. Her parasol also drops to the ground beside her, appearing out of nowhere in a blur of white. She pointed to him with one finger as to ask if he was actually telling the truth.

"Considering that her remains are probably still at the bottom of a cave, than I must say that yes, she is indeed already dead." Hector said with a sigh, remembering that night he first took a life all too well.

He regretted his decision to tell Neo that bit of information when she hugged him with strength coming out of nowhere so hard that it felt like his spine was breaking. Blake still didn't know what to do, and could only whisper 'What the fuck…' under her breath as she watched this spectacle unfold before her.

"Wow… I have never been thanked for killing a person like this before." He managed to get out just before he was let down.

Neo twirled back from him, and than bowed towards him with a toothy grin on her face. Her parasol opened up behind her. Her way of showing gratitude Hector assumes.

"Okay… well, I would love to catch up with you, but I have a certain someone I am looking for. See any bull fanus with unmistakable neon red hair?" Hector asked as he leaned on one hip. He doesn't know if Neo is technically an ally or not, but if she is not trying to kill both him and Blake than for now she is okay.

Neo puts on her thinking face, standing on her tippy toes and rocking back and forth, before eventually nodding and shrugging. Pointing to a cabin behind her, the cabin has a door that has a symbol on it, it looked like the symbol Adam wore on his back, just without the red rose. Looked pretty nice.

"That was his symbol." Blake finally spoke up, stepping up beside the hero. "He's here, he has to be." She clenched her fists, and scrunched her nose at the very thought of being this close to Adam again. Remembering all the times she hallucinated about him, the nightmares, what he did to her partner. If it wasn't for Hector holding her back by gripping her by the shoulder, she might have just stormed in there and attacked him.

"My partner here and I are going to have a little chat with him, is that going to be a problem?"

Neo shook her head and shrugged again, and than pointed to the other villagers.

Hector was able to easily catch her meaning. "Yeah, might be a problem with them, but once they realize who I am they might just let us be."

"Let's get this over with, please." Blake groaned as she yanked her shoulder out of Hector's grip and started walking.

"Okay, no need to be like that. No rush to potentially get into a fight that would probably tear up most of this village." Hector said as he followed her, giving Neo a nod of thanks as he passed her.

Neo nodded back and began to follow.

Hector stopped, Neo stopped. Hector started walking again, and than Neo started following again.

Hector realized something just a few moments later.

"Neo, this is not going to work the way you hope it's going to work." He said just before the made it to the beginning of the steps up to Adam's cabin.

Neo shrugged over exaggeratedly. Pretending that she has no idea what he means.

"You're just going to follow me until I give in aren't you?" He asked next.

Neo nodded and smiled adorably, pretending that she is the innocent one in all of this.

Hector sighed, and for what feels like the thousandth time, pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, I am not even going to try to convince you to not go through with this, so rule number one: No killing."

Neo slouched over and pouted.

"Fiiine, no killing _without_ my permission." Hector said with a roll of his eyes, and turned away from her just in time to not see her vicious grin, and the way her hands clapped together excitedly.

"Are you two done?" Blake asked as she stopped in the middle of the stairs, which didn't mean much because there were only three steps.

"Yes, yes. I'm coming." Hector said as he went up the steps with Neo close behind with her parasol happily twirling behind her, and a smile on her face. Her presence is something Hector is going to have to get used to, and _just_ in case he keeps his aura actively defending him just in case she was going for the long con and was actually planning to stab him in the back.

The three of them all make it to the door in silence, Neo went off to the side to sit on a chair, waving at the two of them to give them to go ahead to go on without her for now.

They nodded back at her, and Hector stepped up to knock on the door. He hesitated at first, honestly considering just walking away and leaving him be, if he didn't have silver eyes, than he certainly would have done that. He might have done it anyway, but with Blake here with him and having plenty of reasons to get him arrested or have him killed, justifiably so to.

"Just come in already." Adam said through the door.

"Okay then, looks like drama isn't going to be a thing." Hector said with a soft chuckle as he wrapped his fingers around the door handle. He stopped himself from opening it and walking in, and looked to Blake with an apologetic look on his face. "Hey… maybe I should talk to him first, I don't mean it in any bad way." He added when he saw her mouth begin to open to probably yell something at him. "But I just think it would make him less willing to attack if it was just me, since y'know, the whole me being able to fight maidens thing I've got going on."

Blake narrowed her eyes at him.

"Okay fine, would it be better if I said I don't want you to kill him as soon as I open this door?" Hector asked, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"Tch, fine, but I am going to get my say with him once you are finished." She said as she stepped back, and leaned on the porch.

Neo in the background silently laughed at the both of them.

"Get along you two." Hector said before entering the cabin.

Blake and Neo took one look at each other, than decided it would be better if they did not communicate with one another. Until Blake changed her mind a few seconds later.

"If you're going to stick around with us, I want you to apologize to Yang for almost killing her."

Neo stuck her tongue out at her, and flipped her off just for good measure.

It was a declaration of war in Blakes eyes.

* * *

Hector walked into the cabin, and just in case, locked the door behind him. Like that would actually do anything to stop Adam from escaping if he wanted to. Once the door is closed all the way, he turns around and looks the faunus in the eye, who sits in a chair against the wall, his red sword like a nightlight as it lies on the table to his right. His hands however are occupied with drinking a cup of something that Hector does not care for finding out what it could be. Instead he walks up to the bull faunus, and takes the open seat across from him while keeping eye contact. He definitely had silver eyes, he has spent too much time looking into Ruby's eyes and thus knows when silver eyes look like very well.

"I don't think you and I have been properly introduced." Hector started off the conversation after a few tense moments of silence. "I know you've seen me before, I think it was when I smashed Hazel through a wall at Haven right?"

"Yes, I remember that night all too well." Adam replied, and Hector could relate to him on that front very well. "Though, if memory serves I believed you had brown eyes in that moment."

"Yeah, that is a story for another time, let's just leave it at I discovered some… interesting things about myself." Hector explained as he reached over to grab the second cup on the table. "You're not dumb enough to try and poison me are you?"

"No, I don't kill… not anymore, at least not those who don't deserve it. You don't have to drink it if you don't want to." Adam said in his usual deep monotone voice. He didn't sound hostile, which surprised Hector since the last time he saw this man he was trying to kill Yang, Blake and Sun. Yet here he is now, offering him a drink. A human no less, he thinks about that the woman that he and Blake ran into earlier, maybe she was right? Or was that just his wishful thinking?

" _Guess I'll find out myself soon enough."_ Hector thought to himself as he slowly brought the cup up to his lips.

' _For your information, the liquid is actually not poisoned.'_ Knolly confirmed for him.

Hector hummed quietly as he took a sip, the dark liquid tastes fruity, like berries. It was a welcome taste after eating and drinking high class foods from Weiss' house for the passed few weeks, and then the not so high class food that was stored on the bullhead for the trip to Mistral.

"So," Hector said as he set the cup back down. "I'm guessing you have an idea on why I am here?"

"I saw you enter the village." Adam began. "I've heard of your triumphs throughout the world 'Hero of two kingdoms', what happened at Haven?" He asked.

Hector sighed and chuckled bitterly. "Well, long story short, after I ran back into the building, I went into the vault, killed Cinder-"

"What!?" Adam exclaimed, nearly choking on his drink. "Cinder is dead? How do you know that?"

"Well… I sorta stabbed her with my hand and electrocuted her, then threw her off a cliff." Hector explained shortly.

"People can survive even the most dangerous of situation, are you sure that she is dead?" Adam persisted.

"Her maiden powers transferred to someone new, and I already found that person. So yes, I am sure." Hector nodded. "Unless you want to go to the bottom of the vault to go see for yourself?"

"That's…" Adam sighed a sigh of relief, feeling an invisible pressure being lifted off of his shoulders. "She's really dead, isn't she."

"Unless she somehow managed to bullshit her way back to life and punched through a very convenient hole to the surface while hundreds of feet underground, then yeah, she's not around anymore." Hector said with a laugh, there's no way Cinder could have survived that fall, not only was she heavily injured, but she was out of aura and exhausted. Not to mention unconscious as well.

Adam chuckled at the news, not an evil or a maniacal chuckle. But a chuckle of pure relief and happiness. Hector supposes that it is better that he laughs at Cinder being dead than laughing as he kills people.

"I have been in hiding from both the White Fang, and Cinders forces for so long now. And the whole time they haven't even begun looking for me." He laughed sadly.

"Eh, I wouldn't go _that_ far."

"What do you mean?"

"Ilia has been looking for you in Vacuo for a pretty long time now, I wouldn't put it past her to still be in Vacuo even now. I'm sure you know that she wasn't looking to make up with you or anything."

"Hmph, of course she would… and what of Blake? I know that she is out there, honestly I am surprised that she hasn't barged in here and tried to kill me yet." Adam said with a sorrowful look in his eyes.

"I'm surprised that you are the one not trying to kill us," Hector retorted, skipping past the question about Blake without a second thought. "What happened to you Adam? How did you go from psycho killer terrorist to some protector of some unnamed village out in the middle of the woods? I was expecting having to fight you myself to bring you in."

Adam sighed, and shook his head. He has been asking himself that very question for so long, and he still hasn't found an answer to it. "I… ran away." He admitted, Hector rose an eyebrow and let him continue. "I ran away from everything, from the White Fang, from Cinder and her forces. I was just as surprised as you probably were when the people building this town didn't recognize me."

"Oh yeah, I definitely thought that when I got here Adam Midnight. How a guy with neon red hair, bull horns, and a glowing red sword who is also the most wanted man in three out of the four kingdoms of this world, is beyond me. But ignoring the illogic of all that nonsense, I am actually _not_ here to arrest you like you think I am."

Adam's silver eyes widened. "What are you here for than?"

"Adam… do you know about what the color of your eyes mean?" Hector asked first after a few moments of tense silence.

"Uh… I don't know what you mean by that, I know that silver eyes are unusual, but other then that I don't know." Adam answered honestly.

"Well shit that makes this a lot harder." Hector said under his breath. "Alright how do I explain this?" He leaned back into his chair and thought to himself on what he should say next. "Basically, those with silver eyes are part of a highly endangered race known as the silver eyed warriors. There are two- three silver eyed warriors left in the world." He corrected himself when he remembered the recent reveal of Summer Rose still being around.

Adam leaned in, and traced a finger around one of his eyes, he doesn't know if this is the truth or not. But he is willing to at least listen to him.

"They are supposed to be the bane of the Grimm's existence, and are one of just three types of people that are able to instill fear into them. Have you noticed any Grimm running away from you?"

"Yes, actually, there were a few moments in my life where Grimm, the small ones that is, ran from me. It happened again just a few weeks ago as well, but I never thought much of it." Adam explained.

"Yeah, and you are a part of this warrior race. One of the last ones left alive," Hector took in a deep breath. "And we could use your help."

"I'll do it."

"I know it seems crazy- wait what?" Hector stopped himself, and it was his turn to widen his eyes in surprise.

"I'll help you however I can, I want to do good in the world after causing so much harm to it for nearly all of my life. This information you have revealed to me is hard to believe, I'll be the first to admit that, but on the off-chance that you are telling the truth and I can potentially help turn the tide of this endless war of Grimm against humanity and faunus alike, then I will help you." Adam ranted, grabbing his sword, standing up and slamming it down into holster. "I never learned how to use these apparent powers of mine, but I will be willing to learn."

Hector still didn't know what to say, his mouth was slightly agape, and his arms were slack to his sides. Everything is turning out differently than he thought it would, since when did plans turn out okay for once? Since when did _anything_ turn out okay after being planned?

"Okay, wow, wasn't expecting that." Hector said as he stood up, they were of equal height, but Adam still saw him as the superior in the case of raw strength. Killing Cinder was a feat Adam couldn't begin to even fathom doing on his own, especially not with Emerald, Mercury, and that really big guy stalking about. "We have another one of your kind - silver eyed warrior I mean." He added just as he remembered his faunus status. "With us, I am not going to lie to you and say that you are going to fit in well, because there are plenty of reasons for them to hate you."

Adam looked at him through the corner of his eye, his previous hype snuffed out.

"Blake is of course with us, Ruby Rose, the leader of Team RWBY and also my girlfriend, and then there's Yang." Hector eyes narrowed slightly at the man. "She is the one-"

"I remember her, I cut off her arm after I stabbed Blake in the stomach." Adam finished for him.

"And you still want to give us a go?" Hector asked one more time just for good measure. "It's going to take a _lot_ to get any of them to forgive you, not to mention the remainders of Team JNPR, who you haven't directly hurt before but may still not be all that friendly around you."

"I understand... but what about you?" Adam asked as he turned to face him fully.

Hector rose an eyebrow, silently asking him what he means by the question he had just asked.

"How do you feel about all of this, are you truly a hundred percent okay with this?" He elaborated.

"I'm not a hundred percent about anything anymore." Hector laughed. "You want me to be even more honest? I was ready to kill you as I was on my way here, but I changed my mind when Claire spoke out to me and defended you."

Adam recoiled at that. "Claire… she did that, for me?"

"Yeah, even after we told her about your past, she still defended you. She told us about everything you have been doing here, how you've helped build this village, how you protected it when raiders or Grimm attacked." Hector explained, adding even more shock to Adam. "Of course, I didn't believe it at first, but then I got to the village, I saw that they built you a cabin, and that even a few other humans lived here. The Adam that I was told about wouldn't have even thought about sharing a village with humans. So I gave you the benefit of the doubt, and gave you a chance." He said with a small smile as he rattled his knuckles against Adam's shoulder.

Adam looked down to the floor, his mind racing with thanks to all the villagers, yet another thing he owes them for. He felt a very small urge to cry, but held it back. Instead he smiled and nodded his head after muttering a quick thank you to himself. "I thank you for the chance you have given me, I'll do whatever it is you want me to do."

"Great, because now I want you to come back with me peacefully to Haven." Hector said right away. "And please, don't talk like that, after hearing everything I've heard about you and with what I've seen you do, hearing you talk like some whipped dog is just making me uncomfortable."

"Good, because I was getting sick of it myself." Adam said with a sigh. "Sorry, talking like that was just a way for me to cope with this new life. I'm glad I don't have to do it most of the time."

"Oh, you're still going to have to do it sometimes, I have a feeling that a certain couple of people I know might find out about it and tease you about it until you give in."

"Great… I am so motivated to join you." Adam said sarcastically.

"Glad you are, now let's go, Blake is outside, and you can look forward to a talk with her sometime in the very near future." Hector said as he laced his fingers around the door handle and opened it, only to see the sight of Neo pinning Blake on the ground with her blade ready to pierce through her skull from the ears, the top ones that is.

Neo grinned at Hector and even waved with her sword.

"Neo! What did I just tell you?" Hector scolded as he quickly pried the smaller woman's fingers off of the back of Blake's neck. "No killing, unless I give you permission."

Neo pouted and sighed through her nose, her eye colors changing to show her current mood.

"Oh don't give me that look, you only forced yourself onto my side about half an hour ago, and you already try to kill one of my friends. Speaking of friends…" Hector helped Blake back up to her feet. "Are you okay?"

Blake scowled at him. "Why are you letting her stay with us, and _you_." Her voice came out as little more than a growl as she death glares Adam, who was bemused at the moment after seeing her for the first time since she humiliated him at the battle of Haven.

Adam didn't say anything, couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say, apologizing would do no good here, he knew Blake well enough to know that such words won't mean much coming from him after everything he had done to her for the sole purpose of wanting to see her suffer. Even then, seeing her brings both happiness and sorrow, but unfortunately for him, it was mostly sorrow.

"If I had it my way, you would have been dead or arrested by now." She seethed. "Know that is was only his kind heart that you are still breathing, there is so much more I want to say to you. But unfortunately I am short on time, and honestly? I have people more important than you to talk to. Do anything even remote to being threatening, and there will be more than just Hector and I after you." She stepped away from him, turning her back on him and ignoring Hectors call for her to stop. Some villagers eye her down as she walks out of the village gates, but no one dares to stop the huntress. She would make her own way back to Haven, she got what she wanted to say for now out, and she is satisfied with that. If she stayed any longer, she might not have been able to hold herself back.

Hector sighed, and once again, pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know you deserved that, but she really could have picked a better time to do that."

"Agreed." Adam said as he began to feel uncomfortable at being the center of attention for the village once again. This time not being put in a good light. "Before we go… is Claire still here? The woman who defended me."

"You would know better than I would." Hector shrugged with his crossed arms. "If you want to go see her, go right ahead, but I am not going to let you go alone." He said as he looked to Neo, who still has a pouty look on her face. "Neo, be a dear and stalk Adam, just to make sure he comes back."

Neo grinned maliciously as she happily nodded her head.

"That won't be necessary." Adam argued.

"Forgive me, but I don't trust you just yet. And in case you've forgotten, I am the one in charge here." Hector said in a way that left no more room for argument. "And just in case, Neo, do not kill her, or anyone else."

Neo pouted again and sheathed her blade that he didn't even know was still out of its sheath. He swears that if she could talk, she would have cursed at him very animatedly.

"Urgh, fine, have it your way." Adam said as he stepped down the stairs, doing his usual thing and ignoring anyone who called out to him as he walked by.

Hector looked to Neo with a questioning expression worn on his face.

"So… you gonna follow him or what?" He asked after about a minute of her staring blankly back at him.

Neo smirked, and than with a wink, shattered into nothingness. The pink and brown transparent shards of glass fading away as soon as it touched the ground beneath them.

"Great… now I just got to figure out how the hell we are gonna travel with Adam without people attacking him right away." Hector wondered as he leaned his head back, relaxing for the first time ever since he stepped off the Bullhead.

' _We could always dress him up like, a girl and make him wear a wig.'_ Jinn helpfully suggested.

"We _could_ … But it is probably more trouble than it is worth." He replied to the relic out loud, earning a few strange looks from a passing couple.

* * *

Adam's heart began to beat faster as he got closer to his afternoon watch post. This was the first time he has felt such a way about speaking to someone ever since… he can't even remember. Claire stood up for him even after everything she heard he did, and he didn't deserve it, not one bit of it. He owes her.

Neo trailing behind him while making her presence obvious isn't helping much. He has a vague memory of the young woman who looks like she can still be in her teens. She was Romans… sidekick? Daughter? Lover? Partner in crime? He never cared enough to actually look into it himself. But he knows what she can do, she is dangerous, so much so that even he knows that he would have trouble facing off against her if the situation called for it.

Though, that other young man Hector seems to have involuntarily taken up the role of her new boss. He heard that Roman perished at the fall of Beacon, how he does not know. But the first person that comes to his mind would be Cinder, if it weren't for her he may have been able to survive up until now, might have even retired. Neo was anything if not loyal, and the death of Roman must have been hard on her, he has no idea what she has been doing since then, and he doubts he is ever going to get an explanation from her about anything. Her choice of way to live her life was one only herself could make, and if she decided that she wanted to claim Hector, the poor bastard, as her new boss just because he was the one to finally take down Cinder, than he neither cares nor is against it. For now he just wants her to stop breathing down his neck.

Eventually Neo's obvious presence did fade away. He knew that she would still be around in her own little pocket dimension, her semblance was a tricky one to understand. To his knowledge she could go invisible, teleport, (An ability he is not even going to attempt to try and understand.) and is able to create illusions for both herself and allies, similar to the mint haired girl, but it seems like she has much more flexibility with it. Something he is going to have to keep in mind just in case they were to cross blades with each other.

His thoughts wander back to Claire, the human woman who is now within his sights, with her hazel eyes stares right back at him. Not a hint of fear, some disappointment, but for some reason she still smiles at him upon his arrival.

"Adam Midnight, or should I say Taurus?" She asked with bitter amusement. "I don't know which is which anymore, who am I talking to right now? The evil terrorist or the social awkward faunus?"

"Adam." He said, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "We are one in the same."

"Apparently so…" Claire said with a shake of her head. "That guy talk to you yet?"

"He did."

"And what?"

"I… I will be traveling with him for an unspecified amount of time." Adam told her.

"Hmph, running away from your problems again?" Claire asked with barely concealed anger.

Adam remained silent, because in a way, she was spot on.

"Everytime I think I understand you _Adam_ , you just go ahead and become someone I didn't know you could possibly be." She said with a minor choke.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, don't be. That's just how you are." Claire said as she turned her back on him. "Just go, I won't tell the others about your past, just go and do whatever it is you have to do."

"I will not be leaving just yet." Adam pointed out as he leaned on a tree across from her, a mirrored contrast of earlier that day. "And I will be returning."

"For what reason?" She asked as she forced herself to look at him, her beautiful eyes rimmed with red and emotion.

"For you." Adam claimed as he stared into her eyes.

Claire was taken aback, and she even blushed madly despite her current mood. She stammered out something incomprehensible before she managed to compose herself. Than cursed herself in the privacy of her own mind for being affected like that in such a way by the most wanted man on Remnant. "I-I-I… Why would you say something like that!?" She yelled as she threw her axe at him, only for him to move his head just in time for the axe to embed itself into the tree he is leaning on.

He showed no signs of fear, or even surprise, and he certainly didn't back down.

"They told me what you said about me Claire." He revealed while still looking into her eyes, adjusting his body just enough for him to stand more comfortably. If it was possible to get even more red, Claire managed to do it. "You defended me, even after everything I did in the past… why?"

"Tch, what do you mean _why_ you dumb bull. If it isn't obvious by now I swear I am going to slap your shitty hair."

"My… hair?" Adam asked slowly, what was wrong with his hair?

"Shut up! I like you, you damn moron! I've been dropping hints for over a _year_." Claire shouted.

"Oh… that explains so much." Adam said as he placed a hand on his chin, remembering the signs that he overlooked.

" _Hey Adam! You free tonight?"_

" _Yo, Midnight, how do I look?"_

" _Heeeey Adam~ Come share this drink with me, HRK-"_

" _Thanks for taking care of me! I'll make sure to give you a reward later."_

"Explains everything actually." Adam added.

"I hate you." Claire said as she stepped up to him and wrapped her fingers around the hilt, but stayed hovering in front of his face, even though she was about half a head shorter than him.

"But you just said you liked me?" He words that statement in a way that made it sound like a question. He was more confused than anything.

"Shut up." Claire said as she shut her eyes.

Adam sighed, and reached a hand up to brush her hair behind one of her ears.

"Even after everything I did… I've killed, maimed, brutalised, and brought shame upon my entire race. You still feel this way for me?" He asked with the most emotion in his voice and face than he had ever shown before.

His answer was bruised lips when she smashed hers against his, and promptly began to eat his face for a good minute straight. Adam did his best to kiss back, but he wasn't exactly experienced when it came to women, he only ever had one lover in his life, and it was clear that Claire was not as inexperienced.

Once they pulled apart, Claire pulled her axe out of the tree, and turned her back to him once more. "I'm a damn idiot for feeling this way still, after everything." She said with more happiness than she really had the right to.

Adam couldn't say anything beside trace a finger over his lips. Hers was so soft, with a taste of berry to them. As well as blood, but he soon realized that was his own because she bit him on his lower lip.

"You're coming back to me, promise me that?" She asked as she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"I-I promise." He stuttered, actually blushing for once.

Claire's shoulders sagged at what must have been relief flowing through her body. "Good."

She ran away from him as soon as she said that, and Adam did not give chase. Still too stunned and shell shocked to really go after her, she wouldn't like that anyway. This was a goodbye for now if he has ever seen one.

Neo reappeared as Adam was trapped in his own head, and she made a kissy face to tease him. Adam snarled at her and bid her to show him where to go. She giggled silently and beckoned him with a finger, then lead him to where Hector was awaiting for them.

Their next adventure was just beginning.

* * *

 **Well, that was fun. I am now considering writing a short story, seperate but still part of the main cannon of this fanfic. Which will show his development to where he is at now. For reference, it has been about a year since the battle of Haven, and in that year Adam changed from the way we know him in the show now, to where he is now in this story. He probably will be OOC for most people, and like I said before, if you see him that way, then so be it, I wouldn't blame you guys anyway, Adam pretty much as a human girlfriend now.**

 **But what do you guys think about that short story? It would be about ten chapters long, 4-5k words each chapter, and it would tell you everything Adam has been doing ever since the battle of Haven, and will be cannon to this main story. It sounds like fun to me, and you guys would get to see much more of Claire, who people seem to enjoy a lot ever since she became part of the story last chapter.**

 **Also Neo, she is going to join the squad as we know it. You will see a lot more of her in the future chapters. Poor Hector is the new Torchwick to her since he was the one who killed Cinder in this story. That is going to open a lot more roads of possibilities.**

 **Now, something I should address now before anyone draws their own conclusions. Clones of Tyrian, not going to happen anymore, it was a stupid idea now that I think about it, so for right now. Good ol' Tyrian is back, and his clones are gone. The fight Hector had with that cloned Tyrian was the most powerful one ever spawned, that will be addressed in the future. You can see this as a retcon if you want, I don't really care honestly, it has just been bugging me that I actually thought that was a good idea in the past. Thank you for understanding.**

 **Hell has a soul now, and that is going to make this story a whole lot more interesting. He is essentially like the Goku Black of this story, but the way he will be handled is something I have been planning for a long time. He will be a part of this story even more from now on, as well as some prospects being hinted at.**

 **Hazel and Marcus will return to the story soon, they have their own arcs that they need covered. Eventually, there has to be an end to Marcus and Mercury's story arc, and they will soon be getting their own chapters. Winter, Qrow, Mercury, Hazel, and Marcus that is. A lot of things will happen with Team QWM. (Crum, because I had to.)**

 **Lastly, since more than one of you brought this up to my attention, I know Volume 6 is out, and I know that it basically fucks up a lot of this story. I do plan to have some things from that Volume adapted to this story, such as Jinn, and other things. Along with whatever stuff they finally reveal to us in the future episodes. Think of this story now as an AU, I will be using my own ideas still, and the story is not going to change drastically. I already had things planned all the way to the end of this story before the volume even came out, and it is too late to go back and change it now.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story! If you want to know how the progress of each chapter is going, you can follow me on my Twitter! I left the link up top in the other AN, if you like me that much, wink wink. Go ahead and give me a follow!**

 **See you all next time!**


	49. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 48

***Deep breath* Alrighty ladies and gentleman, I am back with another chapter of Unlikely Hero! Or UH, that works to, anyways, I am back. Since literally no one said anything about me writing a side story about what Adam has been doing during the events of UH while he was on his own, I am here to ask once again. Adam hasn't been in the story since the battle of Haven, and has only just appeared to be revealed to have been in "hiding", would you guys like to read a side story of Adam and what he was doing for the year he was missing?**

 **Now let us get to the reviews!**

* * *

 **CinderFall201: Hector will get something other than Kaioken, and I agree with you that he has been relying on it waaaay too much, something is coming. I can promise you that much. Can't say anything else besides spoilers.**

 **SuperKaiokenGoku: I agree with you, especially with this most recent episode. Something has to be going on with the silver eyes of the RWBYverse.**

 **Zeldawolffang: I am glad you feel that way!**

 **TigerVolcano5000: Hell is going to have a pretty surprising role, and he will become much more dangerous. Neo has returned! Yes, finally, woohoo! You're missing a small problem with Neo and her joining Hector, you'll realize it soon enough I am sure. I hope you enjoy Adam's redemption, because I have quite the plan for him.**

 **Kage-Kitsune9001: Ugh… you know how I feel about that already. Neo is of course going to have a lot of fun with not just Adam.**

 **Guest: Huh, I think I might have liked to have Adam be redeemed rather than Ilia, but than Blake would have the issue of choosing Sun or Adam as a love interest. RT made their decision though, so nothing can be changed now unless they retcon a lot of things. Just means I get to write my own redemption story!**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Now did any of you notice that Adam ditched his mask in the forest after the battle of Haven in his character short, and then the next time we see him in Volume 6 he has it back. I was a bit confused by it, they might have had something going on with him, and they keep wanting to hide the rest of his face with that very mask. If you haven't realized it by now, I am a small supporter of the Adam secretly having silver eyes theory, I am not crazy about it, but what other way could I have brought Adam back into the story?**

 **Also, since the relics appearances of the relics have been revealed in the cannon, I am going to be changing what the relic of creation looks like. So instead of the paintbrush like I previously predicted, it is going to be a staff. Just look it up if you want to know what it looks like now.**

 **Okay, I've said enough. Let's get back to the story!**

* * *

Chapter 48- Foreshadow

"Hello, Hell." Salem greeted with a small, slightly forced smile as she sat on her throne, one hand on the seer to her left.

"Mother." Hell got down to one knee, and bowed down to her, his snow white hair flowing over his forehead.

"I see that that Doctor Watts' experiments were successful." Salem pointed out.

"They were, I now have a soul, and thus I am now capable of generating my own aura. I have been told that you already know the rest of the details." Hell said as he tilted his head up just enough so that his Grimm eyes met the Queens deathly pale face.

"Hell." Salem said suddenly in a darker tone. "How do you… _feel_."

"I… I don't understand what you mean." Hell said with a perplexed tilt of his head.

"Hm." Salem stood up, and stepped closer to Hell. "You have a soul now, Hell. I trust that you remember what I told you the day you requested permission to gain such a thing?"

"I haven't dared forget." Hell nodded his head, he wouldn't dare forget something like that… even when he was incapable of feeling fear, or should have been anyway. The way Salem glared at him and said what she said…

It scared him.

"And what did I say?" She asked, looking down at him both literally, and figuratively.

Hell hesitated for a moment, but in the next he repeated her words.

"The moment my desires rise above your own… that is when they are lost to me."

"It wasn't a threat." Salem added. "It was only the truth." She stepped backward, and sat back down in her throne, but kept her glare transfixed on Hell.

He was trembling.

"I will not lie to you dear, I have some concerns for this new predicament I have thrusted upon myself." Salem said, only adding to Hell's stress level. "Without your soul, you were much easier to control, and I know you know who holds the leash even now. Let me explain;" She cleared her throat, even though she really didn't have to. "You were able to slay Raven Branwen, who was the previous Spring Maiden, and while that was certainly something that needed to be done eventually, in the end our enemies still hold the power of not only the Fall Maiden, we can thank dear Cinder for that mess, but the Spring Maiden as well."

Hell gulped nervously, knowing what comes next.

"Then you were defeated by the very being you were created to destroy." Salem chuckled, it sounded, dark and empty, filled with malice. "I expect that you will not fall a second time, will you?"

"No!" Hell exclaimed, than caught himself before he could raise his voice against her any more. "No… I intend to be what you created me for."

"And what _did_ I create you for?" Salem inquired.

"To be your… monster." Hell answered obediently, and bowed his head.

"Good." Salem smiled, satisfied with the result she has gotten. "Now, I assume you are here to acquire your next task?"

"Yes… I am to go to Vacuo, and retrieve the Summer Maiden, while also leaving Hector with an ultimatum that he shan't refuse." Hell repeated the same words Arthur told him back when he had no soul. "Also, I am to-"

"Stop." Salem ordered, holding one hand up.

Hell ceased speaking immediately. Then waited for Salem to speak to him.

"You are not going to go to Vacuo, the plans has changed."

"W-what?" Hell stuttered.

"You won't be able to defeat Hector, much less him and his allies. Let us remember that just because Ozpin is torn, and in a state of depress, that his current vessel did not lose any of his intelligence or fighting strength. Stack this with the fact that he is already stronger than you as you are now, he wouldn't need to go as far as he did before to defeat you." She explained.

Hell disagreed.

"But Mother-"

"Do _not_ interrupt me!" Salem screamed, stood up, and held her hand out to magically squeezed Hell's throat with a disgusting black mist, cutting him off from the precious oxygen he has become accustomed to breathing in. "You do what I say, without question. I have been more than patient with your sudden bravery in questioning me. You _will_ not just listen, you will obey, or you will die. Understand?"

Hell nodded his head frantically, black tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he struggled for breath. It was this moment where he realized just how vulnerable he really was.

Salem released him, and he coughed and hacked as he finally regained the ability to breath. He wiped his face of the black tears that almost escaped his eyes, and prostrated himself before the queen, more scared then he has ever been before.

"You will search for the Winter Maiden in Atlas; Hazel, Tyrian, and Marcus Black will be your allies for this endeavor." Salem said in a calm dark voice, that did nothing to stem Hell's fear and stress levels. "I will send you to Marcus Black myself with a pool of Grimm." As she said this she opened up said pool of Grimm, the disgusting putrid goo bubbling with evil energy. "I will have you find the Winter Maiden, kill her and any allies she may have with her, and retrieve the Relic of Creation. At that point you may come into contact with me once more, and I will retrieve you. Is that understood?"

Hell looked up to Salem, with a red face still prevalent after nearly being choked to death. What a way for a biologically immortal being to have been killed. His neck was bruised badly, leaving a black and blue mark around almost his entire neck, the residue from the Grimm mist still on the tips of his fingers as he futilely tried to pry it away from his neck.

He didn't speak, he only nodded his head.

"Good, now for the reason I am not sending you to Vacuo like I originally planned." Salem sat back down in her throne with a sigh, she figured she might as well explain it to him, but it was just boring to her. He should have known this anyway. "Not only will you not be able to destroy Hector like I _thought_ you would."

Hell whimpered quietly at the jab to his pride. Wait… he has that now?

"But it is safe to assume that Ruby Rose has improved herself with her ability to use her eyes in combat. If that is the case, which would be _very_ likely, then all she would have to do is stare you down and you will burn away." Hell slumped down, she was right in totality. "Not to mention that he would have both the Fall and Spring Maiden with him, you wouldn't stand a chance I'm afraid."

"I… understand." Hell whispered just loud enough for her to hear. "I will do as you say… but if I may." He flinched when Salem held her hand out again, but only for it to be waved at him to give him the okay to speak. "What of the Summer Maiden? I am the only one capable of defeating her am I not?"

"No, you are not." Salem said with a terrifying grim smile. "You are not the only one in my possession capable of defeating a Maiden."

Hell widened his eyes, and caught her meaning immediately when he saw her look at a magical flaming ball of black and red flames.

" _I_ am more than capable of handling that task myself."

* * *

Hazel sat around a fire, with a sleeping white haired man name Marcus Black asleep in the makeshift tent to his right. Marcus went to find him after it was reported that Hazel was injured in his battle - if it could be called one - with the Winter Maiden. In other words, he got completely destroyed, and the missing pinky and ring finger on his left hand was a constant reminder to him that he should not pursue a battle with her a second time. Even though the first one was one that he wanted to avoid completely, he just tried to convince her that he wasn't there to kill her like she accused him of.

She left him stranded in an ice cavern for days straight, he would have died if it weren't for Marcus Black appearing in a cloud of smoke, and whisking him away with him, saving his life in the process. The bastard wouldn't let him forget it, which made him even more irritating than he originally thought he could be.

He snuffed out the thought of killing the man in his sleep, only because he owes him, and in all honesty needs him for this. The Winter Maiden stole the Relic of creation from Atlas during the battle, they need that staff in order to proceed with their plans, and Marcus is more than adept at sneaking around and stealing things. It was literally all he did in his life besides kill people and abuse his family.

The sound of something ruffling in the frozen bushes not too far from him caught his attention. Marcus' hand on his shoulder let him know that he was ready for it, how he woke up and accessed the situation so fast is something Hazel is not concerned with. The bushes ruffled some more, and Hazel stood up in his thick winter outfit, and turned his body toward the foliage.

"I know that you are there, come out and we can settle this peacefully." Hazel called out.

"Or don't, and I kill you, please choose that option." Marcus said with a sick grin.

A healed up scorpion tail poke out from the bushes, a normal one that is, and that made Hazel both widen his eyes, and then sigh in disappointment.

"HA!" Tyrian, now wrapped up in a white fluffy winter outfit jumped out of the bushes, with his weapons cocked and ready to go as he easily parried Marcus' kick and wrapped himself around Hazel's large midriff.

"Ah! Hazel my old friend." Tyrian cried. "It has been so long since I last seen you! Oh have I missed my dear killing buddy."

"Do _not_ call me that." Hazel said as he threw Tyrian off of him. He flipped off his newly healed tail and landed on his feet an elegant bow.

"Oh, ho, ho, just as charming as the last time I saw you. Tell me, why didn't you ever visit me while I was oh so tired?" He asked with a crazed grin.

"Hey, weren't you killed already?" Marcus asked before Hazel could reply. "I mean, I've seen a _lot_ of you die actually, even killed some of them myself. Made for some good practice."

Marcus blinked once, and Tyrian was up in his face with yellow eyes staring right into his black ones. He jumped back and got into a fighting position, ready to kill him for daring to startle him like that.

"Hm, I was told about you." Tyrian said as he intertwined his fingers behind his back and shrugged, unimpressed. "Uninteresting, just by getting a good look in your eyes I can tell your true goal does not lie with us."

"Tch, that's my business you insect." Marcus growled.

"Arachnid, actually." Tyrian correctly with uncharacteristic politeness. "Of course, of course! You business lies within your son! Am I right?"

Marcus yelled out as he fired a smoke blast at the faunus, which he dodged effortlessly.

"Hah! People always get upset when their feelings are guessed correctly." Tyrian said with a sick ear to ear smile and widened yellow eyes, his wrist blades cocked out to his sides as he gets ready to tear the robotic legs off of him.

Hazel sighed and shook his head, tuning out the rest of their back and forth banter as he sat back down by the fire.

"I would prefer it if my colleagues did not kill each other." A new voice said as he stepped through the trees, his snow white hair moving about with the wind as a set of black and red eyes looks about the group he is going to be working with.

"Ah, look who it is! The prince of the Grimm himself, I was wondering when you were going to show up." Tyrian said as he mocked a bow toward Hell.

"Ugh, you really do have the same face as that other guy." Marcus huffed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"I was conversing with my mother about the plans, I am to align myself with you all, and find the Winter Maiden. Kill her, and retrieve the Relic of Creation." Hell said as he stood into the center of the camp.

Hazel remained silent, he knew of Hell's existence, but he does keep in mind that he doesn't look how he thought he would look, given the fact that he is technically Salem's son because of the DNA they share. He would have to speak with him on his own in order to understand exactly who he is working with when he gets the chance.

"Oh, goodie! I get to have some fun, hehehe." Tyrian cackled as he crouched down by the fire, and comedically warming up his tail rather then his hands.

"Possibly, but I doubt that after the last "Attack" that she is going to be alone this time, so be ready for a fight." He didn't sound as hostile as Hazel thought, even though he noticed the slight jab at him for letting the maiden know that they were after her. But she wouldn't be expecting the amount of power they would have behind them this time. "Rest up, we are going to be searching for her as soon as the sun rises." Hell ordered.

"Hey, scorpion dude. Is this the real you or just another clone?" Marcus asked as he bit into a piece of meat. Ignoring the order that was just given to him.

"Nothing is better than the original~" Tyrian said with a giggle.

"Eh, fair enough." Marcus shrugged, and then looked to Hell. " Hell right? Since you're ordering us around and everything, why don't we come up with our own team name, eh?" Marcus suggested with a chuckle as he sat down on a log. "I mean, there's four of us, and all the cool kids are doing it, we might as well have some fun of our own. You even get to be the team leader!" He pointed to Hell.

"That's childish and immature." Hazel commented.

"C'mon big guy, I saved your life! Work with me here." Marcus laughed as he pat the larger mans back.

"I am already working with you, I am neither agreeing or disagreeing with you." Hazel said unenthusiastically.

"We got two on board now." Marcus laughed as Hazel growled quitely.

Hell sighed. "If all three of you want it, than I'll come up with one."

"I have an idea!" Tyrian exclaimed as he rose his hand, and tail.

Hell sighed again, it looks like they were getting a team name. "Yes, Tyrian?"

"Team HHBC, or Havoc for short. Eh? It's got a good ring to it." Tyrian suggested, adding his own amused laughter at the end of his sentence.

"Hey… that's not half bad scorpion dude. I like it!" Marcus said with a nod. "Makes us sound intimidating."

"How do two H's, a B, and a C make 'Havoc'?" Hazel asked.

"Bah, don't think too hard about it, thinking was always Arthur's job." Tyrian said with a wave of his hand.

"What about you Prince? Or do you prefer Hell your majesty?" Marcus sarcastically asked.

Hell ignored his quip, it wasn't worth killing him for it, not when he needed his skills. But he was thinking about the team name that _Tryian_ of all people suggested for them, it wasn't _too_ bad, even if Hazel was right about how the name doesn't really work with the letter they have to work with… but than again, since when are such rules beholden to them?

"Havoc… I like it." Hell said with a nod. "Team HHBC it is."

"Hell yeah!" Marcus exclaimed, and Hell looked at him for a moment, thinking that he was called for, before coughing into his fist and ignoring the questioning look on his face.

"Alright, so _leader_." Marcus leaned in on with his elbows on his knees, saying the word with a good amount of sarcasm that even sounded forced to Hell's ears. "I got a question for ya, something I've honestly been wondering for a _very_ long time. Since you've been so very kind to us so far, I thought I would ask you such a thing."

Hell was just a bit weirded out, but he shrugged it off and joined the group, trying to hide the fact that he also enjoyed the heat that the fire did give off. "Go for it." He said with a flat expression on his face.

"Great! So, this is what I've been thinking, so it is no doubt that you have a bit a Salem in you, is that right?"

"Correct."

"And you also have a bit of _Hector's_ DNA in you, is that also correct?"

"Unfortunately so. Is this going anywhere?"

"Weeell." Marcus made that word last hang in the air a bit, adding to the 'suspense' in the air. "Since you are made up of both Salem's _and_ Hector's cells… and you call Salem your mom… than that means."

"Don't say it."

"Hector would technically be your…"

"Stop."

"Daddy." Marcus finished as he bursted out in laughter, and Tyrain couldn't help but join in on it.

To Hell's horror, he actually blushed a bit in embarrassment. Realistically Marcus would be wrong, but _technically_ … He didn't want to think on it any further.

"Stop laughing at such an immature claim! I have his cells and nothing else! He is not my father!" Hell yelled at the hysterical white haired man.

"Yeah but… you've got his face and everything! Than you got Mama's hair color… and the whole veiny thing she's got going on, and than those eyes are just unmistakeable hers. _But_ , everything else… belongs to daddy." Marcus laughed even harder even as he was punched right through the tent he set up for himself.

"You think you're so damn clever do you?" Hell's answer was just more laughing, and it took an astounding amount of willpower not to kill Marcus on the spot, and then kill Tyrian for laughing as well. At least Hazel kept quiet, that was his only solace.

"Ugh, I'll be walking around. Get some sleep you damn fools." Hell demanded as he sent himself off on a trip into the snowy forest.

Team Havoc was off to a great start.

* * *

"You drunken insufferable fool!" Winter shouted to Qrow as he drank from his flask and sat around the fire he made that has lasted until morning.

"What did I do now, Ice Queen?" Qrow asked with a grunt as he stuffed his flask inside of his coat pocket.

"That criminal you let keep watch overnight is gone!" Winter exclaimed angrily. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted him, why did you place so much in a man such as he?"

"Eh? That's what you're worried about?" Qrow asked with an amused snicker. "I sent the kid out to run some laps."

Winter sighed and pinched her nose. "You sent Mercury Black, to do 'some laps', in the snow?"

"Yeeep."

"And you didn't care enough to tell me about this sudden turn of events?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"For this exact reason Ice Queen, you overreact with everything, and you should know by now that I don't play by the rules." Qrow said with a chuckle. "The fact that you keep trying to play the leader here is hilarious by the way."

"Well _someone_ has to be the leader around here since you are too busy being useless." Winter said as she started packing their camping equipment.

"Why are you packing everything?" Qrow sighed.

"Because we have to continue our search for the Winter Maiden Qrow, and sitting around isn't going to do anything for us in terms of progression." Winter explained. "But I doubt you would remember that."

"Nah, I do." Qrow sighed and begun to help her tear down the temporary camp. "I don't think we are in the right are to look for her."

"How would you know that?" Winter asked bitterly.

"Because I can fly snowflake." Qrow reminded her. "What? You think I was sitting around doing nothing during the nights? You have that little faith in me?"

Winter's silence was telling.

"Wake up call Winter, I am a huntsman to. I don't always sit around and do nothing." Qrow said in a calm tone as he tore down his tent.

"I know… I'm sorry I've just been… not myself ever since the attack." Winter hesitantly shared her true thoughts.

Qrow understood her meaning, he knew why she has become more antagonistic ever since the attack on Atlas. Which was why he has turned it down a lot of notches when it came to teasing her, in fact he can't remember the last time he did so. She had to kill her dad, and even though the bastard deserved it for everything he did, it doesn't mean that she isn't suffering for it. He has noticed how withdrawn she has been, even around her beloved younger sister, Mini Ice Queen.

But in a way, he can relate to her, on a lot of those things.

"You weren't the only one who had to do something like that y'know." Qrow said without turning to look at her as he folded up the tent poles.

Winter remained silent, but widened her eyes at him and stopped what she was doing.

"Raven, and I… when we were younger, you think you're dad was bad? Well, imagine both parents being twenty times worse." Qrow chuckled darkly as he roughly shoved the poles into the tent's bag. "We had scars to remember them by, before and after we killed them both." He revealed as he zipped up the bag, still not looking at her. "Let this old man give you some advice Winter, treasure the family you have left, because before you know it you might be the last one left, and not even all the money in the world can fill that void."

Qrow was the final surviving Branwen, his only blood related family left in the world was Yang, and she has grown so fast that before he knew it, she didn't need him anymore. Ruby didn't neither, she could not only take care of herself, but she had Hector looking after her, even if she didn't know that. He lost two out of three of his teammates that he graduated with from Beacon, and the last one is handicapped.

His tribe was destroyed, he went back to check while Hector was in his coma, all he found were bodies and Grimm there, so there goes that family to. Even if it wasn't exactly 'legal' family.

He was a very lonely man, Winter realized. His semblance certainly didn't make anything easier.

"I'm back." Mercury said as he jogged into camp, his breath visible in the cold air as he huffs and puffs.

"Ah, there he is. Come help us out will ya? Carry the heaviest bag for me." Qrow ordered as he threw a sixty pound bag with all sorts of tools and gadgets in it. Mercury blew air out of his lungs as he caught it, the surprising amount of weight nearly making him trip over before he caught himself and slipped the heavy bag on over his shoulders.

Mercury didn't say anything when Qrow wiped tears off his face, thinking that no one saw him. In truth, he overheard the whole thing, he couldn't help but be curious. It makes him both respect and worry for the man even more than he did before. Because in all honesty.

He thinks that Qrow has nothing much else to live for.

"You good Winter?" He asked, tearing his eyes away from Qrow's back.

"Y-yes, thank you for your concern." Winter said kindly as she stood up. "Lets go, we have a Maiden to find."

"Read my mind _Ice Queen._ " Mercury chuckled when Winter glared at Qrow, and his laugh almost made him forget that the man before him was hurting so much inside.

Almost.

* * *

"We're here." Hector said with a tired yawn as they approached the gates of Haven. Blake, Neo, and Adam trailing behind him. The latter two the farthest away. He stopped before the guards could get a sight on them, they would let him and Blake in easily, there was no doubt about that in his mind. But Neo and Adam? Neo could get in, but Adam sticks out like a sore thumb, he could probably sneak in as well, but that won't gain the trust of everyone if he snuck past all the guards and surprised everyone at Haven, no, he would have to walk with them, and if that happened than he would be arrested on the spot, being the most wanted man in three- no four kingdoms now if you count Menagerie.

"Adam." Hector called to him, meeting silver eyes with his sharp blue. "Sorry to do this to you bud, but we are going to have to get a disguise for you."

"I expected as much." Adam sighed. "What do you have in mind?"

"Neo?"

Neo perked up, and placed a hand around her ear to show that she was listening.

"Does your semblance work for other people? As in could you disguise other people to look different like you can do with yourself." He asked as he yawned once again, being awake for twenty seven hours straight sure is tiring.

Neo thought on it for a moment, she has never tried it before, but that shouldn't mean that it is not possible. She holds her hand sideways to Hector, palm down, and tilts it side to side like that.

"Well, unless we have some hair dye somewhere Adam is going to stick out like a sore thumb, just do what you can for now." Hector said as he crossed his arms with a smile. Whatever Neo had on her mind for a disguise for Adam, he needed to see it.

The way Neo smirked and looked toward Adam with a smug expression did not make him feel any better about his current situation, he wants to argue that there has to be some other way, but a silly disguise would be the least of his worries if he made Blake any angrier than she already is at the moment.

With a sigh, he let Neo get in close and place a hand on his forehead, feeling an odd sensation over his whole body as he is enveloped in a light pink aura.

Hector tried his best to stifle his snicker, and even Blake had to look away to hide the small smile on her face. Neo looked so happy with what she did that she gave herself a round of applause, and Adam looked down at his body to see that he was no longer wearing black, but a mixture of pink, white, and brown. Upon looking at Neo, and then back at himself, he instantly realized what she just did to him.

His hair was just like Neo's in way, he kept his brown hair, but instead of neon red highlights, he now has bright pink in its place. His skin was slightly paler than before, and instead of a dark blood red color, it was now an adorable bright pink. The only semblance of what he looked like before was his silver eyes.

"Neo." Hector said with a loud laugh as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You did _fantastic_ , I have never been so proud of you more than I am now."

Neo smiled and fluttered her eyelashes, flattered by the compliment, even though this is literally the first time Hector has _ever_ been proud of her, ever.

"Do I even want to ask… even if I already know the answer?" Adam asked as he rubbed a hand down his face.

"Nope, but you look like Neo's older brother now, or should I say younger?" Hector looked at Neo for confirmation, who just shrugged in response. "Twins it is, congratulations Adam, your new _new_ name is… uh… Blake any ideas?"

"Why would you think I care?" Blake hissed.

"Okay, not asking you that again, Neo any ideas?" He looked to the shorter girl beside him.

Neo held out a sign that came out of thin air, and on it in bold black letters said:

 **Politan**

"Politan? Neo seriously- wait…" Hector thought to himself for a few seconds. "Neo… and Politan… Nice one. What do you think Adam?"

"..." Adam could only stare at his beloved sword that has been changed to a color he would have never worn on his body normally. "I am content." He said instead of driving his adorable sword into Neo's body.

"Glad you are." Hector smirked. "Lets go, this day is far from over."

"The sun literally just rose." Blake pointed out.

"Like I said, far from over. Also shut up." Hector said all with a smile.

* * *

They all walk the rest of the way there in silence, but this time the group walks much closer together, almost shoulder to shoulder. Upon seeing them the guards question them, but once they see Hector, the hero of Mistral and Atlas, they let them in. Knowing that he is pure of heart and wouldn't hand around with anyone who would pose a threat to the kingdoms. How ironic and brave of them to think that.

Hector got continuously more sleepy as time went on, and they were barely ten percent closer to the Academy itself when it started to show in his movements. Not only has he been tired, but he hasn't eaten since he landed in the kingdom, nor has he drank. Blake noticed the way he was moving lethargically, but it was him almost tripping over his own feet where Neo had enough.

Without any sort of warning, she pushed Blake into Hector, causing them both to fall over, than grabbed 'Politan' by the wrist and pulled him until they were all touching each other.

Before Hector could ask her what she was doing, he found himself in the hall of Haven, a place that has been forever burned into his memory.

"Neo." He groaned as he rolled onto his back and looked at her.. "Why didn't you do that like five hours ago?"

Neo simply shrugged, the most likely case was because none of them bothered to ask her if she could do that.

"Whatever, we are going to have a talk soon anyway." He said as he pushed himself back onto his feet, Neo nodded her head, expecting something like that to go down. "Let's go see our darling friends-" He cut himself off as he turned around and a young black haired girl barreled into him.

"RJ!" Rhea exclaimed as she looked up at him from his chest.

"Ogh, hey Rhea. Missed you too." Hector said as he hugged her back, his long arms wrapping around her and relishing in the warmth that she provides. "How is everyone else?"

"Eh… we're fine for the most part. Yang trained me while you were gone, and Ruby has been…" Her voice trailed off, and she broke away from the hug with a flushed face when she saw that they weren't alone.

Neo made an adorable silent aw sound and placed her hands over her heart. Adam didn't really know what to do, so he just smiled and tried to look friendly. Blake smiled as well, but stepped away from Adam a few feet out of spite.

"Missing me? Angry? Going to kill me when she sees me?" Hector listed off possible outcomes without asking Knolly.

"All of the above…?" Rhea said with an apologetic look on her face.

Hector sighed and shook his head, that was something that needed to be handled as soon as possible. "That's what I get I guess. Where are they right now?"

"They told me that it was _the room_ and that you would know which room to go to." Rhea explained simply.

"Got it, let's go everyone, I am sleepy and I would much rather get on with this sooner rather than later." Hector said as he followed Rhea out the doors, faintly remembering the time he charged into the room to punch Cinder in the face. Good times.

As they walked, Rhea leaned closer to Hector. "Is that the guy that you went to go look for?" She asked, referring to the male Neo death glaring Neo in the back.

"Yup, he's Adam, he should be okay for now. But I don't want you around him without someone else with you okay?" Hector said in a firm voice that betrayed how tired he looked.

"O-okay." Rhea obeyed right away. "He doesn't look that scary though."

"Hah!" Hector laughed. "Yeah, you can thank the other girl behind me for that one, she's Neo by the way." Neo happily waved at the young Fall Maiden as he introduced her. "She's okay, you can talk to her, I can trust you not to try and kill my step daughter right?" Hector asked as he looked over his shoulder.

Neo put a thumbs up.

"Yeah, she's fine."

"Where did she come from? She's adorable!" Rhea exclaimed, and Neo somehow managed to fake a blush rushing up to her cheeks.

"She just sorta… showed up. I didn't really think much of it, and I decided to let her stick around. She's better a friend then an enemy anyway."

"Well I think me and her are going to be great friends." Rhea said innocently as she went to go chat with Neo, and quickly realized that she was mute and just tried her best, which only made her even more adorable than before.

She was precious, and he would be damned if he let anything happen to her.

He made sure to send Neo a warning glare, which was well received if her soft smile was of any indication.

She then stuck her tongue out at him, which made him wonder just how old she is.

* * *

"Alright, we're just a few doors down, you all can do your own thing if you want, but Politan," Hector smiled, amused with the fake name still. "You're gonna stick with me for now, I don't know how the others would feel about you just yet, I am sure you know what that means."

"Okay." Adam said without any real emotion in his voice.

"Neo… don't kill anyone, please." Hector practically begged with his hands clapped together as if he was praying.

Neo pouted, but nodded her head to his request.

Hector turned to find Blake, but found her already walking past him and into the room. He knew that she wasn't angry with him, might be angry at Neo, but it is mostly because of Adam. He noticed the dark spots under her eyes, indicating just how tired she was. He could understand that very well.

He also noticed the way Adam, or Politan, whatever you would prefer to call him. Look at her as she pushed by him, with a sad expression on his face. He hasn't looked at her, much less even try to talk to her ever since they found him and Neo. He deserves this kind of treatment after everything he did, he knows it. But it doesn't make it hurt any less for the ex-high leader of the White Fang.

Neo stuck by him, seemingly deciding to stick around for now, and not going off to do whatever she does when she is bored. Hector didn't think much of it, if she suddenly had a change of heart and was willing to work with them, he wasn't going to question it. But the matter on if she still blames Ruby for the death of Roman is another matter entirely. She must know that she is here, that much has to be true. At this point though, Ruby should be able handle herself against her, but as she is right now? She is in a weak emotional state.

Hector is willing to keep her around, but won't hesitate in casting her out if she threatened Ruby's safety.

Rhea reminded him that she was there and snapped him out of his thinking process when she grabbed him by the elbow, and pulled him gently to the room where his friends are no doubt waiting for his return.

He nodded toward her, and flicked his head to the other two young adults behind him. Then before he knew it the door was opened, and he was met immediately with the faces of all of his friends, including a smiling Ruby, whose eyes lit up upon seeing him. He didn't know what to do at first, since all of their eyes seemed to have been averted to the male Neo behind him, at least that was the case until Neo took off the disguise for him, revealing him to be the same Adam Taurus that helped changed all of their lives at the fall of Beacon. His neon red hair unmistakeable.

Yang scowled at him, and her human arm twitched out of PTSD from remembering the pain of losing her other arm that she was born with. It was going to be very difficult for her to get used to having him of all people as an ally. She stared him down as he made his way to a isolated part of the whole room, and sat on a small couch in the corner of the room. The darker lit part made it look like his hair was glowing, but his silver eyes was much more enticing.

To add even more to their surprise was when Neo twirled out and bowed toward all of them, looking at all of them at the end of her bow with a smirking face. Amused with all of their surprised expressions.

"Yeah… she's a good guy now too apparently." Hector said weakly, not really knowing how to explain recruiting the help of not only a former terrorist, but the help of a still active criminal who also helped make their lives a living hell.

Neo danced her way to the circle of sofas, and happily plopped down on the only empty one, and Rhea flew over to join her, much to her excitement.

"Am I missing something?" Nicholas Arc asked. "I understand the terrorist over there, but what's wrong with this one?"

" _Why did you have to ask that?"_ Hector asked from within his mind as he visibly flinched when Yang growled loudly and stomped toward her room, slamming the door shut. Blake sighed and followed her in.

' _Even without Qrow, it seems like you have your own way of finding bad luck.'_ Jinn _helpfully_ quipped.

"Long story Nick, I am just tired right now." Hector stepped forward, his tired face and demeanor much too obvious for them to not notice. He looked to Ruby anyways, who just looked back to him, and he never looked more nervous than he had before around her, which was both adorable and sad to her.

"I-"

"I'm not mad at you." Ruby said before Hector could try to make amends for leaving her in such a weak emotional state like he did.

"Yeah Hex, why would _Ruby_ of all people be mad at you for doing something you had to do anyway?" Nora asked with a wink.

From the corner of his eyes Hector could see Neo waggle her eyebrows at him teasingly.

"Y-Yeah, silly me." Hector was horrified by the yawn that escaped from his mouth the second he finished that sentence, but everyone just laughed at him for it and invited him over.

"I'll be around, just got to set things up for the Bullhead to take us to Beacon. Call me if you need be kids." Nicholas said as he noped out of there.

"He always does that, are we doing something wrong?" Ren asked Jaune.

"Nah, he is bad with people younger than him except for his own children." Jaune laughed as he made room for Hector to sit next to Ruby.

He fell back in the couch, and instantly almost fell asleep. His legs felt so heavy and his eyes closed almost automatically. But he forced himself to stay awake even as Ruby rested her head on his shoulder within the same second he sat down.

"I got plans for what we're going to do, I just need you guys to-"

"Nope, we can worry about it tomorrow." Ruby cut him off with a flick to his nose.

"What?" Hector asked stupidly.

"You're tired, and you can barely keep your eyes open. You're going to go to sleep right here."

"But-"

"No buts!" Ruby raised her voice, and Hector shut his mouth right away. This is what he gets for doing the right thing at the wrong time. The very wrong time.

"I don't have much time for rest."

"That's your problem." Jaune spoke up. "You don't _let_ yourself have time for rest."

"You're always doing something." Ren continued for him. "We rarely ever see you sitting down for more than a couple of minutes, you're always planning, training, raising Rhea, or talking to Ruby. "

"Don't think we haven't noticed that the last time you had a full nights sleep was the first night we left Atlas on the Bullhead." Nora finished.

Hector sighed, he lost this argument hands down, only because he didn't have the energy to argue back. He looked to Ruby, who despite the last twenty four hours, is still not any less happy to be around him, if anything, she is _more_ happy to see him than before.

"Pleeeeease?" Rhea nailed the final nail in the coffin with the most adorable puppy eyes face he has ever seen. Even Neo was taken aback by it and nearly fainted.

"Alright, alright, fine. I'll take it easy the next few days." Hector surrendered finally, and relaxed his shoulders. Took his tongue out from the roof of his mouth, and let his eyes gently close. "Just… be… quiet for…" He fell asleep in seconds, inadvertently trapping Ruby beside him since her arms were wrapped around one of his unless she wanted to stand up. She wouldn't stand up.

No one saw it, but Adam snickered quietly at the display. It was like they completely forgot that he was there for a few moments, but he would stay there until he was called upon. His own legs were tired, but he wouldn't dare falling asleep with the company he is with. But he feels as though a tense conversation with the blonde one, Yang, is in order.

But he felt something in the back of his mind, a warm sensation behind his eyes as he looked into Ruby's silver, a sense of familiarity, despite never really meeting the girl in the flesh before. He passes it off as being something that involves his silver eyes, and rests the back of his head on the wall.

If they all wanted to rest, then he would not get in the way of that.

* * *

 **Well, a lot of things happened this chapter, possibly the most characters I have had to write in a single chapter since the battle of Atlas. A lot of foreshadowing, a new** _ **LOOOONG**_ **arc is on it's way or has already commenced, and this AU Volume 7 is just getting more and more exciting for me to write. Two arcs happening at the same time is going to be challenging, but I relish in the challenge!**

 **What do you think of this chapter? The way I wrote the characters, about Hell specifically? I put more effort into him this chapter than in any other I feel, even with his epic battles. He is going to learn that having a soul is just as bad as it is good, because now he has something to lose.**

 **If you want to keep up with me and keep track of the progress of every chapter of every story I write, than follow me on my twitter! I have my name in my profile, so you can look for that if you want. I regularly update on the progress of every chapter I write. And I tweet a lot since I release a chapter every single week.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far!**


	50. RWBY: An Unlikely Hero chapter 50

**Hello everyone, and welcome to the 50th chapter of this amazing ride of a story we've been on for so long. 50 chapters… 1 or 2 every single week without stopping. Guys, and girls, I need a break from this story. I have been constantly grinding out chapters week after week, coming up with almost the entire story on the fly, until just a few weeks ago, maybe a month or two Idk, I finally started planning ahead and got about 99% of the entire story thought up and planned out. Hector used to be an extension of myself, but as time went on, I started seeing him as his own person, his own character, and now he is everything I want to be. Minus the whole Grimm DNA and all the other bad shit he's got going on of course. This story… god, this story saved me, not only did it make me realise a passion I didn't know I have, but it gave me so much self-satisfaction and made me want to create even more content for you all, my fans, I didn't think I'd ever get this many when I started this story, right now we are at 272 I think, so close to 300 already and it hasn't even been a year! Like, holy shit guys, that is a lot of clicks! Anyway, like I said before, I need a break from this story. Of course I am going to come back to it, of course I am going to finish this story, there is no doubt in my mind that I will, and there shouldn't be any in yours. I wouldn't type over 400,000 words into a story and** _ **not**_ **finish it, even I am not that cruel. Give me about… at least a few weeks, maybe a month. Then I will come back and start this story up again, this time going all the way until I finish the story.**

* * *

 **In the meantime, I will be focusing on The Blind Huntsman, which is quickly becoming my most popular story, and Team HAMR, which I am trying my best to get out there and blow up. While you wait for this story, why don't you give either of them a shot to? In the void of Unlikely Hero's absence, I might make the side story of Adam and what he has been doing up until the events of An Unlikely Hero.**

 **Of course, let me thank the reviewers from last chapter!**

 **Zeldawolffang: Exactly what was on my mind while writing all of that.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: I got the idea suddenly while writing that part out, and I couldn't resist it, I was going to make him look drastically different, but ended up not going for it. Neo Adam is just so much more satisfying to think about. I will heavily consider your point that you made about the relic of creation's look, and how I should keep going with what I was going with instead of changing it to follow the cannon, this is my story after all, it is already so different than what RT is doing for Vol 6. Salem going after the Summer Maiden… You'll see what happens. Hazel stood no chance, you'll soon see why. As for what is going to happen to Adam and Neo, I can't say anything because spoilers, and what is happening to them is going to be revealed soon. Oscar will be returning soon, you'll know when he will be, Sun and his team are again, spoilers, can't say much about them but they will be coming back. Thank you for sticking with me for so long :). FYI, I read your PM, Thank you for your response.**

 **Thank you both for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Okay, I hit the fuck it button, and I made a account. If you want to support me through there, go right ahead, but if you don't, that is perfectly fine to. Just thought that if I am going to be doing this seriously for as long as I plan, than I should at least get something out of it beside pure joy and satisfaction.**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**

 **And of course, there is still my twitter account if you want to see how I am doing with everything including my stories.**

 **T witt er . com (slash) genatools**

* * *

 **This chapter is entirely dedicated to Red Rivers, so yes, the Lemon is going to be in this chapter. This is an emotional chapter as well, so it is not all entirely dedicated to the lemon. If you want to skip it, I will put an L to indicate where it begins, and another L where it ends. Just letting you all know that this isn't going to be some shameless smut story right now, there is a romance category for a reason, and this is the only lemon I will be writing for this story. You guys voted for it after all a pretty long time ago. So now I am finally fulfilling that promise I made to you all who voted for the lemon. Wish me luck!**

 **Once I get back to the story, I'll bring back all the other characters and continue as normal. This is going to be a shorter chapter, because of everything I've told you before this point. Thank you for understanding.**

* * *

 **And yes, I skipped a number, I got tired of always making the chapter number one less than it really was.**

* * *

Chapter 50- Rest

Hector was tired, that much was obvious. He has been sleeping for hours, so much so that when he got back, it was very early morning, and he fell asleep almost immediately. It was now night time, and just now he is finally showing some signs of waking up. He felt really warm, both on the inside and the outside, though the inside could be excused for his semblance working it's magic, no pun intended, and keeping him warm. It did that when he was in Atlas fighting against the endless tide of Grimm, and kept him warm long enough for the homeostasis within his body to stay as such for the doctors to help save him.

His blue eyes fluttered open, he started getting his feeling back into his muscles once he moved his left arm and rubbed his face with that hand. Even after sleeping for so long, he still felt tired, though that may be because he literally just woke up. He tried moving his right arm, but soon found it trapped in a bundle of red and soft breathing that tightened when he tried moving away.

"Ruby slept with me?" He asked nobody in particular.

"She stayed with you the whole time." A deep voice replied, startling him for a few seconds before he realized that it was Adam, and that he is kinda a good guy now. That was going to get some getting used to.

"Were you watching us the whole time?" Hector asked, a bit freaked out.

"No." Adam shook his head, thank the gods. "She however, did." He gestured to Neo, who was still sitting in the couch in front of Hector, with Rhea sleeping on her with her head resting on her lap.

"Oh, hey Neo." Hector waved with his free hand. She happily waved back and stroked Rhea's hair. It was both a fun, and a terrifying thing that Rhea seemed to have fallen in love with the multicolored girl who may or may not be insane. He honestly doesn't know. He did eye her down with a knowing message, of which she simply raised her hands in surrender and smiled back. Then disappearing in a flash of white, Rhea's head fell down the short distance and onto the soft cushion, still completely asleep, which was very convenient. In a way, he supposed that Neo _could_ be trusted, if he was really her new 'Torchwik' for a lack of a better term, then she was loyal to him, and wouldn't do anything to hurt him or his friends.

How far that loyalty went, was unknown to him, and it worried him.

"What did you do in the meantime?" Hector asked Adam after a few moments of thinking about what he should do about Neo and Rhea, and if he should actually go through with it.

"I trained, the others don't seem too keen on my being here, but that was to be expected." He answered, tapping a hand on the scabbard of his blade that is still attached to his hip.

"Well, you did cut off Yang's arm, destroyed their school, and made Blake run away from everything in some futile attempt to keep them safe." Hector listed off, he held a neutral expression on his face. Adam didn't do anything to _him_ per se, but he did a lot to his friends. If he did do something to him, bringing him here might not have been as peaceful as it was.

"I'm… aware." Adam sighed. "I was getting back into shape, If I am to fight with you all, it is better that I am back in peak condition." He switched back to the topic he was much more comfortable with.

"I'm fine with that, the others might not, but if you are really going to be joining us in this war. You are going to have to get on with them, not that I am saying you need to become best friends with them." He quickly added when he saw his eyebrows furrow down. "Just at the very least, you should become associates."

"That road relies on the cooperation of both parties." Adam hissed lightly.

"You're right." Hector agreed, to the mild surprise of Adam himself. "You're staying with us, that much was already confirmed once you agreed to come help us, so either way, whether they like it or not. You're here to stay, one way or another."

"Hm." Adam nodded his head, he didn't show it, but he was relieved that Hector was so mature about this and was willing to give him the chance to prove himself. He can't mess this up, not again.

Ruby began to stir, her eyes twitching before barely opening just enough for silver to peek through. Then they shut again.

Hector looked to him with a gaze that requested him to leave the living room. Luckily he was able to catch it, and with a nod, left to go do some more training again, thinking about what he should work on this training session.

Once he was out of sight, he looked down at the young woman clutching to his arm, silver eyes looking right into his. It made him freeze, not knowing exactly what was the correct thing to say or do to her. Instead he leaned his forehead against hers and smiled when she leaned into his touch.

"I'm still tired." Ruby barely whispered.

Hector chuckled, and began to stand up. Letting Ruby adjust herself so that she was picked up in his arms. "Would you believe me if I said I was still tired too?" He asked as he started walking to his old room that he stayed in so long ago.

"No."

Hector yawned loudly.

"Yes."

Hector chuckled again, and opened the door with his foot. Why the door was already opened like that, he didn't want to know. Rhea seemed perfectly fine on the couch, if her light snoring was of any indication. So he decided that he would just come back to her once he let Ruby down on the bed.

Ruby finally woke up enough to realize that she was being carried in such an embarrassing way, and hid her red face in his chest even as he laid her down on his own bed. Hector mentally thanked his friends for not occupying this room, then again they probably just went to their old rooms too, and Nicholas took Qrow's old room, so it was basically almost the exact same set up they had before.

"I'll let you sleep." Hector said as he stood up straight after putting her down, but instead of lying down she sat down on the bed and looked up at him. "I have to go talk to the others, about Adam, Neo, and what we're going to do now." He shook his head, if only he had the time to take a break, he already took a long enough one as it is.

"I don't want you to go." Ruby pleaded, almost making it sound like she was begging.

He cut himself off from his own thoughts, and glanced to Ruby, suddenly remembering the revelation she had not even a full day ago. The tears building up at the corner of her eyes made his heart squeeze, and he felt sympathetic for her to and irresistable degree.

Hector sat down beside her, not even thinking twice about what he should really be doing at this moment. It was night time anyway, everyone is already asleep. Ruby needed him here and now. He has neglected her for long enough that he will feel guilty about it for months to come.

The second he touched down on the bed, she tightly wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. He hugged her back and rested his chin on top of her head.

"My…my mom is." Ruby choked out.

"I know Ruby. I know." Hector didn't know what else to say, technically he lost his whole family when he came here with no way of getting back to them, so he knows how it feels. But not in the way she had. She had Summer for a few years, to his knowledge she was a fantastic mother who loved both her and Yang very much, until one day, she left on a mission and didn't come back from it. Whatever that mission may have been, he hadn't had the heart to ask Knolly to show him, because then he'd have to tell Ruby and Yang about it. But now all of a sudden she is still alive, and has been ever since she left on that mission. Everyone thought she was dead, Qrow especially, who seemed to have taken the news harder than anyone else excluding Tai. If his drinking was of any indication.

"When we can, we'll go find her. I promise you that."

"Mmm… thank you."

He didn't think about it much until now, it must have been heartbreaking for Yang and Ruby to find out that she is still around. Wherever she may be, again, he didn't have the heart to ask Knolly, he might have dropped everything to go find her just so he can make Ruby happier. He couldn't afford to do that his realistic side told him. But his heart told him to go for it, not only could it make Ruby happier, along with Yang and everyone else he can think of, but they could gain yet another powerful ally.

But that would run the heavy risk of losing the Summer Maiden, and the Relic of Destruction. Destruction is the most dangerous relic on it's own, and in Salem's hands? It could mean the war being lossed right on the spot if she knew how to use it properly.

It was a risk he couldn't take, and he knew it.

"How do you do it?" Ruby asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Hector tilted his head in confusion.

Ruby broke away from him just enough so that she could look him in the eyes. "How do you do this? All of this, everything you must have been through. How?"

"I had a lot of help, and I got _really_ lucky." Hector answered with a small amount of hesitation. He'd thought the same thing, how did he do what he did and somehow managed to make it work? He'd gone through mostly everything he has been through in this life while planning on the spot.

"That's not what I meant." Ruby said next.

"What do you mean then?"

"You think we can't tell… you're really good at pretending and lying about how you really feel, probably so much so that you managed to convince even yourself."

Hector narrowed his eyes, not out of maliciousness, not out of anger or disappointment.

But out of sadness.

He remained silent, though he wanted to say that he was here for her, and that it shouldn't be the other way around.

"You can talk to us, and if not the others then you can talk to me… you know that, right?" She asked, sounding desperate to help him.

"It's not important." Hector argued, dodging the question, the answer should have been obvious anyway. "What wrong with me shouldn't be your top priority."

"It is now." Ruby snapped, pushing him away and glaring at him angrily. "There is no going back here, either you open up now, or you don't, and risk snapping at any second. Be it at us, Rhea, or at me."

"You don't understand." Hector looked away, hiding his human eye that is beginning to tear up and become bloodshot. "Yes, whatever brought me here tore me away from my family, and whatever made Ozpin choose me to reincarnate in dragged me into this war. You want to know if I am messed up? Well yeah, I am." He laughed, bitterly and angrily, but not toward her, more at the game of fate that has been playing with his life. "I am not even from this planet, or this dimension, or wherever the _fuck_ I actually come from, I don't know anymore. I lost my entire family, I lost my home, I lost my friends, hell, I even lost most of my humanity. I thought that this," He waved his hands around, gesturing to not just the room, but the whole world. "Was just supposed to be some show I watched online, not that I would _ever_ become a part of it." He snapped his face back to her, the tears finally breaking free from his eyes and trailing down his face.

Ruby held his hand, and squeezed it. She didn't speak, but rather let him get it all out, she can't imagine what it must have been like. Being pulled in to your favorite tv show could be cool and all, but all that you would have to sacrifice would eventually make you want to go back.

"I…" He sobbed. "I don't know how much longer I can do this, Ruby. I hear these voices, Jinn's, my own- or at least I hope it's my own. Salem…" He grit his teeth. "Then there's this constant threat of Ozpin, I don't know what he is planning, if he is going to try and take me over again, if he is even on our side to begin with. If he was _ever_ on our side to begin with. Knolly told me a lot of things about him…" He took in a deep, raspy breath of air. "I don't think I ever really knew him, and he is a part of me. Hell, Ozpin isn't even his real name." Hector clutched his chest where his heart is located, feeling a sharp pain as his heart beated harder.

It was a condition he has had for a very long time, the name of said condition too long and complicated to remember, and was eventually lost to time. It happens when he is fighting and training intensely, but it also happens when he is stressed like he is now. He didn't show it or tell anyone about it, it wasn't lethal anyway, it only just hurt like hell. So he found it unimportant for it to get treated. It was probably something that Remnant's doctors wouldn't understand anyway, him being from a different world and all that.

It is one of the last things he had left from his Earth life.

As the pain grew in intensity, he buckled over and groaned in pain. Not able to hide like he has been able to for so long. His muscles around his chest and his left shoulder throbbed painfully as the pain started to subside.

"Hector, are you okay!?" Ruby asked, panicked. Placing a hand on his back and one in his open hand to steady him.

"I-I'm fine." Hector coughed. "Just my chest is hurting, don't worry about it." He wiped the tears away from his human eye, and let his hand fall down to his lap.

"Hector… you need to rest." He didn't resist as Ruby pulled him down with her. With him on his back and Ruby on her side facing him.

"Rest…" He smiled sadly, submitting himself to those five simply words that came out of Ruby's mouth. "Rest sounds good right about now." He rolled onto his side so that he faced her. More than tired after his emotional outburst.

"Yeah…" Ruby closed the distance between them, and softly planted her lips on his own. Hector melted into her touch immediately, and they continued to kiss passionately with each other for minutes.

There was no immediate rest, Ruby was the one to deepen their displays of physical affection. Pushing him over and straddling him while also keeping their lips attached to each other. Once they broke away, they panted for air while looking into each other's eyes. Hector's hand moved up the the middle of her back, and moved his other so that it was on the back of her neck, deepening the kiss they shared when he pulled her in.

In one swift motion, he switched the positions they were in. With himself on top and Ruby beneath him, her eyes still slightly red from her own sadness that they had earlier, but now filled with nothing but affection. As he descended himself back down to her, he started to realize what was going on, and what was going to happen if the didn't stop himself now.

He pulled back from Ruby, and his face was redder than it has ever been before.

"I… uh…" He hesitated, not knowing how he should explain himself to her. The taste of strawberry still ever present in his mouth.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, just as red as he is. There was also a hint of worry and concern, was there something wrong with her?

"Nothing, it's just… I don't know if we should keep going. I don't want to get too carried away here." He said hesitantly. "It's just that we've only been together for about a month, and I don't want to rush things, and I don't-"

"I want to." Ruby admitted suddenly, cutting him off and somehow making his face even redder than it was before. "If that's okay… I mean we don't _have_ to, if you don't want to…"

"It's not that I don't want to." He gasped, and soon found himself caught in a trap. She looked back up at him with a small smile on her face, she really was beautiful, he always knew that, but now… "I just, don't know if… we should… or… _I_ should… or..." He gulped, feeling his body's natural instincts take over the lower half of his body when Ruby leaned up, and kissed his neck, making it clear to him of what she wants.

"I want _you_." Ruby declared as she kissed him on the lips once again. "I want to feel loved by you, because I… I love you." She hid her face in his chest, he didn't even realize that her hood was already off and discarded at the corner of the bed.

Those three words were enough to convince him.

He brought his hands from beside her ears and onto her face, making her look back up at him as he leaned back down to kiss her lips, and later move down to kiss her neck. She moaned, surprised by his newfound aggressiveness and tilted her neck in a way which gave him greater access. Instead, he moved his mouth up to her ear to whisper some of his own choice words to her, words that he certainly knew that he was holding within himself for so long.

"I love you, too."

…

' _Master, I am going to shut myself off for now.'_ Knolly said as she blocked out all vision from this point onward.

* * *

 **L**

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Without any further deliberation, the two lovers passionately kissed each other. Momentarily fighting for dominance until Ruby gave in shortly after the fight began. His tongue entered her mouth and it intensified further from there. It started getting increasingly warmer as the two of them continued, Ruby was the first to start untying the corset she always wore. With a little help from Hector, they were able to get it off and soon discard it along with her hood. A fun fact about the corset was that it was also attached to her skirt, revealing a pair of red and black panties.

Hector took a moment to take the sight in, she looked so enticing with the way her leggings were slightly torn up, and the last article of clothing that hid a very delicate body part from him. He considered taking the last piece off, but decided that it was time to undress himself instead, the heat was getting too much, even for him.

He knelt up straight and slid off the dark red shirt that fit snugly against his muscles. Revealing his scarred body and the results of all of his training and constant fighting. She bit her lip as Hector went to work on his belt, and quickly ended up throwing it away and off of the bed. With his pants now looser, they fell lower just enough so that his underwear showed, and the V that lead down to his private regions was on display just for Ruby.

She rose up and traced the many scars that he had on his body, the one he had left over from his fights with Raven and Cinder, the large scar that spread over a small diameter just in the lower left part of his torso where a clone of Tyrian stabbed him all the way through with his tail. Then the ones he got from protecting her and their friends from Hell, it rose up from his right pectoral and stopped at his collarbone, and the light burn marks he gave to himself that ran all the way up his bicep and into his shoulders. Aura and magic can do so much, but it can't work to hide every bit of damage that his body has endured over the course of his new life.

The glove he had stayed on, though he considered taking it off. Afraid that the sign that has been burned into his skin would ruin the mood they are both in.

That was until Ruby took his hand, knelt up with him, and slid it off. Revealing the cursed mark of Salem. To his surprise, she kissed it, and pressed her face into that hand. She smiled beautifully at him, and right after she leaned up to kiss him once again while working on the many straps she had to keep her clothes tight to her body.

As they kissed, the snap of every strap coming loose excited the both of them. She has never been naked in front of anyone outside of the family before, so it was safe to say that she was extremely shy when the loose white shirt she wore underneath her whole outfit started to slip over her shoulders and revealed the top of her breasts.

Hector was more than happy to help with the rest, being careful to not go too far too fast. This isn't the first time he is doing something like this, at least he hopes it is still that way. He was recently experienced, and that was important for both him and Ruby in this case.

Instead of taking it off like Ruby thought he would when he brought his hands back onto her body, she gasped lightly when he felt her chest through her clothes. Getting even redder as he nibbled at her neck. It felt good, a strange feeling she is feeling for the very first time. She felt heat between her legs, and rubbed her thighs together as he continued his assault on her delicate body.

He wasn't showing it, but he was very nervous about taking off the rest of her clothes. He did it anyway of course, slowly reaching to the bottom of the shirt and raising it high enough to reveal her belly, which his warm hands traced over and felt every inch of. Until eventually, with more easing in, he was able to slip the shirt over her head and off of her arms, and through it in a random direction. Effectively leaving her in just her underwear.

His heart nearly skipped a beat when she placed one hand on his face suddenly, and the other in the middle of his midriff, slowly dragging it down lower to his increasingly hard region. She seemed to have become a different person with the way her eyes looked, and the teasing smile she gave him as she pressed her body up against him, and made him lie down on his back with her on top this time. His hands worked up to the skin of her back, and soon later up to her bra, which was very easy to unclip, thank the gods. He didn't know if it was the same way or not from where he is from to where he is now.

He widened his eyes and moaned softly when Ruby slid her hand down his underwear, and felt the coolness from her hand inch ever closer to a certain part of him. He quickly undid her bra, and threw it away. Revealing the rest of her upper body that he longed to see, and if she wanted to play dirty with him, than he would do the same.

Hesitantly, but quickly. He dragged his hands up from her butt, to her hips, to her belly, and then up to her chest. Taking pleasure in her surprised moan as he took each breast into his hands, before moving one to the back of her head to bring her in for another deep kiss.

She finally closed the distance between her hand and his length, the contact making them both shiver with excitement.

He swapped the positions again in one swift motion, taking off the rest of his clothes while doing so and tossing it aside. Leaving the both of them stark naked beside Ruby's last vestiges of undergarments. Their minds were swirling, the thoughts of what is going to happen in the next few minutes or seconds is all the are thinking about. This is her first time, and though her career as a huntress has long ago torn her hymen, that doesn't make her any less nervous about it. But she can't go back now.

Besides, she was the one who managed to get everyone asleep early in the first place, giving her and Hector the perfect window of opportunity from there.

Not that she'd ever admit that to him, he would never let her live it down for the rest of their lives if he ever found out about her schemes. The only bad part of the plan she had was hoping that Hector woke up at the perfect time, which he did luckily, it turned out fate was deciding to be nicer today.

They both needed this, after everything they've been through, the weight on their shoulders. This will be great for both of them, to express their love for each other, and to show it not through words, but through actions. Well, a more _intimate_ type of action.

When Hector groaned and tore off her underwear, something primal waking up from inside him, something he has long been suppressing. She was brought back to reality.

Before she knew it his hand was already going to work down there, and her moans of pleasure were all he could hear as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. After a few minutes of this, they were ready.

In silence, he positioned himself properly so that he could enter her and they become one. But he hesitated, looking into her eyes as if asking for permission.

Too shy to say anything, Ruby brought his face with both hands, and softly kissed his lips. Giving him the sign of approval he needed to go through with it.

In a soft gentle motion, he prodded into her. Testing her at first to gauge her reaction, her nod told him to keep going, and he did. Slowly but surely becoming one with each passing second, until in one swift motion, he took her virginity.

Ruby gasped and bit down on Hector's shoulder, the pain compared to everything else he has felt throughout his life was nothing. Just in case he weakened his aura as to not damage her teeth in any way, if it actually worked like that, he didn't know and was not willing to test it now of all times.

Soon enough, she managed to draw blood, the liquid tasting oddly well in her mouth. Before realizing what she had done and kissing the spot she bit down on as an apology. He began to move while inside her, the pain quickly fading away into nothing but pleasure and loving contact.

/-/

This continued for longer than they bothered to keep track of, all the while they kisses, enjoyed this moment between themselves, and felt good while they were at it. He was getting close to his release, he was feeling the odd warm sensation travel through his groin and into his flesh. Ruby on the other hand, has already been through it multiple times, her body allowing itself to be submissive to the much larger man. Any idea of her being the one on top was waved away when they came together one last time.

"I love you." Hector was the one to say it first this time, and he made sure to look in her silver eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness as he did so.

"I love you, too." Ruby replied with the most happiest smile Hector has ever had the pleasure of seeing.

* * *

 **L**

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They fell asleep soon after they were done, entangled in each others arms as sleep overtook them once again. Ruby was the first to awaken, and even though she had to pee so badly, the shared warmth Hector provided was too much for her to be able to convince herself that it was time to relieve herself.

Instead, she prodded Hector's nose with her own nose, since one of her arms was pinned under his surprisingly heavy weight, and her other pinned beneath his arm and midsection.

His eyes fluttered open, and blue met silver and everything they did last night filled his thoughts. He woke up immediately.

"Ah, ajubahwhat?" He stupidly made up a word as he sucked in air through his nose, his body still being half asleep even as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position.

She giggled at his antics, and happily detangled herself from him and grabbed her hood that was left on the bed frame, how it got from the floor up to the bed frame was not what she wanted to think about right now, and even though they did what they did last night, she still covered herself out of shyness.

Hector blinked his eyes a few times and rubbed his face with his hand. He felt good, very good, he feels lighter and energized, generally just in a great mood.

He smiled and laughed when he noticed Ruby being all shy.

"You're really hiding yourself? Hate to break it to ya, but I kinda already have every second of what happened burned into my memory." He teased.

" _SHUT UUUP_." Ruby huffed as she defiantly sauntered over to the bathroom, with _his_ shirt and underwear.

"Wait, what am I going to wear?" Hector asked just as the door slammed shut. "Hey! Those are my clothes you know." He stood up, uncaring of his nakedness to go knock on the door.

So much so that he didn't notice the entrance to his room opening him and his stepdaughter walking in.

"Hey RJ can we train together- AAAAAHH!" Rhea screamed, terrified at the sight she has before her.

To Hector's horror, he started screaming too. To make things worse, he was in the middle of the room so he had nothing to hide himself with besides his hands.

"AAHHH!"

"AAAHHH!"

"AAAAHHH!"

"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!?"

"WHY ARE YOU STILL NAKED!?"

"GET OUT!" Hector finally demanded, the most red he has ever been in front of Rhea before even as she didn't even have to respond because she was already out of the room, giving him the time he needed to sprint to his dresser that he desperately hopes still has some of his old clothes in it, and luckily found a dark green pair of underwear. He thanked the gods for his luck and threw them on in under a second.

Neo peeked her head around the corner, curious as to what would have made her scream like that and cause the others to panic. The poor girl in her frantic fear forgot to close the door, and Neo actually went red when she saw the state of undress Hector was in right before he put on his underwear. Then when he turned to go close the door that was still open, she disappeared using her semblance, not daring to get caught peeking at him.

"Are you okay, what happened!?" Ruby shouted as she bursted out of the bathroom, Hector's oversized clothes draping over her shoulder and threatening to slip off. She also had Crescent Rose, why she brought it into the bathroom with her, why she brought it into the _bedroom_ with her. Is something that Hector is sorta afraid to ask at the moment

"Oh yes, tell me what happened." Nora said as she sat beside Hector with her elbow resting on his shoulder, the man in question was desperately trying to reach for his old leather jacket and pine colored pants, while sitting as still as a rock as Yang stared at him with the death glare. The rest of JBLN standing by while respectively averting their eyes from what was before them. About half of Team HRRY on the other hand, was not very happy with what they saw. One of them even ran away screaming.

Adam walked by, saw what was going on, and went the other direction, muttering "Nope" as he did so. Nicholas did the same thing a few seconds later.

"Yes, what _did_ happen last night?" Yang asked with a very unsettling smile on her face. She glanced toward Ruby, who folded up her scythe and burned a red color, really wishing that she would have taken her own clothes which are still scattered all over the floor for everyone to see.

Hector cleared his voice, sacrificing himself to her attention once again to let Ruby gather her clothes.

"I really have no way of getting out of this without telling the truth, because honest is what matters right?" No one was amused. "Okay… uh… Ruby and I sorta… uh… had… y'know, the sex."

"Hm, that explains the bra hanging off the bed frame right beside you." Yang said in a very odd calm voice. She cocked her Ember Celica as well, the sound of the metal clanking making him and Ruby flinch. "I approved of you two a long time ago, I don't know what you're so worried about."

"... Really?" Hector dared to hope, actually reaching his pants finally and slipping them on.

"Nope, come on Hex." Yang smiled eviling and turned around. "We got some training to do."

"Oh…" Hector sighed. "Okay, I can do that."

"Hehehehe." Nora smiled giddish at him. "I _need_ a play by play by the time we get to Vale."

"You know what? If I make it through today with both balls, I'll make Ruby do it."

"WHAT!?" Ruby shrieked.

"Deal!" They were already shaking hands on it by the time Ruby was able to convince them otherwise.

' _Master…? Can I come out yet?'_

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 **Ha, what a fun chapter to write. The whole sex stuff was alright for me to write, I didn't really have much trouble with it in all honesty, hopefully I did it well**

 **If you haven't read the authors note at the very top, please do so now, it is very important.**

 **Please review, and tell me what you think of the story so far, what you like, what you don't like. During this month I am away from this story I would like to know what you think.**

 **If you're curious, the story is about 50-60% done, that alone tells you how much story I got left to do. I think it will be safe to say that this story will hit a million words, maybe, if all goes well and crazy.**

 **Love you all!**


	51. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 51

**Welcome back everyone! Thank you for letting me have that well needed break! I got plenty of nice reviews and comments about last chapter, and I thank you all for that. But something I am going to point out just one more time just in case, is that the lemon last chapter is going to be the only lemon of the story. A long time ago I put up a poll to see if you guys wanted a lemon in the story, and surprise surprise, 66% of you selected yes, so I finally held up my end of the deal last chapter. All future sex moments are just going to be implied and not written, and if I do decide to hit the fuck it button and write another one for this story, it is going to be mostly non-explicit.**

 **It's good to be back! I have a lot of reviews to catch up on!**

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 **Zeldawolffang: Lots of things will happen this chapter, trust me.**

 **Matrixmachine: I'm glad you're excited! Thank you for liking my story!**

 **Guest 1: if you want to be exact about it, I'd say that I write about 300-400 words each AN? So yeah it** _ **technically**_ **won't be a million story words, but the future chapters after that will make it so.**

 **Empress Astra: It's good to have you back my Queen! I believe I responded to you in a PM now that is an availability to me, I'll be doing that from now on because of how many words it takes for the story itself here. Welcome back again!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: I got that charm, turning characters who were evil to the good side, I try my best anyways. ATLA was and still is one of my favourite shows of all time, I just wish they created a sequel show that continued the story of Aang. We'll see what happens between Yang and Hector, it might surprise you more than anything else really. The relic of choice is the most powerful when combined with the other relics, the relic of destruction is the most dangerous when it's on it's own compared to the others. I mean, I would think that the relic would be the most destructive physically anyway, the other relics are Knowledge, choice, and Creation. None of them really sound like they would be killing a lot of people.**

 **Guest 2: That's exactly what I was thinking about before. Thank you for the compliment as well!**

 **Travisck: Why thank you my good sir. Blake would enjoy any smut section of any story. She is just like that.**

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 **And there we go! If you are curious or just wanna see it, I drew a picture of Hector from this story myself, the version of him that only had one eye. I did my best, it's not perfect and it is pretty basic, but go ahead and take a look at it on my twitter whenever you want. I tried making it the cover art, but for some reason I am not able to, if you know how I can fix that, please let me know.**

 **Now let's get straight to the story!**

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Chapter 51- That Effect You Have

After yet another long training session between the Spring Maiden and the blue eyed Hero of the kingdoms. They both collapsed to the ground into a sitting position not even three feet away from each other. Hector Rivers has reclaimed his old clothing from when he actually knew what the future was going to hold, pine green combat pants, black boots, sadly he wasn't able to get a shirt because a certain little red riding hood stole that from him after a night of funzies, so he is left with a spare dark red leather jacket that he forgot that he had until today.

His red flames died out as he leaned back on his hands, looking into the equally excited and amused eyes of one such as Yang, who bursted out laughing along with him as they recall their recent sparring match.

Unlike the other matches they had from before, they were actually able to go all out this time. The training room didn't really survive, burn marks, patches of ice, shattered glass and destroyed pieces of the walls _and_ ceilings were scattered all around them.

To his surprise, Hector wasn't able to beat her with Kaioken times twenty. The match lasted too long, and Yang's semblance caught up to him, forcing him to go beyond. Not so far that he rendered himself unconscious in a coma, but enough to give his aura patches of blue as he fought at a thirty times multiplier. He was barely able to come out on top at the end after landing one of his signature knees into her stomach, while at the same time she landed a devastating right hook into his face. The shockwaves of both of these attacks cracked the tiles around them, and both of their auras failed at the same time.

Yet another draw.

"That… was epic, even though it was another draw." Hector said between pants as he held out a thumbs up and a wide smile.

"Yeah, you definitely got the blood flowing there Hex, good job." Yang smiled back, and they bumped fists together. "Just promise me one thing please, I know it's probably stupid to ask of you… but, you and my sister, I can tell that she loves you, and I _know_ you love her back, right?" Her eyes flamed up and she glared at him with a sudden dark intensity.

"Yes, of course, you are in the correct." Hector said a little frantically. His smile got smaller but softer, and not at all less happy than before. He understood her concerns, she's told him about the times where she had to deal with hormonal angsty teenagers that only liked her for her looks and big titts rather then her personality.

"I'm no teacher, but I don't think that's how you say that." Yang said as they both shared yet another chuckle. "Anyways, you're my best friend Hex, you get me, and I would like to think that I get you."

Hector felt a warmth building up from inside him from her words. "Yeah, well you know, I got that effect on people."

Yang chuckled again. "See? You always know what to say to a girl, you're gonna be good for Ruby. I just need you to promise me something." She stood up slowly, and Hector followed suit. She held out her hand, and he grabbed it with little hesitation and neither of them winced when they squeezed the other's hands with tremendous strength. "Take care of her, she's a sensitive girl."

"I promise-"

"Hey, I'm not done yet." Yang interrupted, playfully punching him in the shoulder with more force then was really necessary. Hector tried to play it tough, but ended up having to rub the spot where she punched with a muted 'Ouch'.

"You need to take care of yourself to you know, you got a really strong semblance, be it just a magical ability or not, problem is that you can end up killing yourself with it, we both know that. If you died… Ruby would be devastated, Ozpin would be set free again into a random person somewhere in the world, and I would have lost a great friend. I don't think I can handle any more loss." Yang said with a choked gasp, she was getting emotional. The tears building up in the corners of her eyes said so. "We lost a lot of family Hector. Summer, I am still trying to come to terms with her, we all thought she died, and now I find out that she has not only been alive all these years, but apparently didn't care about us enough to see us again… then there's Raven, m-my mother." The tears began to spill, and Hector pulled her into a gentle embrace. She leaned her head on his shoulder and cried into it.

"The moment my actual mother started loving me again, she died, and the only thing I have left to remember her is this power she gave me. My dad is crippled, and my uncle is a depressed mess that thinks we can't tell he's thinking about offing himself." She said into his shoulder.

Hector hummed softly, he couldn't say he understood exactly how she felt, but after last night Ruby got him to open up a bit. He pretty much lost everyone he knew, family or otherwise when he woke up in this world. He was just keeping it under wraps this whole time.

"If we lose you next?" She laugh bitterly. "I don't think even Ruby would be able to bounce back from that one, I don't think _I_ would be able to either." She looked up at him, Hector being just a few inches taller than she was. "Whether you like it or not, we're family now, you did sorta seal the deal when you took my sister's V-card."

Hector couldn't help but laugh at that, even as she was now she was able to crack a joke like that. "Yeah, it sucks but I think I can handle it."

"You better… so, do you promise?" She asked, leaning away and stepping back from him, her red eyes locked with his.

"I… I promise to do my best Yang." She narrowed her eyes at him. "It's the best I can give you, I can't guarantee that we are all going to make it out of this one alive or unhurt. I may have to take risks in order to protect you all, because like I know you would, I would give my life to keep Ruby safe and alive. I promise that I will do my best to come out of all of this alive, but I can't promise that I won't give it in order to save one of you guys."

"I… think I'm okay with that. Damn you Hex, everytime I think I get you, you surprise me with something else." Yang sighed. "I'll take it. Now c'mere you big lug, I am in a hugging mood now." She said as she held her arms out to her sides to offer herself to the temptations of a hug.

Hector rolled his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her once again, and rested his chin on her shoulder just as she did to his. They tightened their arms around each other for a few seconds before breaking apart, each in a much better mood then before.

"You know… if you and Ruby didn't get together, I might have had to claim you for myself.~" She said with a wink, and a light blush sprinkled over her cheeks.

Hector widened his eyes slightly, that one got to him. "I- wow, uh- shit… thanks?" He ended up saying after a few seconds of stuttering.

"Ha! It's been a while since I managed to make you blush!" Yang cheered, throwing a fist up into the air before wincing when that side of her stinged with pain climbing up from where hector punched her there before. "I still got it!"

Hector facepalmed, and turned away from her to head back to the dreaded room that they were stuck in for a good few months prior to the battle of Haven. "I am going to go back, you coming?"

"Yeah, sure. You should go see Rhea first thing though, she wanted to talk to you about something earlier this morning but, you know… Mister Exposing himself over here." Yang said with stifled snicker.

"Ha ha, yeah, laugh it up." He sarcastically laughed. "Yeah, I'll go talk to my stepdaughter, try to see if I can undo some of the scarring done to her mind after seeing me naked before we start getting ready for the trip to Vale… Though I am a bit more concerned about Nora just in case she actually tried asking Ruby for a play by play of what happened last night." Hector and Yang both widened their eyes in perfect sync as the realized that it was _Nora_ that they were talking about here.

They both looked to each other as they walked side by side, ignoring the looks and murmuring of the students around them commenting on how strong they were to have destroyed the training room so viciously.

"I think we should start running." Hector suggested.

Yang was already way ahead of him before he could even finish that sentence.

* * *

When it came to Ruby, there was no ends to the possibilities of how red she can get. As of right now, she was still stuck wearing the clothes of her lover after the night they shared together. His oversized shirt and boxers comfortable, but only added to her embarrassment when Nora kept on asking how it was for her.

"Was it big? How big was it? Was he rough? Did you _like_ it rough?" Nora asked about thirty seven more similar questions of the same topic that just kept making Ruby redder and redder as she was forced to remember every little detail about the night before. She wanted to get get back into her usual clothing, but she didn't realize that they got a little… bitey, last night, and there were several red hickeys on her body. She only noticed them when she looked into the mirror that morning, and couldn't bring herself to try to defend her lover even as he was being dragged out in his old clothing by her sister just because of how embarrassed she was.

"So!? Tell me, tell me!" Nora exclaimed, her arm draped out around her shoulders.

"Please don't talk about D- RJ's sex life around me, I don't need to hear it." Rhea begged as she tried to cover all four of her ears. She doesn't need any more imagery of her guardian naked in her head anymore, she has had enough of that to last a couple of lifetimes already.

"I'm not. I'm just as uncomfortable as you are." Ruby mumbled just loud enough for the faunus maiden to hear her.

"Nora, I think enough is enough. Leave the poor girl alone." Ren finally faced his fears and came to their rescue, much to the happiness of Ruby and Rhea and to the dismay of Nora Valkyrie as she stuck her tongue out at him, before looking back at Ruby and making a V with her hands, and then proceed to make a suggestive gesture with her tongue at that V formation.

"No! He didn't do that!" Ruby shrieked, even more red now.

"Phooey, next time you guys bang tell him to do that, trust me, you'll _love_ it." Nora said as she was dragged away by Ren, and a passing Jaune when he overheard the last part.

"The ginger is gone, am I able to take these things out of my ears now?" Adam asked from the corner of the room, his voice a little too loud and sudden that it startled Ruby.

"Yeah, you're good now." Rhea said with a nod of her head.

"I'm gonna go get dressed." Ruby said as she disappeared into a cyclone of red and rose petals, the next thing they heard was the room where the deed was done to be slammed shut.

Neo appeared as the door was shut, stood on the other side of the door with a bowl of ice cream in her hands. Her favourite of course, Neapolitan flavored. She had a smudge of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla ice creamed all around her lips, but that didn't stop her from waving at Adam and Rhea as she went over and bopped Adam on the head with her bowl. Putting him back into his very pink and colorful ice cream disguise.

"Why am I in this again?" Adam groaned as his red sword he was sharpening turned into a bright pink suddenly.

Yang and Hector barged through the doors not a second later.

"Nora! Stop talking!" Yang exclaimed even when Nora was nowhere to be found. Hector was about to do the same but he was able to figure out that Nora wasn't actually there when they barged in.

"Oh gosh, I think we're too late." Hector said with a shudder and a nervous smile.

"RJ, please zip up your jacket, I've seen enough of your skin to last the rest of my life." Rhea said with a shudder, and a bit of gagging mixed into it.

"Wow, thanks Rhea, you really made your old man happy with that one. What's wrong with my manly scars?" Hector teased as he zipped up his jacket, and just in case tightened the glove on his left hand covering Salem's symbol.

"I still don't see why I need to be in this wretched disguise." Adam groaned as he tried to convince Neo to change him back to his beautiful red and black color scheme.

"That is because we are leaving soon." Hector told him over his shoulder. "Neo, please tell everyone that we are departing to Vale today, please?" He asked in a softer voice.

Neo was happy to oblige him, throwing her bowl of ice cream over her shoulder and transforming from her pajamas to her usual get up, Roman Torchwik's old bowler hat on her head as she skipped away to let the others know about what is happening.

"Thanks Neo!" Hector exclaimed before she could get out of hearing range.

She simply held out a thumbs up as her form shattered into a few hundred shards of glass.

"In the meantime, I am going to get my other clothes from a little thief of mine." Hector said next as he walked toward the door to his own room, only to frown when he found it locked.

" _I'll be out in a minute!"_ Ruby told him, somehow she already knew that it was him and nobody else, and Hector was already over it in a matter of seconds.

"Of course, so Rhea." Hector swapped topics on a dime, spinning around on his heel and dashing to take the open seat beside her in the span of a second. "Heard you wanted to talk to me."

Rhea's eyes lit up. "You remembered!" She exclaimed, beaming when Hector pulled her into a one armed hug.

"Yup, how could I forget my favorite stepdaughter?" He asked, amused as Rhea rubbed one of her ears against his chest.

Rhea rolled her eyes and pushed herself off of him. "I'm your _only_ stepdaughter." She corrected as she leaned back into the couch. "And yeah… I was hoping I could ask you to look into something for me."

"Sure, what is it?" Hector agreed easily, focusing more of his attention on her as he listened out carefully for what she had to ask of him.

"After what we found out about Ruby's mom… It got me thinking." She twiddled with her thumbs, and Hector found himself listening extra carefully on what she had to ask of him. He had an idea on where this was going already though. "I ended up thinking about what could have happened to my parents, I haven't seen or heard from them in like… ever. The only thing I was able to get anything on them was from that General guy back in Atlas getting some footage of a hooded woman leaving me in front of that orphanage in the village where you found me in."

"Yeah, I can see where this is going." Hector said softly, nodding his head as he leaned toward her with his elbows on his knees. "You want me to ask Knolly where they are? If they're still alive and all that?"

Rhea shifted in her seat, her golden eyes looking anywhere but into his eyes as she played with her raven black hair. "If it's okay… I'm not asking for us to go find them or anything, I just want to know what happened to them, and… yeah, pretty much what you said."

"Rhea I don't mind doing this for you." Hector told her. "You're my daughter, if you want something from me you just need to ask, it's not like I am going to get mad at you or anything. You don't need to sound like you think this is a whole burden you are putting on me."

Rhea's eyes lit up slightly. "Are you sure?"

Hector smiled one of his signature smiles as he sat up straight and brushed his shoulder against hers. "Of course I am, now do you wanna let me get the whole visions thing or do you want to join me on it."

Rhea smiled. "Yeah, I'll look at them with you."

"Great, because it gets lonely in there sometimes. I'm going to let you know now though that while we are looking at these visions, time is going to feel like it is going really fast or slow as we skip days, months, and years, but in reality, all we'll be doing is sitting here with glowing blue eyes for a few seconds… and." Hector sighed. "I don't know what happened, but just in case anything really bad happened to them, I need you to be ready to see them happen. I won't be able to kick you out once we start, but I'll be able to force close the vision in the case it becomes too much for you. Do you understand?"

Rhea nodded immediately, determined. "Yes, I've already seen my fair share of violence, I think I'll be fine.."

"Sadly, I can't really fault you for that… Alright, Knolly?" He called out to the rng on his finger.

The ring glowed brightly, and a trail of blue mist shot out of the ring as Jinn appeared in front of the both of them, her glowing blue figure decorated in golden jewelry and a hand in front of her mouth as she yawned.

" _Ah, master! It's only been a few hours but it feels like I've been asleep for weeks."_ She said with a grin as she crossed her arms and sat on nothing but air.

"Strangely enough, I understand what you mean in a way." Hector said with a chuckle. "I have to ask you for some knowledge Knolly, do you have enough energy to answer a question Rhea has for you?"

" _If she wishes to use her question now, then I will be happy to oblige."_ Jinn said with a smile. " _What knowledge do you seek young maiden?"_

Rhea sat up straight as she looked up at the deity, she pursed her lips and tried to look like a figure of authority as her eyes flamed up with orange for just a few seconds before she gave up and just smiled back at her. It was very adorable to see.

"I want to know what happened to my parents… What happened to them? Start at the beginning please." Rhea requested.

" _Hmm… yes, I do remember that tale."_ Jinn frowned. " _Steel yourself young one, for this is not a pleasant tale."_

A bright flash of blue occured, and both Hector and Rhea were sent into a trance, seeing nothing but the visions that Jinn is showing them.

* * *

" _Ashlynn! I'm home." A man looking somewhere between his mid twenties and mid thirties exclaimed. A man with dark brown hair and green eyes, along with a pair of wolf ears atop his head._

"This is your father young one, his name is…"

" _Hello Coal, how was your day?" A saccharine voice asked as a woman with a completely blacked out face appeared in front of the man, her hands over her swelling belly where a baby is being developed within her womb._

" _Eh, same crap over, and over. Except that today may have been a little less boring of a day." Coal said with a smile as he leaned down to kiss the pregnant woman._

"Why is her face blacked out?" Hector asked.

"All will be revealed in time master, for now, just let the tale run its course." Jinn said with an echoing voice.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Rhea commented.

"Yeah… me too."

" _The fields were kicking my ass today, but I managed to get a decent pay out of it." Coal continued as he threw a pouch of lien on the counter, putting his tools up against the table as he sat down on the chair. "How's the baby?"_

" _The child is fine my dear… I've actually resumed by huntress training today." Ashlynn said as she sauntered over to the kitchen to lift the plates of food off of the stove._

 _Coal frowned. "Ashlynn, we've talked about this. I know you really like being all powerful, but you are putting our daughter at risk every time you go out to train or do any huntress work. You're already skilled enough to become a huntress by taking the licensed exam, it won't hurt anyone to just relax until you give birth."_

" _And, I see that your memory is failing you yet again dear, that I am not a woman to be denied what I want. The child will be fine, I will be be taking precautions in order that will remain to be so. I do not wish to bring this topic up again, my love." Ashlynn said, she sounded angry for a second, but calmed down as she set the plates down on the table in front of her lover._

" _...Very well, just be careful." Coal sighed, but couldn't talk back to his wife about this. They have been arguing about her rather late pursuit of strength, they met in a rather unusual place, while Coal was working. Ashlynn was training with her unique semblance to control the temperature of glass and mold it into whatever she wishes it to be. Coal found her when she was destroying the part of the fields that he was working on in order to create space for her training, and after a rather tense yelling match between the two, one where Coal didn't back down against the clearly much stronger woman, they hit it off from there. It was a slow agonizing process to win over her heart, but after about three years of taking her out on what he thought were dates when it was really just her taking advantage of his feelings, she finally started returning some of those feelings._

 _They shared a night of love together, and a few days later. Ashlynn was showing signs of pregnancy, they married not a week later. Now it was a matter of getting back into the civilian life after a long time of being a fighter. She wasn't an easy woman to be around, but once your get through her bubble and defences, she could be a very warm and loving woman. One that is going to be a mother in just a few short months._

 _A few months later…_

" _C-Coal…"_

" _Hmm? What are you doing here Ashlynn- Oh Gods." Coal dropped his tools, and sprinted toward his wife before she could collapse, the insides of her legs were wet with a mixture of blood, and the fluids of her entering labor. "You silly woman why didn't you call me!?" He asked frantically as he carried her to the nearest local hospital._

" _T-The child… she's coming." Ashlynn cried out as she buried her face into Coal's shoulder. "This pain is unbearable."_

" _I know love, I know, just stay with me right now, just uh, just keep breathing?" Coal offered what little advice of what he knew about the process of pregnancy._

" _I AM BREATHING YOU FOOL!" Ashlyn screamed at him as she clawed at his face. "YOU DID THIS TO ME! AAAAGGGHH!"_

" _THIS IS SERIOUSLY NOT THE TIME ASH." Coal yelled back as he kicked down the door to the hospital, and demanded that his wife be prepared and treated for her labor._

 _After many, many… many hours of labor and preparation that lead into the immediate birth of a beautiful baby girl, taking after her mother in almost every way possible and with two tiny wolf ears atop her head in the mop of black hair. Coal fainted and nearly dropped his daughter when he looked down at her, luckily the doctors and nurses were able to catch both of and the girl._

" _What is her name Miss? I am sorry to disturb you in your time of recovery, but I am afraid that your husband has fainted." The doctor hesitantly asked under the absolute death glare that he was getting from the woman, even with her face blacked out, it was still enough to make Hector and Rhea uncomfortable, and only one of them existed at the time!_

" _Rhea Annani, she will be taking my last name. I won't allow her to have the surname of such a weak man." She said harshly as she shut her eyes tightly, trying to will her body to go to sleep so she doesn't have to feel the lingering pain that was in her entire lower half._

" _U-understood mam, Rhea Annani it is."_

"I just watched myself be born… oh God." Rhea gagged and was about to throw up.

"Whoa! No, no, no, no Rhea do _not_ throw up in here, I don't even want to know where it would go." Hector said as he tried his best to calm her down and stop her from puking while in her trance.

"This was the moment you were born young one, the time of which you were most innocent and pure. Sadly, you would not be able to last even a year with your parents."

 _Three months later…_

 _Coal sits beside his daughters crib, his wife at this point was more worried about getting stronger and gaining more power then taking care of their own daughter, which led to a falling out where Coal was the one who had to take care of their daughter mostly on his own. Ashlynn was too busy to care about them, and Coal has noticed that she has been heading out of town more and more ever since she got out of recovery._

 _He thought life was going to get better when she returned to the village, but no, it has taken a drastic turn for the worst. He sits beside Rhea's crib with a double barrelled shotgun in his hands, doing his best to ignore the screams of pain and slaughter that was happening just outside his house. His hands were shaking, but he was going to do his best against this threat with every last ounce of will he had left._

 _The things attacking, weren't Grimm._

" _Ashlynn… why are you doing this?" Coal asked as tears fell from his face, the weapon aimed at his wife as he thinks about the choices that he has left. "Why do this? Why kill everyone!? Who is that person you have been speaking to? What the hell happened to the woman I fell for!?" He asked as he turned the safety off, and placed his finger on the trigger._

 _Rhea began crying in her crib, her small arms and legs waving around under the covers. She wasn't even old enough to walk on her own yet._

" _Oh Coal… you always were a weak spirited man. Never able to do what needed to be done, always afraid to get your hands dirty." Ashlynn said with a cruel smile._

 _This time it was different, her orange eyes were more than just visible through the black shadows that still covered the rest of her features. She flourished her dual glass swords in each hand, flicking away the blood to the side as she pointed them both at her husband, and then dropped them both. They shattered against the floor in hundreds of pieces before fading away into ash._

" _Go on, shoot me. I might change my mind about killing you if you do, I'd let you wander this world without a purpose until you killed yourself out of grief… it was a mistake ever letting you get close to me, my new master said as such. I can see better than ever before that she was correct."_

 _Coal tensed up, and squeezed the trigger without hesitation._

 _Each and every pellet fell to the ground, Ashlynn's amber colored aura absorbing the entire shot with nothing but her hand. Even through the shadows covering her face, you could see the smile she had on her lips._

" _Impressive, maybe you aren't as pathetic as I previously thought." She said as she took a step forward._

 _With a defiant scream, Coal shot the other shell into her, yielding the same result._

" _Stubborn too, I can see how to previous me could have fallen for you." Ashlynn disappeared from his sight._

 _He couldn't keep up with her, she was just way too fast for his untrained eyes to keep up with, and before he knew it the gun was torn out of his hands and he looked down to see two glass swords stabbed into his chest. He coughed out blood and groaned in pain as he was lifted into the air by the swords, the blood dripping out from his mouth and his wounds onto the woman. She stuck her tongue out and licked the blood the dripped on the corner of her lips, and with a wink, tore her swords out of his chest. She then kicked his body away and out a window, where he very quickly died of his fatal injuries._

 _She then turned to the crib, and started walking toward it to deal with her-_

Hector forcibly ended the vision here

* * *

Rhea couldn't watch it anymore, and she hid her eyes in Hector's chest as he watched the whole thing unfold with widened eyes. Something went terribly wrong with the mental health of her mother, that much was obvious, she was manipulated into slaughtering the entire village that she and her husband lived in. But something stuck out to him, the girl clinging on to him right now was still alive, so obviously, something happened and Rhea was left alive.

Coal, Rhea's biological father, was dead. Her mother, this Ashlynn person with an almost familiar semblance, and the same color eyes of Rhea. Which was expected since they were told that Rhea took after her mother much, much more than her father. Had murdered him and the occupants of the village they lived in.

"Hey, hey, it's okay Ray, I'm here." Hector soothed the crying faunus as he wrapped her up in his arms and placed her in his lap. "I'm so sorry you had to see that, If I had known…"

"It's…" Rhea sniffled. "Not your fault… I wanted to see it… I just thought that maybe… maybe." She broke down into tears, and couldn't speak anymore without extreme effort that is far out of her reach with the way she is feeling.

"What happened?" Adam asked, the only one who stayed behind with him showed a slight bit of concern. To them it was about an hour, but to him it lasted about a two seconds of their eyes glowing a faint blue.

"What happened!?" Adam was not the only one who stayed behind.

Yang ran up to Hector and Rhea, and knelt down in front of her. "I heard what you guys were doing, but how could that have lead to this?" She asked Hector.

"We… saw some disturbing things, her dad's dead, and her mother was the one who killed him." Hector revealed. Rhea whined and hugged against him just a little tighter, she needed his support, and he was more then willing to give it as he rubbed her wolf ears in the way he knew she loved it.

"Oh… shit." Yang shook her head and shut her eyes. "What can I do?"

"There isn't much you can do, Yang, the damage is already done." Hector said solemnly. "Can you go make sure the Bullhead is ready or something?" He asked, it might have been rude if the situation was any other then what it was now. Yang understood what he meant though, this was something they would have to handle on their own, as family.

"Sure, I'll see what I can do." She said as she stood up, rubbing Rhea's shoulder one more time before walking away. She stopped herself when she spotted Adam in his disguise, sitting patiently in the corner of the room with his silver eyes looking right back into hers. Yang wanted to say something to him, she wanted to just destroy him with her powers that she now had, but with an emotionally weak Rhea it would be doing more damage then it would good, at least in her book. She restrained herself, and kept on walking, tearing her eyes away from his.

Hector stood up with Rhea in his arms shortly after, and carried her to his room. The door was still locked, but he fixed that with a swift kick that was gentle enough so that he wouldn't knock the door's off of it's hinges, but did rip the lock out of the doorframe. Ruby was startled and yelped at the surprise entry, but she used her semblance to get dressed long before so it saved both of them from an awkward moment. The moment she saw Rhea as she was she sped up to do what she can to make her feel better, offering her own soft words of comfort as she welcomed them both into the room.

The door was haphazardly placed back after they entered the room.

An hour later, and Rhea finally passed out into a slumber. Her head on Hector's lap as her chest rises with every breath she takes in. Ruby sat beside them and had her hand on his shoulder, they didn't talk about what happened yet. One of the first things Hector explained to Ruby was what caused this, and it was a tough pill to swallow for her, but in the end she didn't push on the topic.

"That's terrible, what her mother did. Why would she do such a thing?" Ruby asked, a rare vibe of anger coming off of her as she slightly tightened her grip on Hector's shoulder.

Hector simply sighed, closed his eyes, and shook his head. "I have no idea, I saw the whole thing happen, there was blood everywhere." He held his head up higher, and looked Ruby in the eye. "There's something else you should know, her mom, Ashlynn was her name, she didn't kill Rhea, that much is obvious. Whatever that drove her to kill her husband and pretty much the rest of the village apparently was not strong enough for her to kill her own daughter. I don't know how to explain this to her, but I think she wanted Rhea to survive that night."

"I don't know, it just seems like everytime we are onto something good, something terrible comes up." She said with a frown. "We have to be there for her, I know what it's like to feel the pain of losing a parent. I'm not even close to a mother yet, but I'll try."

Hector smiled and leaned his head against hers. "Thank you, I'm not much of a Dad myself, but I'll do what I can for my fourteen year old daughter."

"Don't sell yourself short, you've done a good job so far." Ruby said with a kind smile. "I mean, it's a little weird that you're not even twenty and you already have a fourteen year old daughter, but hey, you're doing good!"

"Yeah, I guess I'm doing alright." Hector agreed with a chuckle, resisting the urge to point out that Ruby is also only seventeen and is technically already a mother. "I… I'm going to see the rest of the vision later on while we're on the Bullhead, I have to see for myself what happened after Ashlynn killed her husband."

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I know I'm sure." Hector nodded. "I have a feeling that there's something I am missing, and I need to know what it is."

* * *

Mercury, Qrow, and Winter all found a cave to camp out in to wait out a snow storm. They were barely able to find said cave, and it was only thanks to Mercury's new ability to turn into smoke that he used to get himself and carry both of their tired bodies to the cavern. This particular part of the mountains are the coldest, and have never been inhabited by humans, not even Grimm can survive out here, the cold was fierce enough that it could make even a Grimm freeze to death.

"Ice Queen, looking a little pale there." Qrow pointed out. "You alright?"

"I'll be fine." Winter half-lied, even her naturally built in resistance to the cold in which her body developed over the course of her life in Atlas wasn't enough to save her from the beginning stages of hypothermia. They were all suffering this tragic fate, the healthiest one of them all being Mercury. One of the new upgrades Ruby gave his legs was a heater for his body.

 _I am so glad I let that weapons nut work on my legs._ Mercury thought as he put the heaters of to full blast, not only keeping himself warm but also radiating a wave of heat to his other two allies for this mission.

"Yeah, I get it. Why don't you scoot a bit closer to peg legs over there." Qrow suggested, and even though it could have been mistaken for a tease that he so desperately loves to do to the former heiress of the SDC, it was mostly genuine. Winter couldn't deny his logic, the ex-assassin she was being forced to work with had bionic legs that radiated heat for harsh temperatures such as this.

Without responding, she scooted just a bit closer to Mercury as Qrow tended to the flames with what little dry wood they had left. The fire wasn't going to last the night, they all knew that, which puts pressure on Mercury to keep them warm throughout the night, which is going to take a lot of willpower to keep himself awake to do something like that, but he had little choice. If he didn't, at least one of them wouldn't make it through the night, and any amount of losses would be unacceptable.

 _If it's up to me, then it's up to me. I won't let either of you die._ Mercury promised himself as he drank some water out of his canteen. The water was more ice then actually water, but the fraction of it that melted from the flames was welcomed as it flowed down his parched throat.

"We aren't all going to make it through the night." Qrow said with a flat voice as he begun to zip down his winter jacket.

"Qrow what do you think you're doing?" Winter asked loudly, she tried to sound authoritative, but her voice stuttered in sync with her shivers.

"I'm going to make sure you two make it." He said simply as he threw his jacket over Winter.

"No." Mercury defiantly rebelled against him. "I'm not going to let you do this Qrow."

"Black, you're smart enough to know that this snowstorm isn't going to end anytime soon. It's better if you two go on instead of me, I can't even fly in this weather, and my semblance is just going to make it even worse for you both." Qrow explained as his shivering worsened the second he took off his jacket.

"What are you talking about? Of course we can all make it, as long as I keep my legs acting as a mobile heater, we'll make it. Don't give up yet!" Mercury exclaimed, reaching toward Qrow and grabbing him by his sleeve before he could go too far. "The Hell do you think you're doing?"

"Kid… I am more a burden then I am something good for you all right now. My very presence is going to somehow screw us all over, I'd rather go out alone then to bring any more friends down with me." Qrow said with little emotion as he pulled his arm away, standing up slowly and faced the entrance of the cave.

"Qrow, listen, I get that you've been depressed recently." Mercury started.

"Oh how'd you get _that_ idea?" Qrow sarcastically asked, turning back around to see Mercury standing up, and Winter too frozen to stand up with him trying to keep the the flames alive with dire dust. "No one needs me here Black, I'm literally a walking bad luck charm, why would you want me around?"

"Listen Dipshit, maybe it's because of the crazy reason that I don't want you to freeze to death out there?" Mercury said as he walked up to Qrow, not close enough to touch him, but close enough to catch him in case he decided to make a bolt for it anyway.

"I might not even die out there, who knows, maybe the Gods really do have a plan for me and it won't be my time to die." Qrow joked as he gripped the angled cross on his necklace. "No one needs me here kid, no one needs me around anymore, maybe it's time I get out of their way." He said with his usual smug smile as he started walking backward toward the entrance.

" _I_ need you." Mercury shouted suddenly, sprinting up to him and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, and throwing him back toward the fire. He skid to a stop just before he hit the flames, and Winter tried to move to help him up but was too late. Mercury already caught up and picked Qrow up off the ground by his collar and stared daggers into his red eyes. " _I_ need you, _I_ care about you. Sure, maybe your nieces grew up a little and don't need you to protect them anymore, but that doesn't mean that they don't give a shit about you!" He yelled, getting into his face until their noses were only about three inches away from touching.

"Black-"

"Don't _Black_ me, that's my father's last name, and I am not him. My name is Mercury, _just_ Mercury, I've disowned that piece of shit a while ago. Partially redeemed ex-assassin and criminal, and I did not work my ass off to get a pardon just so I can let you kill yourself you jackass." Mercury said as he shoved Qrow even further back into the cave. "So sit there, put on your damn jacket." He picked up his jacket off of Winter, and threw it back to him. "And let's all of a nice cuddle session, that sounds like a _much_ better idea."

"W-what?" Qrow said with a light gasp as he was pulled in between Mercury and Winter, and they both wrapped their arms around him.

"Y-You i-idiot, you may g-get on m-m-my nerves, but I don't hate you." Winter said through her shivers as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Mercury gripped them both tighter to his body, since he was the warmest, he still kept Qrow in the middle just in case he decided to do anything stupid.

"Fucking, idiot. Didn't you ever think that maybe I might have started seeing you as more then just my mentor?" He asked, peeping through his fingers to look at Qrow. "You're… honestly the closest thing I have to family left Qrow, you trained me, you took me in, you stood up for me before, we fought Grimm together, bled together, fought my crazy Dad together, and I even started saving lives instead of taking them like I was trained to do. I mean, how long has it been since I even _thought_ about doing something good like that?"

"Kid…"

"And here you are, trying to off yourself and pretending like we all wanted you to die or some stupid shit like that."

"Black…"

"Do you really think that you're the only one with a fucked up life? I mean, do _any_ of you guys actually have normal lives!? Like seriously, is there _anyone_ in our whole group that actually has an alive or even _sane_ mother? I sure as Hell don't, neither does Miss Perfect soldier over here."

"H-Hey!"

"I made a promise to the most important person to me, myself. And I am not going to let you die! Not you either Winter."

"Mercury!"

"What!?" Mercury snapped, looking Qrow in the eyes only to see that the man was actually chuckling so hard that his face went red.

"I get it, you care about me, I got that effect on people. I still think you should be the one to sit in the middle so you can keep us both warm, and… I need room to put my jacket back on." He said with a shake of his head. "Yeah, I guess I'll stay around just a bit longer."

Mercury huffed through his nose, and adjusted his position so that he was in the middle, while also allowing room to let Qrow put his jacket on.

Nothing was said in the following minutes that came by, instead all that happened or was heard was the light snores of Winter Schnee, who thought she of all people was a snorer? And Mercury's chin resting on his chest as he himself also fell asleep after his little outburst.

Qrow was still awake, albeit barely. His mind was wandering around, he did have a pretty shitty life. He lost many people important to him, found out that Ozpin was just using them all, including himself, and lost that last part of his immediate family. But now, he has some new people to care for.

He saw Mercury as an enemy before, the battle of Haven was the first time he ever personally met the kid, and he kicked his ass along with his little green haired girlfriend. Then the next time they meet the kid was going up against a freaking army of Grimm along with his thought to be deceased father! Well, before that he saw him traveling with RWBY, and observed like that little avian he was out of curiosity. He was surprised to see that almost all the girls were okay with him working with them, and he seemed to have earned Ruby's trust. That was all he needed to jump in there and help him against Marcus, his nemesis. Back in his prime Marcus was a well known killer of not only civilians, but huntsman and huntresses as well. He was dangerous, and they fought plenty of times, he almost won a few, and also almost lost a few. They were always equal like that.

Then he heard the news that Marcus was killed, and the mains suspect was his _son_ of all people. Apparently the news that was spread around was that Marcus killed his wife when she found out about the whole assassin thing, and was secretly training his son to take after him once he is gone. The whole thing backfired, and he was killed by his own son who went missing right after that whole thing.

He saw Mercury fighting Yang in the Vytal Festival, and he was actually impressed by the kid at the time. He was fighting Yang evenly and came really close to victory before things turned around. His semblance wasn't nearly as developed as it was now, but still, against _Yang_ of all people it was impressive.

Then… the whole debacle with Yang breaking his leg happened, which then led on to the fall of Beacon and Mercury Black himself being one of the prime suspects.

Skip a few seasons later… and now here we are. He's changed, Mercury, from an assassin, to a terrorist, to now lost soul seeking redemption…

He reminded him of himself.

Qrow surrendered to the heat moments later, and fell asleep as the last embers of the fire went out, leaving them in darkness save for the glow from Mercury's legs.

/-/

Somewhere, someone is looking at the cave. She saw the three familiar people all huddled up together for warmth, the one in the middle looked like he was keeping the others warm… but she knew it wouldn't be enough.

"None of you will make it through the night… unless." The Winter Maiden brushed her white cape to the side, and rose both of her hands out ot her sides as she looked up into the violently cloudy blizzard.

With a faint glow of dark blue and a flash of white. The blizzard clouds dissipated, and the snowstorm was reduced to a simple flurry.

"It wouldn't be good for me if I let his friends freeze to death when I could have done something about it, now would it?" The Winter Maiden said with a small smile as she disappeared into a flurry cloud of white, and traveled back to her temporary residence.

They would live on just a bit longer.

* * *

Hell and the rest of his team that he was so _ceremoniously_ chosen to lead by the unlikely alliance that was Marcus Black and Tyrian Callows, looked up to see the sky completely cleared up of clouds, and for the blizzard to have been downgraded to a mere flurry.

"Great, now I don't have to cuddle up to Mister Broody anymore." Marcus said as he broke away from the huddle that was around Hell.

Hell used his ability to act as a moving heat source, he was so warm that the snow didn't make it to the ground around him, and he carved a path through the snow with his mere presence. The Kaioken could be used for more than just straight up enhancing physical traits after all, he was sure that his counterpart knew that already.

"Funny, you remind me how much I want to kill you every time you open your mouth." Hell said as he sensed a magical energy flowing around the skies.

"Hehe, I was told that I have that effect on people." Marcus said with a chuckle as he patted down his coat of any remaining snow.

"Shut up, Hell is sensing something." Hazel berated as he pushed past Marcus. "What is it, you have that look in your eye that tells me that you know something we don't."

"I would like to correct you on that, I know a lot of things that you don't." Hell said as he continued looking up to the sky, narrowing his eyes as if he is focusing on something.

"Hehehe, he's got you there Hazel." Tyrian cackled.

"Man, this team is a real mess, you can almost say that we're just itching to cause some _havoc_ , eh?" Marcus laughed at his own joke.

No one else did.

"Oh come on I thought that was the comedy thing with you people."

"Wrong people." Hazel simply stated.

"All of you." Hell spoke up loudly, earning himself their attention with his booming voice.

He turned to face them all, his lips curling up into a smile as his body radiated a red black aura just out of pure excitement. "We're getting close, the Winter Maiden is the reason for the blizzards abrupt stop."

"Great! Let's keep moving then, we shouldn't have much more to travel, if we catch her while she's tired I have no doubt that the four of us will be able to kick her ass without any problems." Marcus said as he started stretching his arms and legs.

"There's already a problem." Hell said next, his smile disappearing.

"Agh, of course there is." Marcus groaned.

"What is it?" Hazel tiredly asked. He was tired of being one of the only two out of the four who was actually able to use his brain.

"Ah, I see what's wrong." Tyrian said with a wide toothy smile plastered on his face.

"What? How do _you_ know something is wrong." Marcus asked.

"In case you haven't noticed, I am a faunus, and what advantage do we have over

humans in the dark? Come on, use your brain for this one."

"Ah, right, that night vision thing you things got."

"Excuse you!?"

"There's smoke in the sky." Hell interrupted before a fight can break out. "Which means, we aren't the only ones out here, someone else must be searching for the Maiden."

"How do you know they aren't just some campers?" Marcus asked, tilting his head.

Hell simply just stared at him like he was stupid… which he was of course, but in a way that said that even one such as he should have been able to figure it out.

"Right, dumb question. You think it's your daddy?"

"After we're done here, I'm going to let you fight Tyrian to the death." Hell said with a grunt.

"Yes!" Marcus and Tyrian both exclaimed their approval of such a decision.

"Ugh… if it _is_ Hector, we have to find the Maiden before he does, as I am now I wouldn't be able to defeat him, much less both him and the maiden on my own." Hell said. "We rest for now, the Maiden will probably be doing the same. In the case that it is Hector, and he does find the Maiden before we do, the mission will be aborted. We won't be able to defeat both him and the Maiden at the same time."

"Ahem… aren't you forgetting something?" Tyrian asked, flourishing his dropping stinger out in front of him. The purple venom melted through the snow beneath it.

"If you case you have forgotten, that didn't save your clone the last time. It got a broken neck and a mangled arm as a result." Hell remarked.

"Ah, that just makes it all the more exciting!"

"What?- No, whatever, if you want to die, go right ahead. See if I care, in the meantime, like I said before, I order you all to rest for now." Hell said as he sat down, and yawned himself.

"Gotcha scary boss guy." Marcus said with a two fingered wave as he fell back into a comfy looking patch of snow and snoozed away.

Hazel, and Tyrian followed suit later, and they both fell asleep rather fast. It turned out they were a lot more tired than Hell originally thought.

They were going to need the rest.

* * *

"Is everything ready?" Hector asked the pilot in the cockpit.

"Yeah, mostly, just need everyone to strap in and we'll be good to go." He replied, flicking away and some more of the controls as the Bullhead started to warm up.

"Thanks again for your personal shuttle, it's a lot more spacey then the one we came here on." Ruby said to the new headmaster of Haven.

"You are quite welcome, little rose…" Albedo leaned in, and even blushed a little as he accidentally used his semblance on her. "Or should I say… a budded rose?" He said with a suggestive wink.

Ruby immediately understood what he meant. "W-well it was great to see you and everything but we really gotta go BYE!" She stammered out as she disappeared into a flurry of red rose petals.

"Hahaha, and there goes my favorite student, all grown up." He sniffled and brushed away a stray tear.

"Ahem." Yang coughed.

"Yes, even better than you." Albedo said with a laugh, ducking under a playful punch and offering Yang a sturdy handshake.

"Everything is set up he says." Hector spoke to the whole group. "We're going to take off soon." He turned back around, and sat next to Rhea in the corner of the Bullhead. She immediately took his arm and rested her head against his shoulder, relishing in his warmth.

Ruby sat next to him, and took his hand.

The rest of the pretty large party, consisting of Ren, Nora, Jaune, Nicholas, Adam, Neo, and Yang. All strapped themselves in as well, it wasn't as comfy as the one Weiss gave them, but it was more than good enough for the entire group. It would have been awkward if Adam had to share a bed with anyone there.

Neo sat in the co-pilot seat, and no one, not even the pilot, even thought about asking her to move. She seemed comfortable there, and as long as she didn't try to take control of the aircraft. She was fine where she was, where she is going to but that bowl of ice cream when she is done with it was a mystery to them all.

Adam sat across from Hector, and beside him was Yang, who gave him a warning look as she sat down beside him. Her intention being to punish him in the case he decided to go a little berserk on the Bullhead. Beside her, sat Blake, and the rest was the order of her new temporary team along with Nicholas Arc in that order.

"You know… I've actually never been to Beacon before, not even Vale itself. Now that I think about it, none of you have been there since the fall right?" Hector asked everyone.

Everyone nodded their heads, even Adam and Neo. Besides Rhea, it was left unsaid that she hasn't been back since her village was attacked, and then in a matter of just a second, went through Raven's portal straight to Atlas. She hasn't been back since.

"We're going to take it back." Jaune declared. "We are going to take back our home, kill every single Grimm that dared to step foot in that school."

"Look at you Vomit Boy, you haven't thrown up yet!" Yang exclaimed.

"Oh come on! Will you drop that already?" Jaune complained.

"Nope, you threw up on my shoes, that is unforgivable and that joke will never die. Those were really expensive you know!"

"It was an accident! It was my first time on an airship okay? Cut me some slack."

Everyone shared a laugh at that, besides Rhea. But Hector noticed that she did have the slightest beginnings of a smile crawling up from the corner of her lips.

/-/

It was a few hours later, mostly everyone fell asleep almost as soon as they waved that Albedo guy goodbye, thank the Gods that he had his personal Bullhead that was also the size of about three busses just lying around, fully fueled up, and full of supplies, it was a very good convenience. Hector was going to have to come back to that guy one day and buy him a drink or something, screw the fact that he isn't legal yet. Even better, Jaune fell asleep before the effects of his airsickness could fully take hold on his body.

The next stage of his long thought out plan was finally going on to it's next step, this was actually a very good accomplishment, what's better is that this particular Bullhead happens to be so advanced, that as soon as they drop off Ren, Blake, Jaune, Nora, Nicholas, and someone else Hector has in mind, after just a few hours break, the Bullhead will be prepared to make the rest of the trip to Vacuo. What he is going to do with those few hours however was something he hasn't really thought about yet.

That was something he would have to worry about later anyway, not at ten thousand feet in the sky and a good couple of days until they even enter Vale airspace.

Hector looked down to his right to see Rhea peacefully sleeping against his shoulder, and then to his left, where Ruby was still awake waiting for him. He gave her a nod, and rubbed the gemstone on his golden ring. "Knolly, come out."

Jinn repeated the process of exiting the ring just as she did earlier that afternoon, floating about and stretching before sitting down on nothing but air and crossing her arms.

"Er… I can't see anything." Ruby whispered to Hector.

"You're not supposed to, I'm going in alone this time." Hector said to her as he looked into the Relics eyes.

"What? You don't need to do this by yourself you know." Ruby whispered loudly at him.

Hector sighed. "I know, but I want to do this on my own, for you it'll be over in less then a few seconds."

"Yeah but for you it's going to feel like hours, or even days." Ruby pointed out.

"Trust me, I already know that. Imagine how long it felt when I looked at Ozpin's very first life." Hector said with an empty chuckle. "Trust me, I've got this, I'll be right back before you know it."

Ruby pouted and stared into his eyes for a few moments longer, hoping to break him with one of her signature adorable pouts and eye contact. But this wasn't one of those moments where she could get away with something like that. Hector was determined this time, and he wasn't going to fold under her glare, with a puff of her being blown out of her nose, she nodded her head hesitantly, and wrapped her fingers around his hand as an offer of comfort.

Hector smiled, and kissed her on the forehead before returning his focus to the deity in front of him.

" _Master, are you sure you want to do this? What you will see is going to be very difficult to process…"_

"Yeah, I'm sure…" Hector shut his eyes and took in a deep breath. "What happened to Ashlynn Annani?"

His world became a blue void, and he returned to the same scene he left off at from before.

* * *

" _Hah, I've been longing to do that for too long, I only wish I'd done it earlier." Ashlynn said, dropping her bloody swords to the ground with a loud shatter, still had her face completely blacked out save for her orange eyes. She stepped closer to baby Rhea's crib, and softly cooed her crying baby as she picked her up with her bloody hands._

" _It's okay my daughter, it will all be over soon." She said as she rose a dagger from her hip, and pointed it to her infant child._

Hector wanted to jump out at her, and stop her from stabbing her own child, but his hands passed right through her like there was nothing there in the first place. He had to calm himself down by remembering that Rhea was already beside him, sleeping and safe in a Bullhead full to the brim with friends and allies. Hesitantly, he pulled back.

 _Her hand was shaking, she couldn't go through with it. She tried to force herself to do it, but the dagger stopped just before it could make contact with the baby's skin. She took her hand away, and threw the dagger out of the window where he deceased husband lied._

" _Well… you won't be remembering this, you are only three months old, yes… that could work." The woman smiled. "I will spare you for now my daughter, you won't see me again until you are probably at the age I am at now… I simply see no reason to squander such potential, you are my daughter after all." Ashlynn said with a motherly smile as she rocked her baby, humming softly as she stepped out of the wrecked house and into the bloody streets of what used to be her home village._

" _Rhea Annani… I wonder what the future may hold for you my child."_

 _The entire scenery changed, transforming into a place that was familiar. It was the very village where Hector found Rhea, and it was back into the first person perspective of Ashlynn Annani, carrying a basket that held a now four month old baby Rhea with a note that says nothing but her name on it._

" _This is where we part ways my daughter… I will come back to you somehow, when my conquest for power is complete… stay safe." She leaned down to kiss her daughters head, brushing her fingers through Rhea's infant wolf ears as she set the basket down in front of a village, and scurried away as soon as a light turned on from within the building."_

"Yeah, I know this part already, they weren't able to find any trace of Ashlynn after this… keep going Knolly, I want to see this womans face."

"...Very well master."

 _The entire scenery changed again, this time into a sort of dark throne room, the color mainly being a dark purple and red. Ashlynn was looking down to the ground, on one knee and bowing her head to a person at the end of a long red carpet. A throne of purple stone and jagged rock._

" _I did as you asked my Queen… I am yours to command, as long as I get the power you promised me." Ashlynn said as she looked up at her new boss._

 _Salem._

"What… the… fuck." Hector mumbled to himself.

" _You will get everything you desire my dear, everything and more." Salem said with a smile, looking exactly as she did in the present, except that her hair was tied up into a bun instead of the extravagant hairstyle she is better known for. "How did it feel my dear, to slay your husband and child along with the rest of all those who cared for you?"_

" _It… it felt good." Ashlynn smiled through the shadows on her face._

 _She lied to protect her daughter, the one person she couldn't bring herself to cut down. The only thing that could have brought her redemption should she decide to stray away from this path._

" _It felt… empowering." She said with an even wider smile. "I feel free."_

" _As you should child, stand." Salem demanded, and Ashlynn obeyed without hesitation and looked to Salem in the eyes. "Ashlynn Annani will no longer be your name, Ashlynn Annani was the name of someone who was weak, emotional, and lacked potential. You will receive a new name."_

" _I… I understand, what is the name you wish to bestow upon me?" The woman, no longer Ashlynn, asked._

The shadows on her face receded, and Hector widened his eyes so wide it was a wonder his cybernetic one didn't pop out. His breathing became frantic. Her true face was revealed, her true identity was revealed. She had the same raven black hair as Rhea, and the same orange eyes that almost looked like they were glowing, but her face was recognized immediately on sight.

She was…

" _Cinder Fall."_

* * *

No…

No…

"NOOO! This can't be true, Jinn, keep it going." Hector ordered, in denial.

The next vision was of someone he hasn't seen in a long time, a young girl with short minty green hair, red eyes, and had dark skin. She was cornered in an alley by a beautiful woman in a red dress, the skin on the center of her back was exposed, revealing a black tattoo, marking of and a constant reminder of who she dedicated her life to.

She was recruiting Emerald.

"Keep going!"

The next was of both her and Emerald, confronting a young man with a head of silver hair. He looked beat up, and the body of his father laid behind him in a pool of blood. Another familiar scene.

She was recruiting Mercury.

"Further!"

This one involved a past Fall Maiden, Amber, the life and power being sucked out of her and into a Grimm parasite coming out of Cinder's right hand. Before being cut off my a large oversized sword belonging to Qrow Branwen.

This was when Amber was attacked.

"No…"

A flash of images keep coming at him rapidly, ones that involved Team RWBY in their Beacon days, Roman Torchwick, Neo, some poor fools who thought they could get into her pants being strung up.

Then it was the fall of Beacon… the death of Penny, the fight with Ozpin in his previous form, and then right after a first person view of the dying face of Pyrrha Nikos, transfixed on an arrow made of glass sticking out of her chest, before fading away in ash, quickly followed up by a flash of white light coming from the eyes of Ruby Rose.

Next was training, then was a face to face meet with Raven Branwen in Mistral, then Adam appeared, talking about plans on how and where they had to attack Haven.

Then… the memories started becoming more and more familiar. He saw himself… fully powered up and bleeding from every wound, and orifice there was on his body, this was the very first time he went Kaioken times twenty. He lost of course, but Cinder took a lot more damage then he originally thought.

Next was her fight with Raven, after she killed Vernal, and the fight was so one sided that it couldn't even be called a fight. She was getting her ass kicked.

Then… a memory replayed itself before him, a memory that haunted his memories and dreams ever since it happened. Only this time, it was in the reverse point of view.

He saw through Cinder's eyes, as he cut off her Grimm arm with a chop from one of his old gauntlets, he could see himself as he grinned and kept walking toward her, his hands dripping with her blood as she frantically scrambled to get away from him. He could almost feel the pain in her scalp when she was picked up by her hair, stabbed in the side, and then electrocuted. Before being thrown into the abyss, the last thing she saw was Hector smiling down at her.

The point of view switched again, looking down at Cinder. She had tears coming out of her eyes, the side of her face which had the mask was destroyed, revealing the other half of her face that was horribly disfigured, and her own thoughts were loud and clear for him to now hear.

" _Rhea… I'm sorry… I couldn't keep the promise that I made to you so long ago… Forgive me."_

Those were her final thoughts.

"Cinder wasn't thinking about me when she died…" Hector realized, tears falling from his own eyes as the vision was coming to an end.

"She was thinking about her daughter."

* * *

 **BOMB HAS BEEN DROPPED.**

 **Seriously, you guys have no idea how long I have been waiting to write this scene out. I've planned this MONTHS in advance, ever since I had something open for you guys, some of you will remember when I asked all of you for your own OC entries for the OC Maidens I was going to create for this story. And boy oh boy, it feels great to finally get to this point in the story! I also wrote this entire chapter in a day, and I have never felt so damn tired, oh well, time to edit!**

 **What a way to bring this story back eh? Feeling shocked? Surprised? All of the above?**

 **Let me know what you think about this chapter, I am eager to know what you all think about the bomb I just dropped on you all.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far!**

 **I also have a twitter! Just for you all to see how the progress of every chapter is going, and for whatever else you want really.**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**


	52. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 52

**Oh man, here we are again with the first chapter of UH for 2019! I haven't written this story since last year, and I am so sorry that I made that joke. Anyways, thank you all for returning to read the next chapter! Now all we gotta do is deal with a little aftermath of a certain revelation last chapter.**

 **Let us see who reviewed last chapter yeah?**

* * *

 **Zeldawolffang: We'll just have to find out now won't we?**

 **Cinderfall201: Man I knew someone was going to react like you did, I loved that reaction from you. I've been planning that bit for months in advance, and I am glad to see that it payed off in the end.**

 **TocoolTocool: Yeah, those were the major hints that I gave out for who was Rhea's mom, I knew someone was going to figure it out. Good job!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: The Yang/Hector part of the chapter was emotional for even me to write, not that I was crying or anything, I just sometimes feel the pain that the characters are going through. I am glad I was able to do it as well as I managed to. I gotta keep that mystery in there man, is Hector going to live? Is he going to die? Who knows? I don't even know… yet. I can neither confirm nor deny the possible encounter between Team Havoc and the three man crew that is Qrow, Winter, and Mercury, but yeah, if they did come to blows, it wouldn't be good for the three man squad. I was actually wondering how you were going to react to Rhea and the revelation of who her mother was since you were the one that came up with the Maiden OC's that I requested from all you guys, and I gotta say. I was NOT disappointed. I will do my best to keep this story as amazing as I have been doing!**

 **Thank you all for all the reviews!**

* * *

 **With no further topics for discussion at the moment, let's get right into the story!**

* * *

Chapter 52- Improvise Or You'll Face Demise

Hector quickly wiped the tears from his eyes as soon as he wakes up from his vision. This of course didn't stop Ruby from noticing, and to his horry Rhea even stirred awake from it. She asked him what was wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to look into those orange eyes that he has come to become extremely fond of, no matter if they were related to one of his worst enemies from his recent past.

He killed Cinder over a year ago, though that night and that moment was so burned into his memory that he sometimes forgets that it has been a whole year since that night. He couldn't forget about it, and now that he was thinking about it, Rhea really does look a lot like her. If she didn't have two wolf ears atop of her head, she would've looked like a much younger Cinder, nearly identical.

"Hector, what's wrong?" Ruby asked him, he turned to his left to see silver eyes shimmering in the dark. He was at least being quiet enough so that the others were able to stay asleep, though he can see another set of silver eyes looking at him from across the Bullhead. Adam was still awake, and he was concerned for him as well.

"N-nothing." He forced himself to smile and look back into Rhea's eyes. "It's fine sweetie, just go back to sleep." He placed a kiss on top of her head, right in between her wolf ears.

Rhea smiled softly, she was tired enough that she just fell back asleep right beside him, her head still leaning on his shoulder while her small arms were still wrapped around that arm.

Once she fell asleep again, he took multiple deep breaths. It seems like for them it has just been a few minutes, but for Hector it has been countless hours of looking through visions with Jinn, trying to confirm his denial that he didn't actually kill the last of Rhea's biological family. Of course, his denials were unfortunately false, and he just ended up looking throughout most of Cinder's criminal life. Unintentionally giving himself a recap of what already happened before he even existed on Remnant.

He looked back to Ruby, and let out a choked gasp, he was trying to keep it together. He really was, but he could only pretend that everything was okay for so long while Rhea was right beside him.

She seemed to have sensed his highly emotional state, and realized that he probably just didn't want to or just couldn't tell her what was wrong at the moment. So Ruby did what Ruby did best, and she wrapped her arms around Hector's frame, hugging him close and resting her head beneath his chin, and listened to his heartbeat in his chest.

Hector leaned his head back against the metal vibrating wall of the Bullhead, and tried to fall asleep as well, just pretend that what he just saw never happened.

But he couldn't, he had yet another sleepless night, and the dried tear stains on his face did not give him the demeanor of the leader that he was trying to be for the group. When he saw the sun peer through the window in the Bullhead straight ahead of him and just above Adam's head, he felt his heart squeeze.

The others were going to wake up soon, and Rhea was already awake. She just kept her head leaned on his shoulder. Her breathing the only thing Hector can hear besides the ringing in his ears.

"I… I gotta go to the bathroom." Hector excused himself. When he tried to get up, Rhea held on to him, not wanting him to leave. "I'll be right back, I promise." He said to her with a smile and pat her head. He didn't love her any less then he did already, no matter what, he was still his adopted daughter, even if she was just six years younger then he is.

She held on for a bit longer, looking up at him and straight into his blue eyes, and then nodded her head against his shoulder, and slowly allowed herself to be broken away from him. She immediately missed the warmth he provided for her, even if she could easily warm herself up with her powers, there was something more special about sharing body heat with someone you cared about.

After that, he looked to his left to get another nod from Ruby. She would take care of her for now, he trusted her to do that. Without looking back, he opened the door to the bathroom and locked himself in just in time for Nora to yawn loudly as she awoke, waking up his other friends in the process.

While he did have to use the bathroom, he really just needed to be alone right now so that he could process everything he had just learned.

" _That was why I was so reluctant to reveal Ashlynn's true identity to you, master."_ Jinn told him. " _Some things, are better left unknown."_

"Yeah… now I can actually agree with that notion now." He whispered out loud.

He turned on the sink, and cupped the water in his hands before splashing it in his face. He couldn't let his friends see that he was like this, Ruby and Adam already knew, and that was already too many people.

 _What happened was over a year ago… I can't let it get to me now_. He thought to himself as he stared into his own blue eyes in the mirror.

He tried to convince himself that he had to do it, that if he didn't do it then Cinder would have gotten in the way of everything in the future. She was a monster that needed to be stopped by any means necessary. For God's sake she even began to become one, she was already part Grimm before Hector even met her.

Ironic coming from him, but he doesn't let his biology define who he is. After splashing some more water in his face, and calming himself down he was ready to go back out to his friends. He stopped as soon as his gloved hand wrapped around the door handle.

He was considering telling Rhea what he learned, he was already going to tell Ruby, when she knew that something was wrong, she wasn't going to let it go until the problem was fixed. Rhea on the other hand doesn't know yet that he was emotionally weak at the moment, she was too tired to realize and it was too dark for her to see his red rimmed eyes earlier in the night.

Yet… he knew he had to one day. He couldn't keep something like this to himself, something that was so huge and important can't be withheld from the one person that deserved to know what happened the most.

Cinder was dead, and yet she still found a way to throw a massive wrench in his plans. He did wonder at one point in his life what caused Cinder to join Salem in the first place, and it came out of that power complex that she was known for. The desire to become stronger was apparently so great that she killed off her whole village and family except for her daughter just to pursue that delusion of hers. But to think that she was the one in that video that he saw placing a baby Rhea down in front of that orphanage… Shocking would be too mundane of a word to describe what he felt.

There was just one thing on his mind that he needed answered before going back out to his friends.

" _Knolly… why was I smiling when I killed her? Why did I enjoy it?"_ He finally asked a question that has been on his mind ever since that night, something he refused to talk about with Ozpin even when he was a trusted ally. He hasn't enjoyed killing ever since, and he hasn't even killed another human ever since. Just Grimm, unless you count the hybrid type of Grimm to be considered as human kills.

" _Master, at that time you were missing something, it was straight after Salem almost took control of your mind and body. You unconsciously embraced your Grimm side more than ever before, and used the dark magic that Salem left behind after being expelled from your mind in order to fight evenly with the Spring Maiden at that time, so much so that it nearly doubled your original strength."_

That explained how he was able to keep up with Raven suddenly after losing to Cinder, he got a unintentional boost of power from Salem after she attacked his mind. His close battle with Raven made a lot more sense now that he knew that.

" _You, and no one else didn't notice, somehow, but your eyes were also red at the time. The only reason that you did not become like your counterpart Hell, was because of the old man you share a body with. You felt an irresistible bloodlust when you landed down in my vault, and Cinder happened to be the first one you set your sights on. After killing her, you were able to control yourself much easier, thanks to your own willpower and with the help of Ozma."_

Hector nodded his head in silent understanding. That explained some things, why his eyes didn't turn red anymore, or at least that was what he thought. They just stayed blue now, he would know because he asked Knolly if they changed when he used a weak version of his semblance.

Whatever happened to him at that time, it wasn't reoccurring anytime soon. That brought some comfort to him, enough that it was able to give him the confidence he needed in order to unlock the door, and push it open, the first and closest person to notice him was Adam. He gave Hector a knowing look, before nodding. Hector nodded back, and all eyes were on him.

"Uh… did I miss something?" He asked after nervously gulping.

"No, we were just wondering when you were going to get out of there." Nora answered.

"Oh, well I'm alright now." He blatantly lied. "Just had to do my morning business and all that." Hector chuckled and moved back to his original seat, where Rhea was waiting. She still hasn't spoken to anyone else, ever since what she was forced to watch her mother do he was the only one she would speak to. It was cute in a way, but also so very sad.

He still felt the need to protect her, more now than ever before with how emotionally and spiritually weak she was right now. Not only was she his adopted daughter, she was also the Fall Maiden, and no doubt had a target on her back wherever she went. He is going to tell her what he found out… but not now, not with how sad she already is.

Even though she saw with her own eyes how unstable her mother was, if he just told her that he ended up killing her mother and that her final thoughts were of her and that was the real reason that she was "Randomly" selected to become the next Fall Maiden, it would only make things worse for her. And it scared him to think about how much worse she could get after hearing such news.

He sat down next to her once again, and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders as she leaned into his body yet again. Her faunus ears tickled the underside of his chin as she snuggled into him. He felt his heart squeeze once again at how affectionate she was being with him. She trusted him greatly.

"So… I don't mean to interrupt this father-daughter bonding session." Nicholas started. "Trust me, I get it, after having eight kids I know how precious it can be to have one of your own. But we still have to come up with some plan for when we land in Vale, Team JBLN, and myself are going to be staying to help clear out the Grimm at Beacon, but someone is going to have to address the Goliath in the room." He tilted his head to the disguised Adam Taurus, and Neo who is still eating from a bowl of ice cream that never seems to run out. "What are we going to do with them?"

Hector sat up straight the best that he can with Rhea snuggled up beside him. He had some inkling of a plan for what to do with them, the only problem being with that plan was that his friends were probably not going to like it.

"I… sorta have a plan for Adam already, I don't have one for Neo yet, but I feel like she isn't about to leave my side anytime soon." Hector said, and to his credit Neo did nod and point at him with her spoon, as if to say that he was smart to think that.

"And… what is this plan?" Adam felt the need to speak up, one of his chocolate brown eyebrows rising.

"I planned to have you help these five here in the reclaiming of Beacon Academy, as a sort of practice for you using your silver eyes." Hector explained simply, adjusting his arm so that it was in a more comfortable position.

Adam widened his eyes slightly, and if he was about to say anything it was quickly overruled by a livid cat faunus.

"Absolutely not!" Blake snapped. "There is no way I am going to trust the lives of my friends and my own to him!" She exclaimed, pointing to Adam who is now hanging his head in shame.

"Blake…" Ruby called to her. "It's not a bad plan, you're going to have Jaune's dad with you, and also probably a lot of other huntsman around. If he tries anything, he won't get away with it." She defended his plan, and nodded to her fellow silver eyed warrior who was shocked to see that someone was actually defending him.

"How could you defend someone like him!?" Blake yelled. "He is the reason I ran away after the Fall of Beacon, _he_ is the reason Yang is like _this_." She grabbed Yang by her robot arm, and jerked it toward Ruby. "How could you be defending him!? I knew you were naive from the moment I met you, but even this is a bit much."

Yang yanked her arm out of Blakes grip, and shoved her against the wall. Earning a shocked gasp from Blake as her aura flared to protect her body from any damage.

"You didn't run away because of _him_." Yang accused her, eyes flaming red with anger so hot that the rest of JBLN stepped back away from her. "You ran away because _you were scared_ of seeing me again, seeing _all_ of us again after what happened, yes he cut my arm off. I have this constant reminder of it everytime I look in the mirror!" She screamed as she raised her robotic arm. "Am I angry about it? Hell yeah. But look at him Blake." She pulled Blake up from the ground, and turned her toward Adam, who still hung his head in shame, and had a hand palmed around his face. "Does _that_ look like the same guy who did that to me all that time ago? Ignore the whole ice cream girl outfit he's got going on, and honestly tell me if he would do something like that again."

Adam pulled his hand away, and looked toward her. He didn't have anything to say, because he knew that everything coming out of her mouth was correct. Blake stared at him dangerously, and looked like she wanted to say something, but to her dismay. Yang was right, Adam wasn't the same person that he was before. Not that she would admit it anytime soon, he still had a lot to answer for.

"As much as I _hate_ to admit it… he's changed." Yang said as she let Blake go, her hands trembled as she remembered the trauma she had to endure because of him. "I don't like him, I don't trust him, and I sure as Hell haven't forgiven him yet. But he has silver eyes, and if Hex and Ruby say that we need him, then we need him. I won't let my personal feelings get in the way of that, you should try doing the same." She sat down back in her seat, and held her face in her hands.

Blake didn't say anything, she was just too shocked to. But she didn't deny the plan any longer, she begrudgingly took her seat back, and facepalmed her own face.

"I… I'm sorry."

Yang's eyes widened slightly after hearing those words. As did Blake. The both looked up, and toward Adam who was still looking down to the floor, and to their surprise, some tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.

"I'm sorry Yang, I am sorry that I took away a part of you that you can never get back… and Blake." He looked to his companion of many years, the same companion he used to be in love with, and the same companion that abandoned him. "I am sorry, about everything. I can never make up for the things I did, for the people I hurt. All I can say is that I am sorry, _so_ sorry, and that I regret letting myself change into the monster I once was… I don't expect either of you to forgive me for what I did, but all I can ask from you two- from you _all_." He amended. "Is a second chance, a chance to redeem myself, and a chance to prove that I have changed." He wiped away at his face, and leaned back in his seat. "That is all I can ask, even if it is already too much for me to ask."

Everyone sat in silence for many minutes afterwards, just processing everything that they have just heard. Ruby smiled at Adam for what he said, she was proud of him. She never personally saw Adam until the battle of Haven, but she didn't need to in order to know that he wasn't a good person back then. But now? She could tell that her fellow silver eyed warrior sought redemption, and truly felt guilty for everything he did. Hector made a good choice, letting him come along for the ride. Two silver eyed warriors are better than one, right?

"I am willing to give you that chance." Ren spoke his mind first.

"Eh, I'll break your legs if you try doing something evil again, so I guess I'm good with you to." Nora followed.

"Same with me, just don't go back to your old ways." Jaune added, completing the trio.

Adam looked to the three of them to his right, and nodded to them. It was much more than he expected, and he was content with that. Ruby considered speaking up, but it already looked like the situation was handled, and while she did have a few things that she wanted to so to Adam, doing it in front of everyone wouldn't be the best choice right now.

"I forgive you." Yang choked out with a sad smile, still not looking at Adam. "It doesn't make us friends, and I still don't trust you… but I can tell that you are trying to make things right… and I can't hate you forever now that you are on our side, so… I forgive you." She repeated.

For the first time for a very long time, Adam smiled. He didn't have much to smile about nowadays, and his only other reason was currently back in that village that must have lived under a rock since they didn't recognize him. "Thank you." Is all he said as a response, two simple words weren't nearly enough to show how grateful he was, but it spoke volumes for his character. He was getting closer to his goal of redemption.

"Tch." Blake looked away from both of them. On the inside, she was shocked to hear those words coming from both of them, especially from Yang since she lost her arm to this man. But it was clear that she wasn't going to win this fight, so she was just going to stay quiet for now.

"Oookay." Jaune drew that word out for much longer then it was needed, but it got the effect desired across. "It's good that is out of the way for now, is there anything else we're going to discuss?"

"Question." Nora rose her hand, and kept it held there while looking at Hector as if he were one of her professors.

"Nora." Hector played along with it, pointing and picking her out of the small crowd in front of him.

"How are we going to kill the dragon?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Wow… no one really thought about how they were going to do that yet. Ruby could kill it by staring at it, but she wouldn't be staying around long enough for her to be able to do that, unless she stayed behind while her sister, boyfriend, and kinda is kinda not stepdaughter went across to a continent none of them have ever been in before to look for the Summer Maiden who may or may not be hostile toward them. It was going to take a lot to convince her to stay at Beacon.

So… that road only lead up to one possible outcome, if the dragon can't be killed by physical means, at least not without some sort of ballistic missile strong enough to destroy a small town. There was really only one other option.

"Well… why else would I be sending Adam with you?" Hector said with a smirk he forced onto his face to act like that was his plan the entire time.

All eyes were on Adam at that point, even Blakes.

He just stared back in disbelief for a few moments.

After a few more moments he simply sighed and shook his head as he realized the _pretty big_ role he had to play to save the school he once sought to destroy.

"I guess I'll have to learn how to use my eyes fast." He finally said.

"How hard can it be?"

Yeah, how hard could it be to stare a dragon to death.

* * *

The Summer Maiden was bored to say the least. Somehow, someway, she has lost her main source of entertainment, which was slaying Grimm. She knew that she was strong as shit, but to be able to wipe the nemesis of humanity off of a whole continent was a little bit unbelievable to say the least.

Right now, she was just leaving the city surrounding Shade Academy. She was recognized by a few kids she ended up saving on accident a few weeks before, her reputation as the lightning warrior preceded her so like that. She ignored them the best she could. But kids being kids, they just kept following her until she ended up at the wide open gates of the kingdom itself.

 _Seriously, I am a fucking snake faunus who can control the power of nature, you'd think people would know not to screw with me!_ She thought angrily to herself as she made a one-eighty and rolled her eyes. "What do you want monkey boy?"

The blond one with the tail spoke first. "Finally! I've been trying to get your attention for a while now." He said with an exasperated sigh, he then looked both ways as if he was looking for something, before leaning in slightly to speak to her quietly. "So… are you one of those… maiden thingies that I know a friend is looking for?" He asked.

Her eye twitched slightly, and the three other boys behind what seems to be their leader. Specifically a blue haired one with goggles on his head backed up the furthest. She recognized him as one of the poor saps that tried to flirt with her, and he definitely looks like he is now regretting that decision.

"Listen kids, business like maidens and all that are beyond your comprehension." She told them, leaning on the gate and letting her lightning crackle around her feet. Lightning was her most preferred element of nature to use against her enemies, and it was rightfully feared by many. "How about you got back to your little academy, and take that chameleon girl that I know has been following me since we met."

Ilia became visible again, her eyes narrowed in defeat as she appeared suddenly beside her blonde monkey faunus comrade. "I told you she wasn't going to fall for it Sun, she's not very friendly with strangers."

"Oh please, I can be plenty friendly!" The Summer Maiden protested. "Just not toward five kids that have been following me for weeks, what's your deal anyway?"

Sun stepped forward before Ilia could. " _Well_ I am glad you asked! You see, I happen to be friends with a certain hero that has been running around saving kingdoms." He piqued her interest right there. "Now I haven't seen him in a while, but I _do_ know that he is probably going to be needing some allies in whatever he is getting up to. You might know him as the hero of two kingdoms." He said with a charming smile.

The Summer Maiden simply stared at him for a bit, then looked up to the sky to think for a few seconds. "Oh! You mean that Hector guy! Yeah, I've been itching to fight him ever since I heard about him, I've been sensing him all over the world from time to time."

"Yeah! Him!" Sun pretended to know that he knew what she meant. "He's probably on his way to Vacuo right now." Sun pressed on, happily making finger gestures to drive his point home.

"Dude, I don't think this is working." Neptune whispered into his ear.

"Shut up, I'm trying to make it work." Sun whispered back to him, but kept the same goofy smile on his face.

"Your plan was to walk up against one of the most powerful beings on the _planet,_ and try to become friends with her!" Scarlet pointed out.

"Yeah… not the best way to redeem yourself as our leader man." Sage said next.

Sun sagged his shoulders, and even Ilia sort of felt bad for him, even though she did let out an amused chuckle. It was by pure coincidence that she ran into Team SSSN a while back, and has been pressured by the leader of said team into joining them on their conquest to woo the Summer Maiden onto their side, and side she was pretty desperate and Adam Taurus was nowhere to be seen for over a year, she was fooled into joining the boy she stabbed in the chest in the past, what a twist of fate.

The Summer Maiden laughed at their predicament, she has been toying with them all this time and yet they still manage to make her laugh every once in a while.

"Tell you what," She pushed off of the wall and intertwined her hands together in front of her stomach. "You kids have been making me laugh with how desperate, and funny you've been in your attempts to get me to come with you, so you know what? Screw it! I'll come along for the ride for now." She said with another chuckle.

"Really!?" Sun squealed, and then flushed embarrassedly when everyone laughed at him even through their shock. "I-I mean," He cleared his throat. "Welcome aboard! What's your name though? It feels weird that I've been following you for a while now and can only refer to you as the Summer Maiden, or the Lightning Warrior." He asked as he extended his hand out to shake hers.

She gripped his hand so tight that he fell to his knees and winced by the pure strength she put in her grip. "Natsuki, Natsuki Kerria."

Natsuki let go of his hand, and he waved it in the air a few times to try to shake the pain away, but in the end he gave up and put on his best smile even through the pain. "Good to finally have you." He said with a pained smile. "Let me introduce you _officially_ to my teammates-"

"Sun Wukong, Sage Ayana, Scarlet David, Neptune Vasilias, and of course, my favorite, Chameleon Girl." Natsuki listed off without missing a beat. "What? I was bored as fuck the past few weeks, so I did a little digging of my own."

"O… kay, I don't know if I should be flattered or worried about that." Sage muttered.

"Definitely the latter." Scarlet whispered to him.

"Okay kiddies, lead the way before I fly off to find something else to do." Natsuki said as she made way for them to pass her. "You better not make me regret this, because if you do you are going to regret it." She warned the monkey faunus as he passed her.

"Well… I wasn't really planning on actually leaving the city here." Sun said slowly, as if he was silently asking permission to speak.

Natsuki's eyes narrowed at him.

"You see… I wasn't really thinking _that_ far ahead, and well, you actually agreeing finally to join us wasn't one of the options I thought I would find myself trying to deal with-"

"What this idiot is saying is that we didn't plan that far ahead, and we don't really know what to do from here." Ilia translated for her.

"Really? That's stupid." Natsuki scoffed.

"I told you!" Neptune berated his leader.

"Well at least we got this far! I didn't hear you trying to think of something we could do in this situation." Sun defended himself.

"How about we call him?" Natsuki suggested offhandedly as she picked her ear. "Let me talk to the guy, see what he has to say, he's the one that wants to recruit me for whatever it is he's doing right?"

The five young ones stared at her in disbelief.

"Just like that?" Ilia asked underneath her breath.

"Sure, why not?"

"Is there even a CCT tower in Vacuo?" Sage asked, he honestly didn't know, and he lived here.

"Yeah dude," His leader confirmed. "It's not really a tower here, but we call it that anyway. It's taller than the school and that's enough for everyone here to call it that."

"The school is not even that big…" Neptune mumbled to himself, he wasn't from Vacuo, but he wasn't about to insult his friends by stating as such out loud.

"Wait… you mean that was the CCT the whole time!?" Sage asked, in denial. "I always thought it was just a place to hang out at…"

"Oh it still is, don't get me wrong, we literally have no security there because to be completely honest no one really cares about what happens in Vacuo."

"That explains why the White Fang doesn't really do much here…" Scarlet nodded his head in sudden realization.

"All this time… I was thinking about how to convince you to join us and all this time… it was that easy?" Ilia couldn't believe it. "What the Hell have I been doing wrong?"

"Probably to whole overthinking thing, I've noticed that you do that a lot." Natsuki remarked as she patted her cheek. She then sauntered past them while beckoning them to follow her. "Come children! I know a pretty good bar around the corner that don't check for ID's."

"B-but-"

"Fuck do you want me to help you all or what? Seriously, what is with it with kids these days." She said that last part to herself as she rounded the corner.

When she disappeared from sight, Team SSSN, and their plus one realized that they should follow her before it was too late. They quickly sprinted after her and rounded the corner just in time to see her enter a bar appropriately named _The Bar._ They ran after her again, and entered _The Bar_. Only to be met with the sight of band of actual kids playing actually pretty good song to pass the time listening to, and the Summer Maiden, not politely asking but straight up demanding the name of a drink that shall not be repeated.

"And these are my new friends!" The maiden exclaimed to the whole bar, she had an interesting way of talking to the bartenders. "Serve them." She demanded not a second later. The young bartender who probably just started working there scrambled to get drinks for them, even when they tried telling him not to. The fear of what will happen to him was enough for him to ignore their pleas.

"There, now drink up kids, and monkey boy I suggest you start calling that number." Natsuki said just before she downed yet another shot. When and how she drank four other shots before that one was unknown to them, but they weren't about to complain to the likes of her, unless they felt like getting shocked an unpleasant amount. What they were more concerned about was why the drink she was drinking was a sky blue color.

"Uh… okay." Sun scrambled to get his scroll out of his jean pocket, and scrolled down his contact list to find 'Big Flaming Red Dude From THB' The THB stood for 'The Haven B'. And just as the scroll started ringing, he was then forced to take a shot of his own, along with the rest of his teammates. The only one who wasn't forced to drink was Ilia, and she had the job of holding the scroll until the one they desired picked up. To make it even more awkward for her, it was a video chat, and right behind her was all of Team SSSN, drinking some blue stuff along with the Summer Maiden, who laughed and told jokes that the bartender didn't find funny but kept laughing at them anyway.

Yeah, it wasn't one of her best moments in life, and was especially surprised to notice that Hector was staring at her through the scroll with eyes just as wide as hers.

/-/

When his scroll started ringing, he didn't know what to expect. Just before he was just enjoying the show of Ruby trying her best to teach Adam how to use his eyes. Only for him to just have a goofy look on his face as he tried to make them glow like hers was. Nora kept taking pictures for blackmail purposes, Ren was trying to fall back to sleep, Jaune was doing his best to help his best friend and his new ally, Neo was doing Neo things, still eating from a bowl of ice cream that _still_ hasn't run out, Yang kept laughing at Adam everytime he failed, and Blake was watching them from the corner of her eyes.

The pilot was asleep in one of the corners of the Bullhead and Nicholas took over as the pilot in order to let the professional rest after a full day of straight flying. Doing his best to ignore the flicks of stems of cherries being flicked into his face every few seconds, his brow twitched every time one hit his face.

Rhea was still snuggled up to him, though she was even amused at the sight of Adam trying to use his eyes. A small smile tugged up at the corner of her lips as she watched him try and fail to use them, and the fact that he looked like a male Neo and had pink and brown as his main color pallet instead of black and red only made him look that more hilarious.

But even through that, when his scroll rung and he read the caller ID being Sun Wukong, a friend of his that he hasn't heard from since the Battle of Haven since he went to go back to his team, and the one who answered was _Ilia_ of all people, another faunus he hasn't seen in over a year was the first person he saw when he answered the scroll. Then in the background he saw the entirety of Team SSSN drinking things that they clearly weren't used to drinking, and a reptilian faunus laughing at them as she clapped along to the music.

"Uh… Hi?" Hector waved at the camera stupidly.

"Wow, you actually answered." Ilia had the decency to look just as surprised as he was.

"Well duh, why wouldn't I answer a call from Sun? Also why were you the first face I saw and why is he and his team being forced to drink while that snake girl laughs at them?" Hector asked, scratching the side of his face in wonder.

"Well… first things first she is the Summer Maiden." Ilia revealed right away.

Hector coughed on nothing but air at the revelation, earning the attention from everyone else in the room who managed to also overhear what Ilia has just told him. They all widened their eyes in surprise, and even Adam seemed more then a little shocked at not only hearing something about Ilia, but also learning that the most powerful Maiden has been found.

"The Summer Maiden… _the_ Summer Maiden is sitting right next to you guys drinking, is that what you've been up to this past year?" Hector asked, leaning on his knees with his elbows as he tried to get a better look of the Summer Maiden, the second to last Maiden that he needs to recruit onto his side in order for him to possibly win this secret war of his. And there she was, sitting and enjoying a drink right in front of him.

"Well… no, Sun and the others were the ones that were actually looking for her, I tried to find Adam but I ended up with literally nothing, so against my better judgement I joined them on their little mission to get her to help us." Ilia explained simply. "And as you can see, it somehow managed to work out, I think."

Adam gulped nervously, and shook his head and waved his hands no in an attempt to convince Hector not to tell her what he was actually doing all this time. To his gratefulness, Hector nodded at him and kept the news about him quiet.

"Well, that's great!" He said instead.

"Oi, chameleon girl," Natsuki pulled her over by the arm and looked into Sun's scroll. "That him? Damn, you look different on a scroll then on a low budget TV." Was the first thing she said to him.

"Uh… thanks?" Hector said, pushing an overly curious Nora away with his free arm as he tried to keep a straight face.

Seriously, what was today?

"You're the Summer Maiden?" He asked.

"Yup, and you are going to fight me." Said Summer Maiden declared as she let her hands crackle with lightning before her.

 _Oh, of course I am._ Hector resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "What is it with you Maidens and wanting to fight me!? I swear it is some game Fate is playing with me and I am not having fun with it."

"Well hey, like I told Chameleon Girl a while ago that-"

"My name is Ilia." _Chameleon Girl_ interjected.

"And I just realized that I still don't give a shit." The Summer Maiden didn't miss a beat as she continued. "If you can beat me in a fight, I'll join you on whatever it is you're doing."

Hector rose an eyebrow. "Even if it is a war against the Queen of all Grimm?"

The Summer Maiden even nodded at him. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Sounds like fun." Then she yawned out of boredom… she _yawned_.

Hector sighed and facepalmed. He had a whole plan set in motion, and now he might not even have to go to Vacuo, because here the Summer Maiden was, and all he had to do was beat her to earn her loyalty… of course he had to.

"Okay… I'll fight you." The Unlikely Hero agreed to her terms, much to some of his friends dismay. "Do I have to come to Vacuo? Or are you going to come to Vale to meet me?"

"Fuck no, I'm not going to Vale. It's _way_ too cold there."

He dared to hope that she would actually do something that actually surprised him.

 _Well… at least that part of my plan isn't going to change._ He thought to himself as he went deep into thought, trying to think about where they could have their fight. They were both very strong in their own right, but Summer is apparently supposed to be the strongest maiden out of the four, which would mean she would be stronger then Cinder and Raven, might have been able to kill Hell on her own if they fought if he was the same strength as he was back at Atlas. Which would mean that he would have to go past a times twenty multiplier with his semblance…

"Where are you then? I'm going to be on my way soon, it would be good to know where we are going to meet in order to have this fight between you and me." Hector said instead, he would worry about his own strength later. Even if he was getting worried looks by of all his friends at the moment.

"Just come to Shade, I'll handle the rest when you get here." She said absentmindedly as she drank away at another full bottle of whatever it was she was drinking. "Just make sure it's just you and me in this fight, I won't come with if you have help from the other Maidens or anyone else."

Yeah… that sounded a little too easy, but he would take it for now. Well, easy if you could say defeating a _Maiden_ was a trivial task for him to do.

 _Well… in for a penny._

"Alright, deal. I'll be at Shade in about one weeks time… I hope. Just please don't kill my friends before I get there." He added, he wasn't really giving her intelligence a lot of credit, but to be fair the first impression she gave off was of someone who wasn't that responsible.

"Bah, they'll be fine." Natsuki said with a wave of her hand, not even turning to look at him through the scroll being held for her by Ilia. "There's a lot for them to do here while we wait… K bye!" She clicked the scroll off, ending the call before he was even able to process she was just about to do.

It was too late by the time he called out to her to wait, for the screen on his scroll was already back to a 'call ended' with the time of how long his call lasted, which was just a measly five minutes and a few seconds. He grunted in frustration as he let his hand slack to his side, scroll still in hand.

"So… mission accomplished?" Ruby tried, and to her credit it technically was accomplished, the Summer Maiden was already on board, he just needed to beat her in a fight.

"How can fighting the most powerful Maiden in order to get her on our side _by himself_ a mission accomplished? He can barely draw with _me_ in a fight, and I am only the second strongest apparently." Yang just had to ruin the short moment of him thinking that he just did something good.

"Yeah, but he didn't go _that_ far past his limits." Ren pointed out, coming to his weak defense. "Your semblance gives you the edge over him, but even through that he still manages to draw with you. Not to mention that the previous Spring Maiden was much better at controlling her powers then you are. You still fight with you fists and semblance more than you use your powers."

"Yeah, and it wasn't like you were fighting to the death or anything, if he used the same power he did against that copy of him in Atlas. I am sure he would able to beat you before you caught up with him." Jaune added.

"The thing is, would his body be able to keep up that power in order to defeat the Summer Maiden? And would he be okay afterwards?" Ren asked next, and just like that his defense crumbled. The last time he went that far with his semblance he put himself in a month long coma, and he can't afford to do that to himself again with what is going on right now.

Now all eyes were on him again, expecting him to explain it himself. Nicholas even put the ship into autopilot just to stare at him with a raised eyebrow. Neo just clapped _very_ slowly, the slapping of her hands the only sound in the Bullhead besides the quiet snoring of their pilot sleeping in the corner.

"Well… how hard can it be?" He asked with a confident smile that was very… very forced.

Yeah… how hard can it be to defeat the most powerful Maiden on the planet by himself when all he had was a semblance that could very well kill him or put him in a coma?

The answer to that question was happily provided to him by the Relic of Knowledge.

" _Very hard I'm afraid."_

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 **This was a shorter chapter then usual, and we got no Qrow and co this chapter, but in all honesty all they've been doing is sitting in the cave warming up while team HHBC look around for the Winter Maiden, and she as always was being the little sneaky one that she is. It wouldn't have been much progress if I wrote down their part, so I left them out for now, it hasn't even been a full 24 hours for them anyway. What we did get is some more emotion from Hector and him thinking about what to do with the news he just got from last chapter. Ruby and Adam are the only ones who know something is up, and Rhea was too tired to notice. Try placing yourself in Hector's shoes, would you up and tell everyone that you killed Rhea's mother when things were her are already emotional and tense? Yeah, not a good idea, at least not yet. Things will happen of course. Many things...**

 **Also, the name of the Summer Maiden has finally been revealed! Along with the return of Sun and the first appearance of his whole team in this fic! Along with Ilia and her whereabouts finally being revealed. But remember, the threat of Salem is never too far away. I'll leave it at that for now.**

 **Speaking of the Summer Maiden, I pretty much confirmed that there is going to be a Hector vs Summer Maiden fight coming up. I don't know when because there is still a bunch of shit for me to get through, but that is also another scene that I have just been itching to write for a few months now. All I can say is that it is coming soon.**

 **Thank you for reading my story!**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far!**

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 **P atreon . com(slash) Genatools**


	53. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 53

**Here we go boys and girls, another chapter of this long ass story, I wonder how this one is going to go… We'll just have to find out now won't we? Also, I've done some thinking, and I actually don't know if I will make it to a million words once this story is finished. I'll try my best, but don't expect a massive miracle from me.**

 **Just for the giggles, and because I thought why not. I decided that I'll answer any questions you guys may or may not have for me. I'll answer them the best I can, and as long as the questions are not** _ **two**_ **personal, I'll answer them freely.**

 **For now though, let me reply to the ones who reviewed last chapter.**

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 **Fsafafafaf: If it didn't happen, it would be holding back some well needed development for all of the characters involved. It had to happen eventually, since Adam is becoming a good guy now there was no avoiding it.**

 **TTigervolcano5000: You reviewed fast this time! Yeah, after seeing Vol 6 Ozpin I kicked myself in the butt for what I did, but hey, like you said before, it is my story and since I have dived past the cannon this far already I may as well change some other things while I am at it. You'd be right, Hector eventually has to tell Rhea what happened to her mom, and I am glad you understand that he has chosen not to say anything about it, at least not yet. Since RT kinda screwed up Adam's character and made him mostly hated by the fandom, I wanted to bring Adam back into the fold and do my own version of him. I am glad you are enjoying what you think of my version so far, since I am actually a little worried about the feedback for his character in this story, but so far I am pleased with the feedback so far. Think of it this way, Ruby at 15 years old while using her silver eyes for the first time ever managed to** _ **almost**_ **kill the Grimm dragon. Adam is I'm guessing around 20 years old right now? He is much stronger then Ruby was back then, and he stronger then he was before in Vol 5, in this story at least. So I'd say that his chances are pretty good… as long as he manages to use his eyes properly. I knew you were going to have a reaction for the Summer Maiden, it feels so long ago when you gave your input about the OC Maidens that were going to be in this story, Rhea was heavily inspired by your Fall Maiden, and Summer is completely based off of the version you gave me. And Hector is going to be fighting that, let us wish him luck.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Eh, more or less.**

 **Guest: It was meant to feel that way, coming out of nowhere. I left very little hints about Rhea's heritage. Besides, it's not like stuff coming out of nowhere isn't something that happens in a lot of other stories.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

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 **Now lets us get on with the story!**

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Chapter 53- Home Sweet Home

It took a few days, but the Bullhead carrying two ex-criminals, an unlikely hero, two teams of huntsman, and a well known fully trained huntsman finally entered Vale airspace. The rest of the flight after plans being made for what Adam and his group were to do, and then with the so complicated plan that is so complicated because of how simple it is that it makes it hard to understand. Hector has the luxury of having to come up with a lot of the plans, since he has the power of the Relic of Knowledge and the intelligence of Professor Ozpin, or Ozma, whatever the hell his name really was. He stopped caring a while ago.

But other then that, it was actually feeling wonderful for him to finally be in Vale for the first time in his life. Barring the time he had to stop by Patch to find the new Fall Maiden of course, he could say that this is his first time in his life that he is in the city of Vale itself, and laid eyes upon the Academy for the first time ever. It still stood strong but it was not looking as strong as it must have before, the attack really did a number on it.

When he did notice the school, It made him think about a time so long ago when he was still just some teenager who was a fan of the series, and now he is in the main setting of the first three volumes. It was weird to think that now though, to think of this place as just a setting from a show. He's been on Remnant so long now that he sees it as his home now, and Vale was a sort of vacation spot for him. Minus the frozen Grimm dragon in the distance still wrapped around Beacon Academy, it kinda ruins the whole thing.

In another timeline, maybe he would have been sent back earlier. Maybe he would have been a student in that life, maybe he would have had his own team. He would never know however, and he wouldn't want to know now. He is more then content with the life that he has now.

When the Bullhead landed and opened up its side door, Ruby, Yang, and Blake were the first ones out, followed and quickly passed by Nora who jumped out and immediately hugged the ground. Ren sighed and stepped out next, accompanied by his leader, Jaune. Nicholas stood at the exit and looked over his head toward Hector, who was standing with an awed expression on his face with Rhea holding his gloved left hand. With a shared nod, he stepped out next. Quickly rounding up all of the others before they ran off on their own.

Neo appeared next to Hector with a silent yawn as she stretched her arms out over her head. She didn't move when she stopped stretching though, she was waiting for him to move. Which was kinda cute in a way, but it was also kinda creepy. But with everything that happened in his life so far, it is considered normal at this point.

Adam stepped out next, still in his colorful pink disguise and his silver eyes on display for the world to see. He hid his sword with his clothing just in case someone recognized it even when it was in it's ice cream color form. He immediately set his eyes on the very large and deadly looking Grimm dragon that he hasn't seen since he was attacking the very school he is now setting out to save. He sighed and ran a hand down his face, he was going to have to kill that.

Finally, after a bit of coaxing for Rhea, who was thankfully getting better after the revelations about what happened to her parents. She still doesn't know about what happened to her mother, but in time Hector will build up the courage to tell her who she really was and what happened to her. Preferably when she isn't so down and emotional.

Ruby asked him what he saw while Rhea was sleeping one night, and Hector tried to tell her, he really did. But he just couldn't, he knew Ruby well enough to know that she would pressure him to tell Rhea as soon as possible, even though she would definitely have good intentions about it, it would only lead to more trouble then he was willing to get wrapped up into at the moment. Eventually, Ruby calmed down, and trusted him to reveal the truth to Rhea himself once the time was right.

"Hey, I know the sight is pretty and all, but the sooner you get out, the sooner I'll be able to start ressupplying and refueling the Bullhead. Should be done around night time, I just don't know exactly when." The pilot said to him, snapping him out of his trance with a small flinch.

"Yeah… thanks for the ride in advance." Hector said with a wave as he stepped out of the Bullhead, and took his first few steps in the kingdom of Vale. As expected, Neo stepped out next, a bowler hat on her head which held a striking resemblance to Roman's, and with a cheery smile she beamed up at Hector as he turned to regard her.

"I still don't know why I am so important to you." Hector said, curiosity in his eyes.

Neo tilted her head in perplexion, her eyes blinked and the colors switched places. She looked like she was thinking for a second, but then she made a gesture with her hands. Holding one out flat, and made the other punching that hand. For some odd reason, Hector was able to understand that.

"You're sticking around because I ki-… got rid of Cinder?" He almost said kill, but now he felt bad everytime he thought about what he did to Cinder.

Neo snapped her fingers and gave him a thumbs up.

"Right, we're still going to have to talk about that one of these days." He turned to face her fully. "But for now, thanks for becoming one of the good guys." Hector said with a small smile.

Neo shook her head, and then pointed a finger into Hector's chest. She had a complicated expression on her face, one that Hector would need time to get used to her antics in order to understand her completely.

"Yeah, I don't understand you fully yet." He admitted, a tiny bit ashamed of himself.

Hector earned an angry pout out of Neo for that one, but he understanded why.

"What happened to your sign language? I can understand that at least." Hector pointed out.

Neo then flipped him off to show him what she thought about that.

"Fair enough."

He nodded to Neo and turned back toward his friends, who were talking about Beacon and their time there. He didn't understand most of it, but he recognized some themes of what they talked about from the show. Ruby noticed him coming and sped up to him to grip his free hand.

"Hector! It feels great to be back here, what do you think?" She asked cheerfully, pulling him by the hand needlessly as they moved closer to the stairs down the helipad.

He didn't even notice it before, since he didn't bother to actually look around the place, but they were at the docks. He vaguely remembered one of the scenes when Sun first appeared, so that was how he knew where he was. Upon further observation, he noticed that the docks seemed to have been converted into some sort of makeshift base, and the Helipads were hastily built so that more people could come and go much more quickly.

"Heh, this place is cool so far." He told Ruby honestly, which made her smile grow. "It feels like I'm literally inside a movie though." He sarcastically remarked, a much more rare smartass comment that he couldn't help but make with the opportunity that was provided to him.

"Pff, don't be a smartass." Ruby laughed along with him.

"Alright you lovebirds, we got some stuff to do so get over here." Yang called them over with a tease that made Ruby light up with red, and Hector snicker at how easy it was to embarrass his girlfriend.

It didn't take long for them to catch up with the rest of the group, when they all grouped up together, with Neo and Adam lingering around the outside of it behind Hector. The pilot shut down the Bullhead completely and closed the door, before exiting and running over to speak with some of the officials to get himself booked for another flight to Vacuo.

"Right, so, what're you guys going to do while we head to Beacon?" Jaune asked, the leader of his own group.

"Well… I need to get to Vacuo as soon as possible for obvious reasons, so I won't be able to stay too long around here. I'll walk with you guys to the people who will take you up, but I won't be able to go up there with you." Hector explained. "Which means…" He turned around to face Adam, who looked back at him with a neutral expression.

"I suppose this is where I join you four." Adam said with a silent sigh blown out of his nose.

"Looks like your rocking with us mister silver eyes." Nora suddenly appeared next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders tightly. "Welcome to the team Oxy!"

"Please, don't call me that." Adam groaned, but let the energetic girl pull him along to join her team's side. He also ignored the warning looks he got from Blake and Nicholas alike, since it was going to be a long time before he could earn even a sliver of her trust back, and Nicholas Arc only heard bad things about him in his career as a huntsman, so by default he was already on his bad side. The blonde guy and the black haired one seemed to be slightly more forgiving, welcoming him in with small smiles, but they could just be being polite. One thing is for sure however, he had a lot to do in order to prove himself.

"Alright, we should be heading off to Beacon as soon as possible." Nicholas spoke up, and then turned to Hector. "I don't know if you're going to be coming with us, but if you haven't decided yet now is the time. If it helps I think your girlfriend there wants you to at least show up."

Hector put some thought to it, he figured that Yang and Ruby would want to at least revisit Beacon, maybe reconnect with some people they knew back when they were students. There was the matter of Rhea and Neo, but both of them would follow him anywhere anyway. He was fairly sure that some people might recognize Neo as the terrorist she was and quite possibly still is, but given a few seconds and she would fix that by turning into someone else. After a few more seconds of thinking about it, turning to Yang and Ruby to get their obvious on what they thought he should do, and then to Neo who simply shrugged in response, and then finally, down to his side where Rhea was, still latched onto his arm. She looked up at him with a mostly neutral expression on her face.

"Is it okay if we go visit Beacon?" Hector asked her in a soft voice.

"... Sure." Rhea replied, a small smile appearing on her face.

Hector lit up when he saw that smile, it was a rare occurrence nowadays, and it was a sign of Rhea getting better. He was worried that it traumatized her worse than he thought it did, but it looked like his worries were just that, worries.

"Well, there's my answer." He looked back to his friends, the ones from the recently formed Team HRRY. "We'll stay for a bit, but we gotta be back here some time this evening, is that okay with you two?"

"Yup!" "Of course." Yang and Ruby answered respectively.

Hector nodded back at them.

"Great, let's go say hi to Beacon then."

/-/

The trip to the spot where huntsman and soldiers are picked up to go join in the operation in the reclamation of Beacon was surprisingly short. It only took about an hour to get there, but instead it took two since the present members of Team RWBY along with the former members of Team JNPR all started pointing out every little thing that they recognized. Hector understood why they were doing it, they haven't been in Vale for so long and no doubt missed the place badly. Hell, even _Ren_ was being talkative, and it was Ren!

Wisely, Hector didn't make his annoyance known, though Rhea noticed it. Being the closest to him and always making sure he was actually still there with her was one of the things she kept doing to make sure that he wouldn't go away suddenly. She looked amused every time she looked up, and Neo did the same thing on his other side. Which in truth annoyed him slightly, but if it meant putting a smile on Rhea's face, then it was a sacrifice he would be happy to make.

And guess who they saw the second the started getting _close_ to the base.

Glynda Goodwitch, the new Headmistress of Beacon Academy.

All of the former students of Beacon immediately started running toward her, and calling her name. Nicholas and Adam stayed back, since they don't know the woman as well as they did, and for obvious reasons, so did Neo and Rhea.

"Students?" Glynda couldn't believe her eyes, she knew that they were alive and well, but for them to come back to the decimated school? It was shocking for her. She even smiled fondly as they ran at her, and that smile turned into a large frown when she realized that they weren't slowing down, and wasn't fast enough on the draw of her riding crop to use her semblance to push them away from her because Ruby ran faster at the speed of sound _just_ to hug her before she could do that, pinning her arms to her sides.

Yang and Nora quickly followed, who were then followed by Blake, Jaune, and Ren. They all worked as a team to wrap their arms around their strict teacher and trap her in a hug even as she yelled her complaints about it.

"Unhand me students! This is not how huntsman in training should behave!" She cried even as she hugged some of them back, albeit reluctantly.

Hector chuckled at the sight, he never met the teacher before, at least not personally. He didn't think that he would even _get_ to meet her on this day, since he has a trip to Vacuo that he still has to make. But since he's already met eyes with her, and he was already on his way to her at a much slower pace, it looked like he would get her chance.

Adam used his silver eyes to look back in her direction, he was near unrecognizable without his mask and with the disguise he was in, no one would know who he was. But they might recognize his voice. So he planned to keep his mouth shut for most of this reunion unless he was directly addressed.

Neo walked behind Hector, and appeared on the other side in the same disguise she used when he and Blake went to go find Adam. The one where she had light brown skin and dark brown hair, along with a pair of dark brown eyes. He realized that this disguise was themed around chocolate ice scream when he remembered that this was still Neo he was talking about here.

"Looks like you were excited to see her." He said as he caught up with his friends.

Ruby sped up, and grabbed his hand to pull him closer to Glynda Goodwitch, who regarded him with a curious look in her eye. She recognized him of course, he'd be surprised if he didn't.

"Mister Rivers I presume?" Glynda asked, and after politely pushing away the rest of her students, namely Yang and Nora who were still latched to her sides, she held out her hand to shake his. "Welcome to Vale."

Hector took his, and squeezed lightly as they shook hands. "Thank you for the welcome, unfortunately I will not be able to stay long. I have business to attend to in Vacuo." He reached behind his back with his other hand, and gripped the cane of Professor Ozpin. He held it out as the only explanation of what he was really.

"Ozpin?" Glynda reeled back slightly in shock. "My God, where have you been all this time?" She asked angrily, her green eyes narrowing into little more the slits.

Hector rose his hands up in surrender, and smiled sadly. He could have sworn he felt something in the back of his mind, it was almost like Ozpin was actually afraid of the new Headmistress. "Ozpin isn't here right now, he hasn't been around for a while. I managed to keep myself under control more or less. The less you ask about it, the better." He really didn't look forward to explaining how he kinda broke Ozpin's curse and lost every bit of trust he might have had from the former Headmaster of Beacon Academy.

"I-I see." Glynda nodded, and adjusted her glasses. "Well then, Mister Rivers. What are your intentions here with my students?" She asked, an odd protective vibe coming off of her that his friends gushed over.

"Well, to return about four of them to you, along with two huntsman who are willing to see this through to the end." Hector replied honestly, gesturing over to the recently formed Team JBLN, Nicholas, and a shy looking disguised Adam who still hasn't gotten used to his own appearance yet.

"Really now?" Glynda seemed surprised. "And what of those two?"

Yang and Ruby happily waved back at her as she nudged her head in their direction.

"They are going to be coming with me to Vacuo, as I said before, I have _business_ I need to attend to in that kingdom." Hector replied honestly again, hoping that the teacher would pick up on his silent signal.

"I understand." Glynda did pick up on it thankfully. "I hope that they do not cause you any trouble si- I mean… Mister Rivers."

Hector felt weird to be called that. "Just Hector is fine… please, I am not even twenty yet."

"Imagine how I feel." She rolled her eyes in response, mumbling the number of years she herself has lived so quietly that not even the resident faunus could here her. "Very well, I will trust you to take care of them."

"Oh no, they won't be needing me to take care of them." Hector chuckled as he turned his head to look at Yang and Ruby, as did Glynda as she followed his eyesight.

After a nod of approval, Yang looked around to make sure they weren't being watched, and then looked back to Glynda to let her eyes flame up red for a few seconds, and then let the flames die out right after. Gynda widened her eyes in shock at the subtle revelation, and it only got worse when Ruby let her eyes shimmer white to subtly reveal that she has learned how to control her eyes.

"O-Oh my, Miss Xiao Long… Miss Rose…" Glynda muttered, her shock clear. "You have grown so much in such a short time."

"It's only been two years… don't make it sound like it has been so much longer." Yang complained.

"I see Miss Rose has barely grew."

"Hey! I did too!" Ruby whined, her cheeks flaming up out of embarrassment which only got worse when her friends chuckled along with the Headmistress.

"And who is the little one?" Glynda asked next, referring to Rhea who is hiding behind Hector adorably. When she suddenly became afraid of strangers, Hector didn't know. But that didn't make it any less adorable.

"Oh, well uh… how do I say this without it sounding weird?" He asked himself as he thought. "Okay, so she's my stepdaughter, I adopted her recently." Glynda actually wasn't as surprised as he thought she would be. But what he was going to say next was going to definitely have a greater effect. "Aaaand she's also the Fall Maiden." He made sure to whisper that last part out, and yes, it did make Glynda show her surprise very physically by looking down at Rhea, and then back to Yang, before going back to Rhea and then back to Hector.

"T-Two Maidens? Here at Beacon? At the same time?" She asked many questions without stopping.

"Yes to all of those questions, and yes before you ask, the one that attacked this school is no longer… around, for lack of a better word." Hector said with a sad look in his eyes. "I decided to let you know, because I am going to be returning here after my trip to Vacuo, and by chance if the school is still infested with Grimm, that will be our next goal." He left out the parts about receiving the relics, but it should have gone without saying. He told Glynda that he had Ozpin in him, and that he was going to Vacuo before coming back here, so his intentions should be clear.

"I understand… then I suppose I will be seeing you again in time, and by then I expect to get a better explanation on all that I have missed in the time that you have been away." She worded it like she knew him before, but it was because of the fact that Ozpin was within him. It would take to getting used to, but he would have to. Ozpin made things more complicated by never coming out ever since his curse was broken by whatever magic Salem used. So he would have the luxury of explaining everything _again_ to yet another person.

One of the burdens of having a man like Ozpin in your body.

Hector cringed at how easily that could have been taken out of context.

"I would be happy to, Miss Goodwitch."

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"Ugggh." Natsuki groaned, face down in a table in _The Bar_. "I'm _so_ bored! Chameleon girl, is that guy here yet?"

"My name is Ilia, and no, it has only been barely a few days he is still halfway across the world, and you haven't left that chair the whole time." Ilia pointed out, annoyingly tired as she tried to comfort Sun who threw up on the floor for the third time in a row, no one bothered to regard him despite the disgusting smell his stomach acid is giving off, they were used to it. "And honestly, it is very concerning."

"Ah, fu-" Natsuki burped mid-sentence. "-ck off, geez if I knew you were such a pansy I would have never agreed to this alliance."

"Sure… I'm a pansy because I am being the _only_ responsible one here." She mostly directed that at Team SSSN who all mumble an apology in response, but end up falling back to sleep or losing consciousness. Scarlet actually has had his face down for the past day and a half or so. "Aren't you a lot older than us anyway? How are you any better?"

That seemed to have gotten a much better reaction out of the Summer Maiden, she found that out when her body was suddenly flipped upside down and her face was smashed into the floor so hard that she felt a tooth get loose, she probably would have lost it if she didn't have her aura up at the last second.

"You little bitch!" Natsuki snarled as she twisted her face even further into the floor. "I'll have you know I am actually only _twenty one_ years old!"

 _Why is no one stopping this?_ Ilia wanted to ask instead of answering the Maiden, but from the corner of her eye that wasn't being smashed into the ground was able so see that some people looked in their direction, but none of them made to stop it, probably because of the sudden young woman giving off such a powerful aura with the flaming blue eyes.

"Ah-m, s-ahrry." Ilia tried to apologize, but couldn't get the words out properly.

"Apologize!" Natsuki demanded, of course she wasn't able to understand her shorthand speech, that would have made this too easy to get out of.

"S-Sorry!" Ilia managed to get out when she turned her head just enough for her whole mouth to be freed from the not very good tasting floor.

With a satisfied huff, Natsuki took her foot off of her head, and proceeded to _inhale_ another three shots of whatever the name of that drink was. She seemed to like it and calmed down, it was more then obvious when she leaned her forehead back down on the counter and moaned loudly.

"..." Ilia wanted to say something so badly, but after her last comment, she doesn't think she is on speaking terms with the Summer Maiden at the moment.

Natsuki burped loudly just as she thought that, as if that was what she thought of her apprehensiveness to open her mouth to speak again. She then began to snore a few seconds after. How she fell asleep so fast after get getting riled up like she did, Ilia actually wants to know her secret.

Instead of poking the bear awake however, she went to deny Team SSSN any more drinks. Why they kept drinking and tried to keep up with Natsuki, Ilia didn't care to find out. One by one, she dragged them off of their stools and placed them all around a table in each of the chairs. Sun let his head hang on the back of the chair after he finally managed to get rid of anything that was in his stomach, maybe even his intestines to, since she is on the topic now the whole team threw up more vomit then any four teenagers had any right to handle within their bodies.

Luckily, after seemingly finally getting sick of the disgusting smell, a single person with a dark brown apron on started mopping up the vomit. Making the room slightly smell better when he finished mopping everything up.

With her entire party currently enjoying a nap, Ilia gingerly took her seat beside the Summer Maiden again, and let her head rest in the palms of her hands. Whatever Hector was doing… he really needs to get it done quickly, she doesn't know how much longer she can handle taking care of four other teenagers, and one fully grown adult. She was already running low on funds to pay for their food, and she wasn't brave enough to try to see if Natsuki had any on her.

Well… Team SSSN might have some Lien on them.

Except when she turned around to look at her unconcious friends, they were already being searched.

"Hey, leave them alone!" Ilia shouted, and ran up to grip the hands of one of the thief's before they could both get away.

It was her money to steal, they owed her this.

"Drop the money." Ilia demanded, her faunus features turning an angry red color as she tightened her grip around the feathery faunus' wrist. By the way he sounded when he tried to squirm his way out of her grip, he sounded like a kid younger than even her. But she was not in the mood to get sympathetic with him. "Now."

Reluctantly, the kid stopped struggling, and with his free hand gave her whatever money he managed to steal, but it still didn't look like enough to her. "She gave him a smug smile and beckoned him to give her more.

"I don't have any more…" He was lying through his teeth.

"Really? You're a thief with nothing better to do, I know for a fact that you have more." She pushed her hand into his chest and told him again to give her some more money.

"How would you know that lady!?" He asked as he tried to free himself from her grip, unluckily for him, she had the grip of a huntress.

"Because, I used to live around here. I had to steal to, and trust me, I never _didn't_ have more money on me." Ilia hardered her gaze and pushed aside her cloak that she used to protect her skin from the harsh sun, revealing her weapon.

The kid caved not a second later just as he realized that he was not getting out of this anytime soon without giving her what she had.

She let him go after counting the money with her free hand, he ran away as soon as she let him go with a satisfied nod of her head, leaving only footprints and a single feather behind in his wake.

She smiled and turned back to sit down back in her seat and forked over some of the money to the bartender to get herself food, and the Maiden, just as a way to try to get on her good side just in case she woke up angry, or hangry. Whatever the proper terminology was.

When the bartender looked at the money, and then went back to polishing a glass cup that he hasn't stopped polishing for the past few days. Not even sparing Ilia another look.

"Hey, I have the money here, what's the hold up?" Ilia asked, trying to sound intimidating, and to her credit she sounded mildly so. But to her dismay it didn't faze the elderly man in the slightest.

"You really think I am going to accept money I just saw get stolen?"

"What? You saw that kid he stole it first!" Ilia exclaimed, pushing to money over the counter again.

"Yes, and I saw you stealing it back, along with his own money which he probably needed to eat later on in the night." He pointed out, pushing the money back toward her with a single finger.

Ilia suddenly felt bad, and didn't try to refute his point. Instead she slumped her head against the counter, and tried sleep away the rest of her time here with these fools she has called friends.

And the Summer Maiden, of course. She was also important, objectively speaking…

* * *

Atlas was still cold, as usual. But it was slightly warmer, the self-proclaimed leader of Team QWM, which translates to Quantem, has managed to reignite his will to fight and go on in life. Not only for himself, but for the sake of his nieces and his passed teammates. For his twin… Mercury did a great job everytime Qrow even started like he was looking down again, reminding him of what is at stake and how much they actually have to lose if they don't find the Winter Maiden.

The constant snowstorms suddenly had a break about a week back. Mother nature saved their lives, because even with Mercury's heater legs it was highly likely that they wouldn't have lasted much longer without the break in the action so to speak. They spent the day after recovering from their near death experience, and then spent the next few searching for the Winter Maiden.

"Qrow, I think we've been here before." Mercury said as he spotted another set of footprints in the snow, it looked like a bunch of people walking as a group, just as they were. The thing is, the tracks were _fresh_ , and split off into four random directions, one of which went right in their direction but faded into the snow before it could actually reach them.

"No… I don't think we were." Qrow said slowly as he crouched down and narrowed his eyes at the tracks. It was nearing morning where they were, and unless they traveled in a literal circle, it is near impossible for them to have backtracked. He would know if they did, he acted as Ozpin's scout for years before this point in his life. "I think there are other people around." He said slowly, and quietly.

"Okay… what's the problem?" Mercury asked nonchalantly.

"The problem isn't that people are around here with us," Winter pointed out to him. "It's _who_ those people are that worries him."

Mercury immediately understood as soon as he put the pieces together, and he crouched down alongside Qrow with a cautious look on his face. Winter followed, back to back with the two men as she looks around in the opposite direction. They had one thing going for them, the Atlesian snow suits were white, and blended well into the snow. Mercury and Winters hair colors we also able to blend well with the snow, the only reason they stuck out was because of Qrow's thick, dark black hair. Which was why Mercury and WInter tried to block vision of him the best they could with their bodies as they all looked in seperate directions.

"You think it's your dad kid?" Qrow asked Mercury with a whisper.

"I wouldn't be surprised…" Mercury whispered back.

"Just letting you know that if it is him, I am going to have to kill him."

"Not if I get to him first old man."

"Hey, just because I like you doesn't mean you can get away with that!"

"Silence you two, you'll give us away!" Winter whisper screamed at them.

Qrow and Mercury both grumbled a curse about what they thought of that. It was concerning though, why would a group of four people suddenly split off into four random directions? Why would they all go and risk losing each other? It didn't make any sense.

Qrow had the distinct feeling his semblance was fucking with him again, he felt like the three of them just walked right into a trap.

And they did.

A soft muffled thud was heard by all three of them from the middle of their huddle. They didn't even need to see what it was to know that it was probably some kind of explosive. To make things worse, it had a short fuse, whoever threw it must have had time to cook it, which meant that he or she had eyes on them the whole time, and had a damn good arm to make it land where it did.

Qrow, Mercury, and Winter were forced to break off into three separate directions, and the explosion from the grenade was much larger than they thought it was going to be. Even with their amazing speed they weren't able to get away from it in time. They were all swallowed in a grey explosion and were sent in three different directions. A few more explosions were set off as a result, but none of them actually landed on their targets.

Qrow was the first to recover, flipping back up to his feet and transforming his weapon into it's sword form, holding it out before him in a flexible posture just in case he was attacked from more than one direction. Instead, an all too familiar scorpion tail pushed itself out of the snow, and was followed by a very alive and human looking Tyrian Callows. His tail dripped an angry purple venom that burned into the snow, and just like for the flash that it lasted back in their first fight, his eyes were a bright purple.

"Tyrian… I could have sworn I killed you a couple times." Qrow said with a smug smirk as he held his sword out in a defensive position. "One more time wouldn't hurt."

"Ahahaha!" Tyrian cackled. "How I _dreamed_ of this day! I finally get to finish what I started!" He yelled maniacally, entering into a low aggressive stance with his freshly sharpened wrist blades at the ready.

Qrow's smirk grew in size. "You took the words right out of my-" He was cut off when Tyrian kicked off of his back foot, and tried to cleave Qrow in two. But instead he was countered by getting his wrist blades parried and then getting kicked hard clean in the stomach, pushing him back to where he once stood.

Qrow flourished his blade, and then transformed it into it's scythe form.

"Mouth." he finished his earlier sentence, something he wasn't able to do in their first bout.

The two stood eachother off, and a epic rematch was about to begin.

/-/

"Qrow? Mercury!?" Winter called out to her other two companions, only to hear the sounds of fighting and cackling as her only response. "Damn it." She growled as she realized that she was on her own in the fog.

"I've never had the pleasure of assassinating a Schnee before." A cocky voice sounded out from behind her. "Must be my lucky day."

Winter spun around as soon as she heard the voice, and unclipped her weapon into two tinner blades. She recognized that voice, it sounded like Mercury's, but must more sinister and cruel. "You must be Marcus Black." She said as she looked upon the white haired man with black eyes, he stared back at her with a grin, and he entered a lazy fighting stance as a response to her getting into her own.

"In the flesh! I didn't know I had fans, but I'm sorry sweetie. I made the mistake of settling down once, now I got a kid running around who wants to kill me for some reason!" He taunted while faking his sadness, his cybernetic legs adjusting itself for more fast paced combat.

It made Winter feel sick to her stomach, and angrier than ever. She thought her father was bad, but Mercury's killed his own wife, and cut off his own son's legs in order to give him new ones that he didn't want. Marcus Black was worse the Jacque Schnee could ever hope to be, and she had the great luck to be up against him. It must have been her fate, to strike down not only one abusive father, but two.

"You have chosen your opponent poorly then, you may never get the chance to procreate again." She said in a cold voice, stabbing once of her swords in the ground to start a summoning glyph. She was forced to jump away when a fist of smoke bore down where she stood, and she scowled at the man who still had his fist out, but his arm was replaced by a cloud of smoke.

"Don't make that mistake again cutie, because you won't live to regret the second one." Marcus grinned sickly, and then made to attack the next second later.

Winter met him in the middle, one of her blades clashing with his leg, while her other was dodged whens he tried to counter.

Only one thing was on Marcus' mind as this fight started.

 _This better be worth missing out on my kid for…_

/-/

Mercury was in trouble. He was separated from his two other temporary teammates, and he was alone in the middle of a snowy landscape. His newly upgraded legs melted the snow off of them as they warmed up for imminent combat. His opponent was large and burly, and had blue dust crystals stabbed into each of his arms.

His expression didn't match those as his own allies, while they were excited and happy with their opponents, he was sad. Hazel let Mercury go because he didn't deserve to die because of Cinder's mistakes, not like the green haired girl Emerald, she didn't deserve to die like that. But with an ironic twist of fate, he was now forced to combat the young man he let go about a year ago.

"Mercury… please surrender." Hazel plead. "We don't need to do this."

Mercury felt a pang of sadness by the genuineness of his former friends voice, in a way, despite all of the crimes Hazel has committed, he also felt sorry about this twist of fate.

"Sorry big guy." Mercury put on the cocky grin he always used to wear. "But I can't back down from this fight, I have people relying on me." He entered a fighting stance, his upgraded legs adjusting with clicking sounds as he prepared himself for a very tough battle with the near indestructible Hazel Rainhart. He had no idea if he would win a fight with him, even with all the training he has done with Yang back in Atlas, and the time he spent working with them which made him better by giving him more experience on the field. Hazel however, was just in another league, a monster in his own right. But not one without weaknesses… and Mercury knew exactly what they were. "I'll give you a chance to back out of this though, I wouldn't want to do something I might regret." His sad tone betrayed the cocky expression he had on.

Hazel sighed, and widened his stance to prepare himself. "For what it is worth… Mercury Black… I am sorry things have to be this way. For your sake, I will try to make it quick."

It was Mercury's turn to sigh next.

"Yeah… me too."

Former friends, and allies started their battle after those words.

/-/

In the far distance, Hell observed the three battles happening all at the same time. His arms crossed as he nodded to himself and started looking around the scenery around his comrades and his enemies. He could have fought them all, and would have probably won. But he decided against it, if he was seen by the Winter Maiden, his identical nature to Hector would have given him away. She would run even further away from the fight, and would probably never show herself again, making the whole mission to find her that much more difficult.

Instead, he would wait. He would be patient, and watch for the inevitable arrival of the Winter Maiden. It was going to happen, she saved them once, she would do it again.

Hell smiled to himself as his plan started falling together perfectly.

* * *

 **A shorter chapter, I know. But it got the point across. I understand that the main group of protagonist's, (Hector and co) didn't have a whole ton of content this chapter, but after the upcoming fight scene following the surprise attack, they will have the rest of their scene.**

 **You guys know me and my fight scenes, and I have three of them to write next chapter. Next one is going to be a long one, I promise you that. Then after all that is settled and set up for a part 2, Hector and co are going to get their second half of their conversation with Glynda and a little trip into Vale.**

 **To stray away any confusion, next chapter is going to be happening all at the same time. So while QWM are fighting against HBC, at the same exact time, the other main characters are going to be having their own little scene. In other words. Long ass chapter on the way.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story! If you want to follow me on twitter to keep in touch with the progress of all my chapters, as well as some artwork of my characters, my username is the same as my FF name. Genatools.**

 **I'm not very good at drawing yet, but I am trying my best, eventually I'll be providing some good artwork for you guys of my OC characters from all of my stories.**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**


	54. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 54

**Here we are again boys and girls! Let's get right into the reviews before we get fight scene! This chapter is going to be mainly focused around Team QWM and HHBC by the way, so Hector and everyone might very possibly not be in this chapter. Things may change though, who knows?**

* * *

 **Zeldawolffang: One of these days, maybe. It's going to take a lot of planning.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Everyone is back! Yesh! I can neither deny nor confirm those predictions however, and for that, I am sorry. Vacuo is it's own little ball of funzies, it's not all depression. We haven't seen anything on what Vacuo is like in the show so I just kind of created my own vision of it. I can't wait to write the fight scenes, I have it all mostly memorized in my head already, Hazel and Mercury's is going to be an emotional one.**

 **Guest: Once this story finishes up, I will be creating that cannon version, I'll have plenty of time to plan it, and it will go on until RWBY ends. So that is going to be fun.**

 **Thank you everyone who reviewed!**

* * *

 **Also, I have started drawing the characters from all of my stories. I haven't really done a whole lot for this story, but I have done a bunch for Team HAMR. Soon however, I will be drawing a Spring Maiden Yang, and Hector with in his blue Kaioken form. If you are curious to see what some of these characters look like, go ahead and take a look on my twitter, and if you follow me, that's even better!**

 **Username is: Genatools**

 **You'll know when you're in the right place**

 **Now let's get straight to the story!**

* * *

Chapter 54- Quantem Havoc

The rematch between Qrow and Tyrian was going as well as they expected it to be going, even after all the time in between the time they were fighting now and the time they fought about a year ago give or take a few months, they were mostly dead even. This time however, Qrow was going all out with his scythe rather then his sword. While one could argue that using his scythe was a disadvantage against someone with a fighting style like Tyrians, he had a few more tricks up his sleeve this time.

Tyrian was fighting wildly, with a scary amount of skill in his unorthodox fighting style, it was fast paced and they were moving quicker then either of them had ever done before. The first one to falter would be punished gravely.

Qrow used the staff of his weapon as a way to defend himself, but he needed to create more distance for himself. He smirked when he got just the idea for what he needed to do.

Tyrian's eyes widened when the curved blade of Qrow's scythe ended up on the inside of his guard somehow, he could have sworn to Salem herself that he parried the blade before it could get past his guard. But with a stroke of bad luck, the metal of each of his wrist blades bounced off the Branwens much thicker, and stronger curved blade.

Qrow pulled the trigger while looking into Tyrian's eyes.

The momentum given to them caused by the powerful hand cannon was more than enough to blast them in Qrow's desired direction. Tyrian barely managed to bring one of his arms up in time to protect his body, his aura and weapons being the only thing that prevented him from being cleaved in two. Crazy as he is, he was not without battle smarts.

Tyrian wrapped his scorpion tail around Qrow's scythe, the tail growing longer as it reached toward Qrow's hand. But before he could try to sting him through his aura, they came to an abrupt stop when Qrow's feet connected with a tree, the impact so hard that it caused just about all the snow in the branches to come down on top of them. Tyrian slid himself out from the scythes grip, and thrusted one of his fists upwards, the blades threatening to cut into one of Qrow's eyes.

Another stroke of bad luck for Tyrian however was when snow fell into his eye, distorting his vision and making him miss his mark entirely. Qrow smirked and transformed his scythe back into its sword form. The long staff and curved blade wouldn't do much in close quarters like this. He kicked off of the tree next, that entire scuffle hardly lasting a few seconds before Qrow was back on him right away. He widened his eyes and barely dodged the stinger that nearly stabbed him through the face, and it was retracted just as fast before he was able to punish Tyrian for it.

Next he was forced to use the flat side of his large blade to defend against the strength and speed of Tyrians stinger, combined with both of his wrist blades.

Not this again, Qrow wouldn't have it. It reminded him too much of their first fight.

Much to Tyrians shock and surprise, Qrow grabbed his scorpion tail, using his fast reflexes and quick thinking, he has wrapped around the part just below the stinger itself. Tyrian tried to pull it back, but his thin tail wasn't nearly strong enough for the aura enhanced strength of Qrow. Qrow tried to slash his sword horizontally, coming from his right. Tyrian reacted almost instantly, jumping and flipping over the blade and landing behind Qrow, both of their backs turned to each other.

Tyrian threw his fist back word, but it was blocked by Qrow's blade, with his back still to his. Next Qrow tried to throw a kick up into Qrow's groin, but he managed to curve his leg enough so that it landed on his thigh. It still hurt, but it was better then getting his genitals struck by a steel boot being worn by a crazed scorpion faunus. Qrow tried attacking back next, switching hands on Tyrians tail and striking backwards with his fist, which was easily dodged by the faunus, and he paid dearly for it when Tyrian jumped up again, and flipped back over to his other side. While he was landing he planted both of his feet into his face, forcing Qrow to let go of his tail and stagger backward. Just in time for Tyrian to dash back in and slash him across the chest twice with both of his wrist blades.

Qrow winced as he felt the pain through his aura, that was definitely going to cause some bruising. When Tyrian didn't let up, Qrow found himself yet again on the defensive.

"Hahaha! This is so much more fun without the kids around!" Tyrian yelled into his face as he pushed him back.

Qrow didn't respond, at least not with words, instead he roared his defiance as he swing his sword up and out from over his head, the speed and strength behind it was enough to make Tyrian lose his smile for but a second, and was forced to raise both of his forearms up in defense. The muscles in his arms, shoulders, back, and legs all burned and screamed in protest as he stopped the large blade from cutting him in two, the shockwave of such an attack pushing the snow away, revealing the frozen dirt underneath. Even somewhere behind them, a tree started to fall.

Wait… a tree started to fall?

Qrow and Tyrian both widened their eyes in surprise as the shadow loomed over them as it came down. Neither of them broke apart from each other out of fear for a fierce counter attack, despite neither of them wanting to do so. Instead, at the very last second, they broke off into opposite directions, Qrow going left, and Tyrian rolling to the right.

But this time the bad stroke of luck came to Qrow, and the tip of his large sword was pinned underneath the very large tree. With a few seconds, he could get it out, but he didn't have a few could jump out at him at any second, and unless the tree landed on him, which it didn't, because that would have taken _good_ luck. He was on his own in the middle of a dark snowy forest, unarmed, and being hunted by a crazy scorpion faunus.

"Tch." Qrow knew that the second he went for his sword, he would be punished for it, so instead he readied both of his fists out before him. He didn't have night vision, at least nothing nearly as good as Tyrians with him being a faunus. He can vaguely see what is in the dark, but anything more then ten feet away? Not a chance.

Tyrian clearly had the advantage here. They both knew that.

He stood near the tree, with his back turned to it but all of his senses activated and roaming. If he came from behind, he would be able to hear it and act accordingly, the tree was very large, and the branches made it appear even larger. There was no way someone like Tyrian could get through it without at least making a result, and a rustle was all he needed to hear.

Slowly, and gingerly, he stepped back, one step at a time until his foot was beside the hilt of his sword, and he inched it closer. If he could get to the trigger, he could fire the handcannon within his weapon, which would propel the sword out from underneath the tree. It was a risky plan, but it was the best one he had at the moment.

As soon as his heel touched the sword, Tyrian struck.

The aura in Qrow's arms flared as he blocked the sneak attack, he barely heard him in time and it was when he was already dashing toward him with the intent to cleave his head off clear. He stood his ground, he had too. Qrow couldn't afford to be driven away from his weapon. While he was okay at fighting with his fists, if he wanted to win this rematch against Tyrian, he needed his weapon.

His aura flared as he put more strength into his arms, and he pushed Tyrian away and flung him into the bushes again. Right away without much thinking about it, Qrow kicked his foot forward and pushed down on the trigger on the hilt of his blade. The sword transformed into its gun form, and fired. The blade cutting through and splintering the wood as it flew after the blade. Qrow reached for it and barely caught it in time after diving after it before it could get too far away from him. But now he was on his belly, and that was when Tyrian recovered to jump right on him.

Qrow rolled over onto his back and deflected Tyrians stinger, forcing it to land beside his head instead of threw it, and then rolled his head to the other side to dodge the second stab attack when Tyrian retracted it and thrusted out again. This happened one more time whilst Qrow held his blade flat against his belly, stopping Tyrian's wrist blades from disemboweling him. He pushed up with all his might but Tyrian's strength along with his weight and the help of gravity made things even harder for him. Firing his hand cannon again might work, but it was another very risky move, it could just as easily do nothing but deafen the both of them, but not enough to make Tyrian get off of him. It could very easily blast the sword out of his grip as well, giving Tyrian the opening he needed to cut through the rest of his aura and tear him apart.

He couldn't die like this, not like this.

Qrow winced as he let one of Tyrian's wrist blades through, and the sudden drop he felt made Tyrian's position weaken, just enough for Qrow to throw his knee up and slam it into his groin.

Tyrian gasped and lost all the air in his lungs, and even his tail went limp as he lost most of his strength. No amount of aura would have been enough to deter the massive amount of pain that would get through to his privates.

Qrow used this opening to headbutt Tyrian in the nose, nearly breaking it, and then pushing his sword up and throwing him off of him, and then taking his own place on top of Tyrian next. Swapping the positions.

He was low on aura, and the bleeding in his torso was enough to tell him that. When he let Tyrian through his guard, it came at a price. But he pushed through the pain nonetheless, stabbing down with all his might and a roar with the intent to destroy Tyrians ribs and cut apart his heart and lungs.

With his bare hands, Tyrian stopped the blade by grabbing it around it's edges, his purple aura flaring as he pushed it back with all his might, his wrist blades retracting to give him more of a grip. They both gritted their teeth as they struggled in this contest of strength, whoever faltered fist here would die.

Tyrians tail crept up from in between Qrow's legs, the stinger pointed up to stab itself directly into Qrow's back. He smirked at Qrow as the skin on his hands were lacerated, and the blood lubricated the edges of Qrow's blade. Tyrians aura was flickering, pushing back against the edge of a thick and heavy sword like Qrow's was draining it at an incredible rate, and even in what was seen to be him nearing his demise, he cackled loudly, and boisterously.

"This has been fun Qrow, very much so." Tyrian said with a strained voice, along with cackles as Qrow's blade grew ever closer to his chest.

"Can't say… I feel the same." Qrow sneered as he put even more of his strength into his thrust, his aura flaring as it gave him more strength. "You're going to die for the last time Callows… this is for Summer!" Qrow screamed as he strained his muscles, and the tip of his blade just barely managed to stab into the center of Tyrian's chest, already causing blood to spill out of his mouth.

At the same time, Tyrians stinger stabbed itself into Qrow's lower back, injecting him with venom.

Qrow screamed in pain, already feeling the hot purple venom coursing through his veins and muscles. His fate was sealed, one last stroke of bad luck. His opponent was a scorpion faunus.

It only fueled him with bitter anger, he was the last remaining Branwen, sister to Raven Branwen, uncle to two beautiful and strong nieces, he would not go down like this, not to some cowardly venom coursing through his veins and making him feel like his insides were on fire and with one last cry of defiance.

No, if he was going down, he would take this monster with him.

He thrusted his sword even deeper into Tyrians chest, earning a choked gurgle from the faunus as his arms fell flat, he pried at the sword for a bit, with a defeated sigh, he passed out from the blood lost, still barely alive.

Straight after, he fell to his side, passed out and purple venom pouring out of his wound.

Qrow had a smile on his face.

* * *

When Mercury's foot and Hazel's knuckled connected, the shockwave was intense enough to push Mercury back. Hazel was on him a second later, throwing his massive fist toward the younger man at a downward angle. Mercury dodge to the right a counter by roundhouse kicking Hazel in the stomach, hitting nothing but soldi muscle and aura. He jumped back before Hazel could grab his leg. He was completely unphased by his attack.

A year ago, Mercury wouldn't have stood a chance against Hazel, the bigger older man was always able to defeat him easily in their spars. He still knew how Hazel fought though, if he grabbed you, it was over, there was only on person he knew that could overpower this man in terms of raw physical strength. Hector Rivers.

The bright orange dust crystals were as clear as day, shining through his veins as they gave him even more power. The semblance to negate all pain felt throughout his whole body was one that was very hard to get passed. Mercury could kick him literally anywhere, even the dick if given the chance, and Hazel would just shrug it off. He needed to play it safe here, he could anger him, and he knew how too. But that would only make Hazel fight more aggressively and with greater speed, he didn't need that right now. Not when he had the speed advantage for now.

He did have another plan though, with a tiny chance of working.

"You know, you don't have to work for her anymore Hazel." Mercury said as he created some distance by firing a puff of smoke out of both of his legs. "There's still hope for you, all you have to do is help us, I can convince the others to let you work with us instead."

"I appreciate the gesture," Hazel said, a little too genuinely. "But my fate is sealed, Salem has too much on me, and I have done too much evil… I am sorry for this, but I will not be convinced to switch sides." He flexed his arms and bright orange electricity crackled from them.

"Damn it Hazel! Would Gretel have wanted this from her big brother!?" Mercury snapped, kicking aside the electric blast that was fired his way.

Hazel didn't respond, but the look in his eye changed. Not a lot of people knew his sisters name, Mercury must have found out about it from Ozpin he supposed, that man always got in his way…

With an electric roar, Hazel was fueled by anger as he thought of the man he thought was responsible for the death of his younger sister, and charged straight at Mercury with increased speed. Mercury cursed to himself as he threw his foot up and underneath Hazels chin. His light brown and green aura flared as it protected him from the steel heel. With the weight being held up by Mercury's leg, he redirected his charge with a wince, the muscles just above his metallic knew strained underneath the weight and strength of Hazel.

He kicked two projectiles at Hazel, and both connected with his back. He used the momentum from his boots to launch himself into the air, and then with his other leg, shot another slightly stronger projectile at Hazel, one that he actually needed to block lest it blind his eyes.

Reluctantly taking a page out of his father's book, Mercury turned into a plume of smoke, however he didn't have perfect control of it and only got his lower half, his arms, and part of his torso to turn into smoke. It was still enough to soften his fall entirely, and he regrew one of his missing legs to blast himself toward Hazel, one of his fists extended outward and striking Hazel between his neck and shoulder. Right on the collarbone.

He brought his legs back up and kicked off of Hazel, dealing more damage to the larger man while also blasting himself back. However, one of his legs were grabbed, and he was lifted into the air and slammed back down into the ground. He felt the wind get knocked out of him, and didn't have enough time to recover as Hazel picked him back up, and slammed him back down on his back.

Mercury opened his eyes in time to see a large tan fist coming down to his face, and out of a pure reflex he turned that part of his face into smoke, letting the fist pass right through his face and smash into the frozen ground, cracking it.

He turned the leg that was grabbed by Hazel into smoke next, and rolled out from under Hazel.

Hazel sneered and stood back up, and he watched as Mercury heaved and coughed as he recovered from being slammed into the ground twice. It was a sad sight to see, which made his expression soften a little as he realized the one he has been tasked to deal with.

Mercury was feeling the same way, this man saved his life when Salem discarded him after their failure at Haven. He'd all but given up, but out of pure kindness, Hazel repaired his damaged leg, and let him go. He would never forget that kindness that lead him to where he was now.

He pushed himself back up to his feet and entered another fighting stance, he shrugged off his winter coat, since it did little to protect him from Hazel, and restricted some of his movements. Underneath he still wore he classic outfit, except that he didn't have his bracers nor his gloves on. His pants were torn after Hazel grabbed his leg, and the tear was running up his leg, revealing more and more of his cybernetic parts.

Without any further words, they both sprung into action, a more fast paced bout this time. Mercury ducked under Hazels right hook, and punched his liver four times, before weaving his head to dodge Hazels incoming left uppercut, and then rose his leg to jab him once in the body and then spun to give his back kick more power. It drove Hazel back a bit, but didn't do much else.

Hazel caught him by his extended leg and pulled him into a clothesline, making him flip one and a half times before landing on his butt. Mercury kicked his legs up from the ground to block Hazels fist, but couldn't dodge the next one which drove itself into his stomach. Through the spittle and blood, Mercury turned his whole body into a flume of smoke, flew past a confused Hazel, and then transformed back into his human form, and struck the huge man in the back of the head, firing off that boot at the same time for double damage.

It did little more then make Hazel fall over with a loud thud that vibrated throughout the ground. He pushed himself up in a second, and blocked a flipping axe kick which had more strength behind it then he originally thought, and he actually needed to use both arms to block it completely.

Mercury fired his boot off again, and straight into Hazels face, blinding him temporarily. Hazel cried out in pain as he rubbed at his eyes with one hand, the other in a vague defensive position and waved out every now and again.

Hazel still wasn't going all out, and Mercury was doing his best. He figured that out because if Hazel was really serious he would have injected himself with more dust, to his knowledge he still had plenty left in that pack of his.

He couldn't let Hazel recover in time. Right now, he had a chance to beat him, and he couldn't let Hazel give himself more power with those dust crystals of his.

Right when he was thinking about it, he saw Hazel stick his free hand in his side pack, and Mercury sprung off at him in a plume of smoke and struck Hazel's hand with his foot. Hazel winced at the pain and whipped his hand around as a way to shake it off.

He managed to get his eyes back in working order, just in time for Mercury to be in his face again with a fistful of snow, and driving it into his eyes. Hazel yelled out and threw his fist forward, catching Mercury in the shoulder and nearly dislocating it.

It was a dirty move, but he has lived his whole life doing dirty tricks, why should he stop now? At least he was doing them for good reasons now.

His left shoulder hurt like a bitch, but it was nothing compared to what he has felt before. His ribs were already bruised at the very least, even through his aura, Hazel was just _that_ strong.

Hazel recovered must fast this time however, the snow in his eyes melting away, and for him to reach into his pockets quickly and pulling out two red dust crystals. Mercury was too busy recovering to be able to stop Hazel from injecting them into his body directly through the skin. He was just too tired, but by the looks of it, so was Hazel.

"One of us needs to die." Hazel pointed out.

"One of us…"

"You can't beat me, Mercury."

"Probably…"

"Then why do you still stand up against me?"

Mercury was already standing up by the time Hazel finished that question, favouring his left arm, but still ready to fight nonetheless. He rarely used his arms in a fight anyway, his kicks was where it was at for him.

"Dunno… I think this is what being a good guy is like." Mercury shrugged, letting his semblance pour smoke out of his legs and surround most of his body.

Hazel actually snorted with amusement, and small smirk on his face that disappeared just as quickly as it came.

"Very well… Let's finish this then." He said as he took a step forward.

"Yes… lets."

Mercury let Hazel grab him, and when he did. He let go of the safety ring around a grenade that was gifted to him by Ruby as a sort of reward or justs a random act of kindness between friends. He didn't think he'd need to use it, but now seemed like a good time.

He held the grenade out towards Hazel's shocked face, smiling a sad smile as he activated the full defensive power of his aura right as the grenade exploded.

* * *

Winter winced under the pressure of Marcus Black's heel as it pushed into her thin blade. Her thin blades aren't meant to be striking against something so hard and powerful, and thus it was kicked aside as Marcus slammed that foot into the ground, and spun around into a back kick, planting his whole foot into Winter's torso, causing spittle to fly out of her mouth along with two lungfuls of air. She slid across the ground and kept one hand to her side, and barely managed to parry the follow up flying kick attack.

With the space she created when Marcus was knocked off balance, Winter stabbed her sabre into the ground and summoned a hastily created glyph, a swarm of Nevermore flew out of the glyph and toward Marcus, who simply snorted at the sight of the swarm of small white and blue Nevermore.

He prepared his leg with his smoke semblance, and kicked through the air in a wide arc, blasting out an arc of sharp smoke that destroyed the weak Grimm in an instant. His white hair was seen as he bursted through the smoke, but Winter was prepared for it. She had already summoned the arm of an Atlesian knight, a simple spell from her semblance, but more than enough to catch Marcus by surprise. The long white and blue blade nearly stabbed itself into Marcus' belly, if it weren't for him bringing his leg up in time to push aside the blade.

Another one came straight after, this one coming from above. Marcus made a `Tch` sound as he narrowly dodged the second white glowing white blade, the blade cutting through a strand of his white hair as he dodged.

Right after however, a glowing white Beowolf came from behind him, catching him off guard by slashing at his back. WIth a wince, he easily one shotted the summoned creature by axe kicking it's head into the ground. He looked back to the Schnee, seeing her now focusing more on her summoning now that he was a good distance away, she had a smirk on her face. She had him right where she wanted him.

While it would make most nervous, it instead excited Marcus more than anything. Another white blade was thrusted toward him, and instead of dodging it, he charged right at it.

Winter widened her eyes when she saw Marcus burst into a plume of smoke, and fly right past all of her defenses and was already charging at her with a kick aimed for her face. She was just about able to summon a wall of ice using the same glyph she had underneath her. The entire thing shook and shattered into some pieces, but still held. Barely.

Winter jumped back, abandoning the glyph she had summon, but left a little gift for Marcus as he kicked through the rest of the ice wall in the form as a delayed explosion. The last thing she saw was a grin coming from Marcus right before the explosion of fire dust went off, lighting one of the trees on fire and causing a large cloud of smoke and steam coming from the snow around her. She held both of her sabres close to her, in his cloud of fog and smoke, Marcus could jump out at her from any direction, and now he had an near endless supply of smoke and steam for him to hide in.

She cursed herself for not thinking that far ahead, while she might have been able to cause some damage to Marcus, it probably wouldn't have been enough for it to make any real difference. Since the guy was clearly able to withstand such attacks, even direct attacks such as a blade.

Before she could think any more of it, she heard footsteps coming out from behind her. She turned around to see a plume of smoke with metallic legs coming straight for her. She widened her eyes with confusion, even as one of the legs spun up threw a kick at her, which was was able to deflect. She was about to counter, but an aura encased arm stopped her blade from getting any nearer to one of the legs.

The top half of Marcus' body appeared, and he threw a punch into her face, landing it right on her cheek and making her stagger back in pain. Her body wasn't built to take such brutal attacks, and she nearly fell out of a daze if it weren't for her skills and experience as a Huntress. Her light blue aura flared up to start healing the damage done to her cheek.

She tried to counter with her sabre, but cut through nothing but smoke as it flew away from her just as fast as it came. She grit her teeth in frustration. So that was how he was going to play it? The assassin must have had to deal with Huntsman and Huntresses before, and no doubt used dirty tricks like these to defeat and kill them. That was just the kind of man he was. On the other hand, she was a Huntress hailing from the kingdom of Atlas, and also a member of the Schnee family bloodline, all her life she was taught to fought honorably.

Winter knew that if she wanted to come out of this alive, fighting honorably was not going to cut it. This man wouldn't hesitate to use dirty tricks if it meant killing or defeating her.

The gray cloud of smoke reappeared, and instead of a kick came a fist. Winter ducked under it, and punched upward with the hand guard of her sabre, and felt it connect with something before her arm went right through her intended target, leaving her midsection open to a vicious knee that forced the air out of her lungs yet again. This time however, the smoke didn't disappear, and the entire body of Marcus Black reappeared as he was preparing and axe kick.

Winter saw her opportunity when she looked up to see the kick coming down, she couldn't dodge it, not in the position that she was in, so instead. She threw her body forward, the thigh of Marcus' legs hitting one of her shoulders instead of his heel crashing down on the top of her head. She pushed forward and tackled him to the ground, pinning one of his arms to the ground and with a cry, stabbed her sabre down at his face.

Marcus rolled his head to the side just in time, the blade just barely scratching at his cheek. He used his superior strength to force his arm out of Winter's grip, and then brought both of his legs up to trap her arm in an arm bar. If it wasn't for her aura, her arm would have been snapped out of it's socket or would have broken when Marcus bucked his hips up.

Winter cried out in pain when she _did_ feel something snap, not bone, but her muscle being pulled into a length much longer then it was used too. She spun their positions around so that Marcus' face was forced into the ground, but he kept his body and legs wrapped around Winters arm, and then forced the sabre out of her hand.

With another cry of pain, Winter stabbed her other sabre into the ground with her free hand. A glyph appeared beneath them both, a black one, and it shrunk in size before blasting air into the both of them, launching them up into the air and forcing Marcus to let go of Winter's arm. It wasn't broken, but her muscles were sore and it hurt to move it. She created more glyphs in the air, and step by step she jumped from each of them until her feet touched the ground right where Marcus had her in a submission maneuver.

She picked up her second sabre, and put the two of them back together. She was ambidextrous, so it didn't cause her any trouble to place her sword back into her right hand as her left arm dangled to her side. It hurt by just moving it, so she would refrain from using it for the rest of this fight.

Marcus landed a few meters away from her, his metal legs slamming into the ground and he sprung into a defensive stance right away just in cause, but snickered when she saw the state of her arm.

"Oops, did I do that?" He taunted as he cocked his legs, smoke already seeping out of them. "I do that to people sometimes, though I wouldn't mind grappling with you in a different way if you want?"

"Save your breath Black, your taunts won't be getting to me." Winter hissed as she held her sword out in a fencing posture.

"That wasn't a no~"

"No."

"Bah, you Schnee's aren't any fun." Marcus said just before he started running at her.

Winter in this fencing stance had an advantage against an attacker, she could move her arm in any direction and thus parry or deflect the first attack and move to make a counter attack. Marcus was not one of your average opponents however, and it took a lot out of her when she just tried to deflect one of his kicks each time. They were just so heavy and had so much strength behind them. She supposed it would be one of the side effects of having metallic legs, the actual human part of those legs would become much stronger from having to support that weight, and kicking them around all the time for years must have been quite the workout for him. To him, they just felt like part of his leg, and nothing more, thanks to the phantom pains they actually feel like they _were_ a part of his legs now.

Winter's arm moved in a white blur, the silver of her blade flashing with orange light because of the flames not too far from their fight. This is her most intense battle as of yet, and this was the man that was Qrow's nemesis for so long? This is who Mercury Black defeated and nearly killed years ago? It didn't seem too impossible, but highly unlikely. She was still early on in her career as a Huntress, and she still had a lot to learn in the coming years. She was learning that the hard way.

Marcus kicked aside her sabre, and landed three kicks with the same leg, first kicking her in her left hip, and then bringing it back to kick at the same knee from the back, and when she fell down to that knee he brought it up one more time and slammed the side of his metallic foot into the side of her face, making her fly back with the force and roll across the ground. Each bounce made her aura flare as she bounced on the ground.

He was better than her, the truth was hard for her to swallow, but that was just how it was. Marcus Black was a monster in his own right, and he hadn't been sitting around in hiding doing nothing all this time, he trained, he got stronger, and he got better. She would need to surpass herself and take risks if she wanted to win.

"You're good Schnee, just not good enough." Marcus complimented her backhandedly as he wiped sweat from his brow. "You were a nice warm up, I'd love to keep playing with ya, but I got a son who needs to be put in his place." Marcus' face scrunched up as he got much more serious, holding his leg out as the mechanisms did the work for him, projectiles of smoke were fired out of it, and it started circling around above him like a small hurricane. Marcus smirked grimly as more and more projectiles of smoke filled the air above him, swirling more and more as it grew with dangerous intensity.

Winter widened her eyes at the sight of it, it was a massive attack being prepared just for her. If that landed it would most certainly kill her, her aura was much too low to defend her body from something like that. She needed speed… speed her semblance could provide her given time.

Silently, she created a small glyph in front of her, and while Marcus concentrated on adding more power into his cyclone, a transparent clear trail of glyphs traveled toward him. Winter made it look like she was giving up, but she just got into a low running position, ready to kick off her back foot at a moments notice.

Marcus laughed at what he thought was submission. "Sorry girl, I might have taken you if I didn't have a job I needed to do, unfortunately that means you won't be-"

He was cut off as he saw nothing but a trail of white light, and widened his eyes when he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down to see a sabre stabbed into his hip, coming out the other side. It wasn't fatal, he knew enough about the human anatomy to know that, but for the fact that his aura didn't defend his body in time, combined that it hurt like hell, it was enough to make him lose focus.

Winter combined her speed glyph with time dilation, to Marcus it looked like she was there one moment, and then suddenly he was stabbed. To Winter, she went from a running position, to running faster than the speed of sound in an instant, she couldn't aim her sword so much as hold it out in front of her. With the velocity she was traveling at, Marcus' aura wouldn't have been activated in time before her blade pierced through his side, barely missing his vital organs. It was a risk that she needed to take, and in a sense it worked.

But what she didn't expect was for Marcus' to chuckle at her, and then completed his axe kick even with a sword through his body. Winter widened her eyes when she was him disperse into smoke a second later, and felt her heart stop when she looked up and saw all of the smoke projectiles aimed at her. She was low on aura, almost completely out, and she was already on one knee, her sabre felt heavy in her hand, and she was completely winded after moving that fast in such a tiny time frame.

Was this how she died?

Out of desperation, she created an ice barricade around her body, it was thin and brittle, but was quickly reinforced by the surrounding snow, thickening and hardening it.

She heard, smelled, and felt the projectiles crash down onto her shield, and saw the ice crack and shatter as the attack was easily breaking through.

 _I'm sorry Weiss…_ She thought to herself as she clenched her eyes shut, with everything she had spent or depleted, she didn't have anything else she could do. She would die here, in the middle of a snow forest. It wasn't a death befitting of a Schnee, but it was the best she was going to get.

The ice shattered, and she felt a tremendous amount of pain, but she was still alive? She cracked an eye open and looked at her saviour, a man with grey hair, tattered clothing, and black metallic legs engraved with the name of Ruby Rose. The same one who upgraded them.

"M-Mercury?" Winter called out just before she let her body finally pass out.

Mercury Black panted as his grey aura of smoke absorbed the rest of his fathers attack.

"Son! Oh, I am so happy to see you! Did you enjoy your play date with Hazel?" Marcus said as he appeared out of a cloud of smoke.

"I'm going to kill you." Mercury said simply as he got into a stance, his back to Winter. He didn't check to see if she was still alive, but he knew she was. He blocked most of that attack. Her aura was still barely up, but at this point anything can kill her. He needed to protect her, but on his own against his dad? It didn't seem likely for him to come out on top,

The bushes to their side rustled before Marcus could think of a retort, and out came Qrow Branwen, still barely awake even, and with one of his eyes forced shut. His red eye stared straight at Marcus, and even though he was forced to use his sword as a walking stick, he didn't look any less intimidating because of the splotches of blood and purple venom all over his body. He was still in tremendous pain, but he was still moving despite the fact.

"I did say… that the next time we meet… one of us were going to die." Qrow said as he held his bleeding wound, it bled a mix of red and purple, and unlike this time, through pure willpower, he managed to regenerate just enough aura to keep himself alive, and it is only through his sheer willpower that he even is still alive.

When he forced himself to wake up, Tyrian was nowhere to be seen, no blood, no nothing, just his blood swordy still stabbed in the spot where he just managed to deal a massive blow to the chest Tyrian. Whether the faunus was still alive or not, he didn't know, nor did he care. He just heard fighting in a random direction, and started walking toward it. His aura did what it can to heal his body and work against the venom in his body.

Out of a stroke of actually good luck, after the last time he had Tyrian's venom in his body, he seemed to have built up a defense against it, combined with his willpower to stay alive for the sake of his family… and Mercury, he was able to get back on his feet.

"I won't allow myself to die until at least _you_ are dying in the snow." Qrow added as he got into a stance. "Even if I happen to die in the process."

"Haha, I gotta say, I thought the scorpion would get ya, but do you think I'm going to go down that easily?" Marcus asked with a chuckle, not intimidated in the slightest, and then his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I guess it's time for round two eh? Let's see if you'll be able to keep up this time…"

* * *

 **Oh Gosh, no pun intended,(The only ones who will get that are the ones who know about the previous title for this story) now that was an intense chapter. Yes, I know Hector and everybody else aren't in this chapter, but a purely QWM and HHBC chapter was needed. I didn't want to burden myself with another 10k plus word chapter. Next chapter, we get more of what is going on here. Hector again, may or may not be in next chapter, but most likely he will be. There's a lot of possibilities I have with him and everyone else.**

 **I don't want to reveal too much, so far now, I will leave it at that. Thank you for reading my story if you have made it here so far!**

 **Lastly, before I forget, I have a beta for my stories now.**

 **Beta: Crowskull**

 **He's shy, give him some love.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story!**

 **P atreon . com(slash) Genatools**


	55. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 55

**Well, here we are folks… wow, just wow guys. If you are wondering why I am saying wow like this, it is because this story has made it to 300 follows! It may be more or less by the time this chapter gets out, but still, I saw that 300 for a good several minutes as I celebrated.**

 **As a reward, or a treat, whatever you want to call it I don't know. There is going to be a special at the end of this chapter, what is this special you may ask? Well, it is going to be another Volume 6 Unlikely Hero cannon version short. Maybe 1-2k words, it depends. And, pretty soon I may start a new RWBY story that will be a whole new genre for me to delve into. The main genre will be Crime, and that is all I am going to leave it at for now.**

 **Thank you all for the continuous support, it has almost been a year since I started writing this story, just another 3 and a half months until that little anniversary.**

 **Now let us get to those reviews!**

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 **Zeldwolffang: Damn right he is! Qrow finally got a good moment, I feel like in the show itself he has just been useless.**

 **Guest: That is a high possibility, not going to lie.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: I am glad you enjoyed the fight scenes last chapter! It has been a while since there was an actual fight scene like that besides Yang and Hector's spar. I cannot say if Tyrian is dead or not, but you know me. Anything is possible. You'll see what happened to Hazel soon, but in that little scuffle, Mercury was the one who won that fight, due to that explosion. If him showing up to save Winter was of any indication. It's actually a two on one fight, Winter passed out after Mercury saved her, and Qrow is barely hanging on just because of his pure willpower that his aura came back to heal his body, and his since he's been stabbed my Tyrians tail before, his body developed a resistance to it. He is still very weak right now however, so it may as well be a one on one with Mercury and Marcus.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **One last thing, I drew a Spring Maiden Yang and posted it on my twitter, if you want to go check it out. Just go ahead and check my profile there. Username is Genatools. I hope you guys like it!**

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Chapter 55- Black Smoke

With Winter unconscious, Qrow injured with his aura in critical levels which is slowly regenerating, barely able to stand as it is, much less fight. Mercury Black finds himself the last line of defense against Marcus Black, the man who has tormented his life and threatens to take away those he cares about. He can barely call this man his father.

"This is it Marcus, I'm killing you here and now." Mercury said as he heated up his legs enough to warm up the rest of his body. The freezing cold not even being felt by him because of all the fighting he has been doing for nearly an hour now.

"Marcus? You hurt me Merky, is it so hard to call me daddy?" Marcus asked as he dramatically placed a hand on his chest and put on a face of shock and hurt.

"Shut up you bastard, you lost that title when you killed my mother!" Mercury shouted at him as he kicked at Marcus twice, sending two smoke projectiles at him.

Marcus batted one away with the back of his hand, and blocked the other one completely with the palm of his other hand, his cocky grin that his son inherited plastered across his face as the look in his eyes darken.

"Olivia? Man, I haven't even thought about her in awhile." Mercury seethed and charged at his father, ignoring Qrow's protest for him to not fall for his father's tricks to rile him up. As they locked knees together in a shockwave that blew the snow away from them both. Marcus looked straight into his sons eyes. "You know, she _almost_ convinced me to quit being an assassin, and just live a normal life! But no, that just wasn't who I am. I kept killing my targets and Hunters left and right, and we argued, and argued until finally, I snapped. There's more but… I'm pretty sure you already know the rest of the story."

Marcus overpowered Mercury and kicked him away, his gray aura flaring to protect his body from any external damage. Mercury opened his eyes and flipped off of the ground before he could land hard, and while in mid air his fired both of his legs off at once toward Marcus, giving his body the momentum it needs to perform another flip mid air, and with one leg outstretched behind him, Mercury fired off one more, shooting himself toward Marcus as he crossed his arms to block the smoke projectiles he fired at him.

Marcus took all the projectiles to the arms, and then tensed and winced under his son's metal foot as it crashed down on him. Mercury has gotten much stronger than the last time they fought, and more skilled. He trained with Yang more then a few times, and without using her maiden powers, he can beat her. They made each other better to the point of actually becoming good friends. Their history with each other of Beacon can't be forgotten, but it could be forgiven.

That training is coming into play now as he fights his father, the strength of his legs greatly increasing, and a little trick that Ruby taught him with one of the new gadgets his upgraded legs now have. Mercury smirked as he tensed a certain muscle in his leg, and on the sole of his boot the barrel of a weapon popped up almost directly in Marcus' face.

"What the-" Marcus was cut off as a bright orange laser blasted into his face, temporarily blind him with the bright light it gave off, while also breaking his guard and allowing Mercury to switch kick Marcus in the face.

Marcus fell back and clutched his aching nose, opening one eye enough for him to see and duck under another flying kick from his son. Once his vision returned to him he gritted his teeth and grabbed Mercury's metallic leg, only to wince once again and tear his hand away as he heard and felt his skin sizzle and burn.

He eyed his sons new legs, and noticed that they don't look the same as they did before, and he _definitely_ didn't put lasers on them. "Oh Merky… you defiled those legs I gifted you didn't you?" He asked as he shakes his hand of the pain, and looks down at his sons legs to see that they are in fact glowing a feint orange because of how hot they are getting.

"Gifts? No, you forced these things onto me, I just had a friend make them a little more… me. Not that you'd know or care." Mercury said as he stood off against his father on his own.

Marcus regarded his son for a few seconds, and for once he wasn't smiling. He looked genuinely offended that his son would defile the gifts he has given him in the form of stronger and faster legs. His eyes started to his earlier target, the Schnee, with Qrow still catching his breath, his large sword being reduced to a walking stick to support his injured body.

Marcus smirked again as he looked back to Winter, an idea forming in his head. His body transformed into a mist of black smoke, blending in with the smoke of the starting forest fire. Mercury cursed and spun around, his eyes looking in every direction in search of an unnatural looking plume of smoke.

Marcus reappeared beside Winter, her own sabre in hand as he kicked her over onto her back and whistled to get Mercury's attention. He turned around right away and his expression of anger and hatred turned into shock and fear for his friend. Marcus winked at him as he made to stab Winter while her aura was down, only for the sword to be shot out of his hand at the last second.

Qrow stood before him with a smoking hand cannon within his sword. Panting heavily as he made his way to stand beside Mercury in front of him with his weapon still pointed at him.

"Don't tell me that you forgot about me already." Qrow said, a cocky grin of his own on his face as he transformed his weapon back into it's sword form and rested it on his shoulder.

Marcus narrowed his eyes as he recalled a very distant memory.

* * *

 _Marcus Black has a target in a city heavily populated with huntsman, his target happened to be another huntsman. The client preferred to be anonymous, but he didn't care about that at all, as long as he got paid, he didn't care who was hiring him._

 _He was in Vale, in one of the more shady districts where his target is supposedly supposed to be walking through on her own. The description and name were simply. A woman with a white cloak that covered her almost from her head all the way to her toes, she would stick out like a sore thumb. What was unique about this one was how accurate it was, black hair with red tips, about five foot seven inches in height. He actually recognized the name as well. It was the leader of the prestigious Team STRQ_

 _Summer Rose._

 _There were few people he was actually impressed by, one such as Summer here impressed him. She was very charming with the way she could befriend anyone she wanted, even having two Branwens on her team and she still managed to reign them in to make Team STRQ the best team in their senior year._

 _She stuck out like a sore thumb, walking out into the street with her bright white hood up. True to the description he got, she also had black hair with red tips. Marcus looked up and down at the picture of his target, and then smirked as he locked his eyes on the side of her head._

 _He stalked her for about a mile, using the crowds and the tactic of hiding in plain sight to keep himself unknown. Luckily it was the busy hours of the day, so there was a lot of people around. If somebody tried to spot him, it would be easy given his pure white hair and sleeveless red shirt._

 _The hilt of a large knife hidden in one of his secretly sewn in pockets was gripped, and as Summer Rose made a turn into an alley for whatever reason, he struck._

 _Summer cried out as her red aura flared in pain to stop the blade from penetrating into her back and through her spine. Marcus grunted frustradely and tried to rush the young woman before she could recover and start to fight back._

 _She must have had some kind of speed semblance, because every time his knife got close she would dodge it and leave behind white rose petals. But with how badly she was caught off guard, Marcus still managed to trip her up. He has had plenty of experience with fighting and killing Huntsman and Huntresses after all._

 _He pinned Summer against the brick wall and tried to stab her in the neck, but her hand came up to stop his before blood could be drawn. They both struggled and Summer asked_

" _Who are you!? Why are you doing this!?" Her voice sounded so pure as it reached the white haired assassins ears. But work was work. It didn't matter if those silver eyes of hers stared on into his black eyes with fear and silently begged for him to stop._

" _Someone wants you dead beautiful, sorry but I am going to have to cut your throat open now." Marcus said as he turned his offending arm into smoke, dropping the knife into his other hand._

 _Summer screamed and shut her eyes as the blade was closing in on her neck, only for the death she was afraid of to never come._

 _Marcus bounced off the brick wall across from her, his pale gray aura flaring as his back slammed against it. He cracked one eye open as he gripped the side of his head. He growled his anger out as he saw one of the nuisances that caused him a lot of trouble on one of his previous targets._

 _One of the Branwen twins, the male one._

" _You okay Short Stack?" Qrow asked his leader as he stood off against the armed assassin._

" _Y-yeah, who is that guy, you know him?" Summer asked as she stood beside him, ready to fight this time._

" _Unfortunately," Qrow drawled. "He's an assassin, Marcus Black. I fought him after he took the life of one of his targets. We fought to a standstill, but he got away in the end."_

" _Must have sucked for you, to have failed your mission." Marcus said as he circled the two huntsman. "I still remember the look on that girls face, man, she was so fucking scared." He laughed as he flourished his knife, and then holstered it back in a more visible knife sheath._

" _He's a Hunter killer… You're lucky I was in the area." Qrow ignored him, but narrowed his eyes dangerously at him._

" _Awe~, finally, some recognition, thanks… er… who're you again?" Marcus asked as the back half of his body turned to smoke, and let himself be cornered in the back of the alley._

 _Qrow smirked this time, and transformed his weapon into it's scythe form and got into position to cut the assassin in half._

" _Don't tell me you forgot about me already… the names Qrow, Qrow Branwen, and one of my missions is to deal with you personally." With that, Qrow made to slash Marcus in half, only for his scythe to cut through nothing but smoke and for that smoke to fly away into the sky._

 _Qrow cursed and holstered his weapon. He was about to chase him, but Summer held him back, saying that he already got away. It was an order for him not to go after Marcus. After a long talk of telling Summer everything he knew about Marcus Black, the two of them made it back to Beacon to report the attack to the headmaster._

 _Marcus never got the chance to assassinate her again once they started hunting him down themselves._

* * *

That was the first and only time Marcus ever failed in assassinating a target, and after that, Qrow would become his greatest nemesis. After 'dying' at the hands of his son, he thought that maybe, just maybe he would stop being such an annoyance, then of course Salem had to find him while he was taking up a job to assassinate the new leader of the much more peaceful White Fang, Ghira Belladonna. He abandoned that mission when Salem recruited him, the reason being that the White Fang wouldn't be needed for her conquest anymore, and that someone else was going to gather them for her instead.

Fast forward about a year, and here they are now. Marcus Black and Qrow Branwen standing off yet again after fighting all around the world. Years of rivalry and pain between the two of them building up to this point. Screw his son, he would rather have Qrow's head rolling in the snow before him. That would put him in such a great mood.

"Years, Qrow… for years you've been fucking up my livelihood." Marcus seethed with a rare moment of anger, his fist clenching and muscles tensing up. His semblance smoked around him as he charged up some power to realize unto him. "You're dying, now."

Marcus moved like a blur, even Mercury couldn't really keep up with the feats of speed his father was displaying. But Qrow could, at least with his eyes. First he used the flat of his blade to stop Marcus' foot from caving in his chest, and pushed back with all his might, forcing Marcus away. The two of them entered a flurry of attacks mixed with punches and gunshots, very reminiscent of their very first battle as the two older men fought to kill each other.

Qrow was tired however, very tired, low on aura, and hurt. The cut in his back was causing him pain, and hindered his movements, the muscles in his legs and arms screamed for him to stop moving. He was slowing down and they both knew that.

Luckily for Qrow, Mercury jumped into the middle of it, pushing his father back and reminding him that he was there and fighting with Qrow. Neither of them were holding back anymore. Their smoke flowed around them and enhanced their combat prowess, they're eyes darkened into an even darker black color as they fought. Mercury's hair was even getting brighter as they fought, the pure aura flowing around his body making him look lighter and healthier then he really was.

Mercury got a lot better, but Marcus was still Marcus Black. He underestimated his son once and paid for it already, he wouldn't be making the same mistakes again. He caught Mercury's leg with his own, and threw a punch straight into his nose, making him recoil backward. He didn't stop there however, and with a mixture of punches and kicks and a lethal use of his semblance to literally smother Mercury's aura, he ended his combo with an axe kick, which to his surprise, was blocked by Qrow's sword right as Mercury fell backward and into a tree, barely holding himself up with shaky legs.

Qrow took the reigns back and went on the offensive, his red eyes glowing slightly as he used something he hasn't for a very long time. His own anger, something that Raven and Yang exclusively had in common. But never gave it thought that he could do it too. It never made him as strong as it did them, but it was still a good enough boost to use in this situation.

Using his willpower he managed to regenerate a good amount of aura, which meant that his bad luck charm of a semblance was coming back into play. When Marcus stepped back, the heel of his boot dug into the snow just a little too much, and he lost balance long enough for it to be taken advantage of.

The bad luck worked indiscriminately however, so when Mercury ran to go help Qrow, he slipped on the ice and landed on his face, dazing him.

Qrow didn't let up even though help was now still a few more precious seconds away. Even after all this time, Marcus and he were still nearly equals. When Marcus landed on his back Qrow tried to do the same thing he did to Tyrian, only this time his blade passed right through Marcus' body right as it was about to stab into his chest. The smoke dispersing completely around the blade and moving above Qrow.

He moved based off of his instincts, and landed a solid hit to the side of Marcus' leg, perfectly countering the attack that he was about to land on the back of his head. Marcus flipped through the air twice and landed on his back, his pale gray aura flaring as he loses more of it.

With a gasp, he rolls away from the follow up projectile attacks coming from the now recovered Mercury. But with another stroke of bad luck, Marcus couldn't get back up from the ground after slipping off some of the melted ice. Instead of landing hard he rolled with the momentum and tumbled back onto his feet, just in time to catch Mercury's foot in one hand and block the blade of Qrow's sword with his leg. With his back up against the tree, he pushed back against their combined strength as hard as he could, before dispersing into smoke and transforming back into his human form and kicking multiple smoke projectiles into the air, his thirty man killer move swelled up in the sky.

Qrow and Mercury recognized the attack immediately, and Mercury begun to do the same thing himself while Qrow went to go attack Marcus before he could get his move at full power.

Marcus dodged Qrow and kicked another shot into the air, wincing at the pain in the side that reminded him that he was already been stabbed there. Hindering his movement. He kept doing this to the best of his ability and then launched his attack early onto Qrow.

Mercury stepped in front of Qrow and formed a makeshift defensive shield of smoke out of his semblance, the fumes either bouncing off, blowing up, or being absorbed into the shield itself.

He then widened his eyes when through the smoke, his father stabbed a knife directly into his shoulder. Narrowly missing any arteries. Mercury screamed in pain and let down the shield, he rolled to the side for Qrow to jump up and slash his sword through Marcus' chest, taking away more of his aura.

"You alright kid?" Qrow asked as he stood defensively before him, and as good luck would have it Winter was also behind them, still passed out but stirring now.

"Fuck," Mercury said as he pulled the knife out of his shoulder. "He had an aura ignoring knife." He said as he holstered the knife himself to use for later. "I can keep fighting, lets go." As he said that he focused his darker gray aura into his wound, closing it weakly but stopping the bleeding at least.

Marcus snickered at the sight of his bleeding son. "What's wrong Merky? I thought you were going to kill me again." He taunted, holding his arms out to his side confidently, even though he had bruises on his body, stab wounds, lacerations, and is breathing heavily. "I'll be honest, you two gave me a run for my money, might have even been able to beat me if we kept going."

Qrow narrowed his eyes at him, they did make a promise to each other to kill one another once they see each other again. There's no way Marcus would run away from a fight, he's crazy like that and not as smart as he once was.

"But alas, all good things must come to an end," Marcus mocked a regal bow toward the two of them. "Tyrian, you can come out now."

Tyrian did come out, not like he would have preferred, but has shown himself to still be alive by almost limping out of the shadows. He has a hand clutched to his chest, the large gash wound healed enough to where a thick red gash has grown on his chest. His eyes look crazed and desperate, and Qrow groans angrily as he sees the one he thinks killed Summer still alive and kicking.

"Surprise~" Tyrian sung as he entered a fighting stance. "You didn't think I'd not use my semblance to save myself now did you?"

"Yeah, every time this bastard gets fatally injured like that, his body stitches itself back together." Marcus simply explained to them with a tired yawn. "Why do you think the bastard got so crazy? Do you know how many times this guy almost died? You're going to have to cut off his head if you want to kill him for good."

"Damnit!" Qrow exclaimed as he pushed Winter's unconscious body back behind them. Mercury moving to pick her up and letting her lean on his shoulder as she wakes up and stirs. "Kid, this is bad."

Mercury didn't respond.

"Mercury!?"

"Hazel…" Mercury said with wide eyes, staring straight ahead.

Hazel limped through the trees, half of his face was blown off along with most of his left arm. His right arm is bleeding profusely, but is still in relatively good condition. When the grenade blew up literally in his face, it was a special kind of grenade that had a deadly explosion. It blew threw Hazel's aura and detonated the pure dust crystals within his body. Hazel Rainhart is a very powerful man, but his greatest weakness was powerful short range explosives, and it is only in effect when he has his dust crystals stabbed into his arms. With his one arm he held himself up, his eyes nearly looking dead as he looked around the battlefield.

He tried to speak but couldn't, the explosion got partly into his mouth and burnt a majority of his tongue to a crisp. His pain nullification semblance and willpower are the only reasons Hazel is still alive right now and not going into shock.

"Geez, my kid did that to you?" Marcus asked him with a grimace.

Hazel looked at him and scowled, stepping off of the tree but immediately falling back to the ground. He was in no condition to fight, it was a miracle that he was even able to walk. With the amount of blood he has lost, losing an arm and have of his face and one of his eyes, his tongue being rendered useless. It was a miracle he is even still alive. Mercury thought he was dead once he recovered from his own explosion, his aura defended his body but not his clothes.

"Tch, just sit tight Hazel, I'm sure Watts would love to patch you up after this." Marcus said with a shake of his head, not really caring if Hazel lived through this or not.

Hazel's one eye looked into Mercury's, it was shiny and glassy, and right before he fell unconscious, Mercury was able to see the tiniest of tear drops fall from his eye before he face planted into the ground. Whether he was dead or alive was unknown, though just to be safe, Qrow assumes that he is barely still alive.

Qrow's aura was low again, and his willpower was dwindling in the face of near impossible odds. Mercury was busy trying to take care of Winter, and his own aura was on the verge of breaking. Winter was just barely waking up, but her aura was out.

With Qrow and Mercury being the only ones still able to fight, against the double team that was Marcus and Tyrian. Even if they were low on aura, Tyrian is equal if not a little worse then Qrow, and Mercury at his best _might_ be able to beat Tyrian. Marcus was heavily damaged, and yet he was still fighting like he was in tip top condition.

"Qrow, you have to turn into a bird and look for the Winter Maiden." Mercury said quietly, still supporting Winter.

"And leave you two to die?" Qrow scoffed. "Yeah, I've done a lot of stupid shit in my life, but I'm not going to make a mistake like that."

"They'll kill us all if you don't." Mercury pointed out the obvious.

"Not if we kill them first kid, we still got aura left, let's use it." Qrow was blowing out bravado, they all knew that, the venom in his system might not have killed him, but it was gradually weakening him. Sooner or later, his timer is going to run out, if the venom can't kill him, then Marcus or Tyrian themselves would.

"Damn it Qrow, look around!" Mercury shouted, gesturing to the forest fire around them, the injured Winter, and finally to themselves. "Even if we win we'll just freeze to death, there is no other option, and even if there were they'd just be even worse options."

"You fail to realize that we won't just let him leave." A new voice sounded out, this one familiar to both Qrow and Mercury. They both snap their eyes to the source of the new voice, a desperate hope welling up inside them as they hope to see their greatest ally.

"Hector!?" Mercury called out, a chuckled escaping from his lips.

"No… much worse." Qrow said, his voice hoarse and choked. The memories flow through his head of what this being was capable of. He killed his maiden sister, and she was leagues above anyone else at the time save for Hector and Ozpin.

A head of white hair, a identical face to a hero, and Grimm eyes stared back at them as Hell himself let his black and red aura flare up around him. His hands were in his pockets and his grinned at them with an almost pitiful expression on his face. "You humans can take this somewhere else, the main guest has arrived.

"W-what?" Mercury asked, confused by the choice of words. He's never seen Hell before, but the polar white hair is easy to distinguish from the jet black hair that Hector Rivers has. This isn't him, and that terrifies him all the more.

Before any of them can converse further. The snowfall stops completely, the fire is put out, and the pitch black darkness was lit up by a blue light coming from the sky. It looked like the moon, but it wasn't.

Hell smirked and powered up even further, but his face hardens as he gets battle ready at the site of a white cloaked woman now standing in defence of Qrow and Mercury. With a wave of her hand, a thin cloak of snow washes over the two men, giving them a boost of aura. The Winter Maiden couldn't do much else for them, healing of the body was restricted to the Fall Maiden, and she was an entire continent away.

"I know I just walked into a trap, but I am afraid I cannot allow the friends of a future ally of mine perish like this." She said as cold blue flames rose up her arms and over her shoulders.

Marcus tried to kick her with a flying roundhouse while her back was turned to her. But a spike of ice stabbed into his shin and blew him away. Defeated in a single move, and heavily discouraged from trying to fight her again.

Her eyes looked through her goggles and straight toward Hell, the rest of her face hidden by a red scarf and her black hair barely peeking out from under her hood. The white cloak covered her arms and legs, hiding them from view. But the blue frozen flames were very visible.

"Winter Maiden, we can do this peacefully, we don't need anything from you. All we need is the Relic of Creation. Give it to me, and all will be well." Hell offered with a fake friendly smile.

She just stared at him, and with a whip of her cloak, she rose one gloved hand out from under her hood. Pointing the palm of that hand toward Hell. He dodged the ice spike that nearly pierced straight through his body, and his smile disappeared as he powered up further.

"Fine then… hard way it is."

"You may have a soul now Hell, but you are still a heartless monster whose sole purpose is to serve under another." The Winter Maiden said, a single white flame peeking out from behind her goggles.

Hell narrowed his eyes angrily at her, a strange emotion welling up inside him as he listened to her words. He brushed them aside and powered up. "Kaioken times thirty!" He screamed, the same level of power he used to defeat the Spring Maiden.

"Tch, as I thought." The Winter Maiden said as she took steps toward the copy. Ever footprint froze over and traveled across the snow, turning it into ice. This continued on as she brought both arms out from under her cloak, and rose them up to her sides. She began to levitate in the air, a snowstorm starting to brew only around that specific area, leaving Qrow, Mercury and the others out of their fight. With a hum, she cuts off half of the entire forest, leaving Hell in the middle of the snowstorm and back into darkness, and the others in the soft blue light that illuminates their area.

"A foolish decision for you to make." The Winter Maiden said as she began her battle with Hell.

* * *

Hector was just exploring the city of Vale with his stepdaughter with the guidance of Ruby and Yang. Neo went off to catch up on something or with someone, whatever that something was, he doesn't even know if that is actually what she hand signed to him. Hector simply told her to get back by the time they have to leave or else they might leave her to help reclaim Beacon.

They were having fun, enjoying the sights of Vale and the city that the girls always visited on their free time as Team RWBY. Sadly the team itself seem to have split up into different places of the world to help make that part of the world a better place. Weiss in Atlas to reform the SDC, Blake returning to Beacon in order to rid it of the monsters that have occupied it since she ran away. The White Fang activity after the events at Haven are mostly scattered, at least the more violent branch of the White Fang is.

With Ghira Belladonna back in power of the White Fang, and with the support of Menagerie behind them. The White Fang have been reverted back to its peaceful ways of rebelling against humans. Then after Hector's speech, discrimination against faunus have plummeted. The public viewing of the hero of multiple kingdoms was just that great, and when is probably Vale is saved by Adam, once he destroys the Grimm dragon and allows the other Hunters move in to do the rest, he is probably still going to get some credit for that too. That's just how the world is sometimes.

As they were exploring Vale, Yang and them all passed a club, literally named _The Club_ , Yang was about to explain some of her history with the place but Hector already knew about it. They almost went in just to meet up with some old 'friends' of Yang's, but with Rhea around, they decided against it.

Then, something happened. Hector clutched his head not in pain but because of a sudden and unexpected feeling he has trapped inside his head.

"RJ, are you okay?" Rhea asked, speaking up for the first time in about twenty minutes.

Upon hearing her concerns Ruby and Yang turn around, and catch Hector before he could fall over. Hand on his head and blue eyes dimming down to red for a moment before going back to blue.

After a few moments, Hector shakes the feeling enough to stand on his own, but keeps a hand on his forehead as a way to make the feeling feel slightly weaker.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, concerned.

"I… I feel something." Hector replied. "Something dark, but familiar for some reason… I just can't shake it." With his knowledge gifted to him my merging souls with Ozpin, he comes up with a hypothesis. "I think I am sensing magic of some kind."

"Magic? Could it be one of the Maidens?" Yang asked quietly so the civilians around them wouldn't hear.

"I… no, I've fought you enough times to know what the magic of a maiden feels like." Hector said with a shake of his head. "This is something different, it feels like… me."

"What? That's impossible, you're here with us and you aren't using your semblance." Ruby pointed out.

"Yeah but… I have a bad feeling about this."

"Why?" Yang asked.

"Who else in the world has my DNA in them? Who could possibly replicate my power like this." Hector asked, right as the feeling got stronger.

"I… I can sense it too." Rhea spoke up, adding something crucial to the conversation.

"Yeah… me too." Yang added.

"I don't know what is going on, what are you all feeling?" Ruby asked, irritated by the fact that she doesn't know what is going on.

"I think I'm sensing Hell's power." Hector finally clarified. Making them all widen their eyes at the mere thought of the powerful copy of the hero they all know.

"That's not all," Hector continued. "I think I am connected to Hell somehow now. It's like I know what he is thinking at this moment."

"What is he thinking about then?" Ruby asked.

Hector concentrated on the feeling for a few moments.

"It's… dark, and cold. He is freezing, but burning at the same time. He's definitely fighting someone very powerful, and whoever he or she is, is causing him a lot of trouble."

"That's concerning, if you are connected to him somehow… then that means." Yang left it unsaid, but everyone knew what she was insinuating.

"If I am connected to Hell, then it's pretty likely that he is also connected to me." Hector said with a nod of his head as he understood the gravity of the situation.

All four of them stayed silent for a few minutes, just absorbing the sudden news of the fact that Hector and Hell, who are actually very closely related biologically, are now connected by some means. That isn't good obviously.

"What happens if one of you die?" Yang asked quietly.

Hector looked down to the ground, unable to meet their eyes. The answer is somewhat obvious, but he can't bring himself to say it. Rhea clutched onto his arm just a little tighter, and Ruby looks like she wants to hug him and not let him go.

With a sigh, Hector figured that he might as well get it out in the open.

"If this is going to work like I _think_ it is, then if Hell dies, I could die, and vice versa."

* * *

 **And there we go! This chapter is a little shorter than the last, but I have a feeling you guys are going to eat it up anyway. It's a healthy 6.3k words of story, so I think it'll work fine. I wonder how you all are going to react to it :3.**

 **Now, for the short I promised you guys. This is another short snidbit on what you could expect from 'An Unlikely Hero: Following the path' Which will coming into fruition one of these days. I already have another story planned to start soon, and you guys will figure out what it is when it comes out. No hints for that one I'm afraid.**

* * *

 _An Unlikely Hero: Following The Path Sneak Peek 2_

* * *

Hector sits down in one of the separate rows of seats in the train on it's way to Atlas, just to have a moment to himself. He is also very tired as well, since Ozpin _somehow_ managed to fit in another training session so they could find a way to draw out the same power Hector used to go blow to blow with a Spring Maiden Raven Branwen. Ever since that night, he hasn't been able to go that far with his Kaioken, the power multiplication semblance he has had ever since he miraculously appeared in Remnant with an old man in his head.

' _I would prefer if you didn't think of my reincarnation into you in that way.'_ Ozpin asked with an obvious grimace, how he managed to do that while in his spectral state, Hector had no idea.

"Well, it's true, it's not like you can really deny that statement as fact." Hector said with a chuckle.

' _Still, it is unnecessary.'_

"Yeah? Just like naming this thing _Jinn_ of all things I assume." Hector teased, holding the Relic of Knowledge by one finger.

' _Mister Rivers please do not speak that name so candidly.'_ Ozpin said with a worried sigh of relief when the relic did not activate right then and there.

"Keep lying to my friends like you did earlier, and I might just say it louder." Hector threatened as he reattached the relic to his belt.

Ozpin sighed within his mind. ' _You already understand my reasons Mister Rivers, we share memories.'_

"Not all of them." Hector pointed out, and then puffed air out of his nose. Giving Ozpin a signal that the conversation is over for now. Though they are going to have to finish it sooner or later.

Hector sat in silence and with the comfort of his own thoughts, he just can't look his friends in the eye while he knows the thing that he knows. He also can't shake the feeling that Ozpin is also hiding something from him, preventing him from seeing all of the memories that Ozpin has in store within his mind.

His thought process was interrupted however, when a short old lady with some sort of mechanical goggles around her eyes tapped his knee with the end of her cane. He looked down at her with brown eyes filled with curiosity and a patience to learn what the elderly lady has in store for him when she opens her mouth.

"Hello young Hunter, is this seat taken?" The short old lady asked with a kind smile. She had light gray hair, dark skin and had a small hunch. But she looked friendly enough.

"No, I'm alone for this ride." Hector lied easily as he patted the seat next to him in polite invitation. One of the perks of having a master liar living in his mind is that lies come through his own mouth much easier and without giving much indication as to the nature of said lie.

"Why thank you young man." The older woman said with a smile as she climbed up into the seat next to him, resting her cane on her lap and relaxing into the soft seat.

Not a long time later, the elderly lady looked at him, as if she was observing him for something. Hector looked back every few seconds to see if she was still looking at him, only to awkwardly meet her eye… things staring right back at him.

Eventually, he gave in to the temptation to talk after about five minutes of this going on.

"So… what's your name?" Hector opened up with, not really having much else to say to the woman before him.

"Oh, my name is Maria Calvera." Maria said, and finally looked away from him to chuckled to herself. "What is yours young Hunter?"

Hector thought about it for a few seconds, if he should really reveal his name so easily like that, after mentally and begrudgingly asking Ozpin for advice, he said it wouldn't hurt to tell the truth.

"Hector Rivers, how do you know that I am a Hunter?" It wasn't like he wasn't really a Hunter or anything, and that he has only been a 'Hunter' for just a few months. But hey, if she wanted to call him a Hunter, then so be it.

"The gauntlets on your hands of course." Maria pointed out with a chuckle.

Hector looked down to his hands, which were covered by his black and white gauntlets appropriately named Ebony and Ivory. Then a tint of red appeared on his cheeks as he embarrassedly chuckled and took them off. He has gotten so used to them that he barely notices when he wears them anymore.

"I was a Huntress once too you know, a long time ago." Maria said with a sigh as she reminisced in the past, soon later her mouth sets into a thin line, remembering a different part of her past that she would rather now remember. "Dangerous work, it takes a lot of guts to become one these days."

"Y-yeah…" Hector said, not really able to relate to her. He just kinda showed up one day with Ozpin in his head and he was already above most fully trained Huntsman in just a short month of training. Unfair definitely, but cool? Absolutely.

They sat in silence for about hour. Hector looking out the window to the scenery that gradually changed from a thick green forest to a snowy landscape. He got a call on his scroll about his whereabouts, and after reassuring Ruby that he is safe a sound sitting with a nice old lady, he hung up the phone and sighed.

After another hour, Maria finally spoke up again.

"You know, even though I am partially blind. I still have great use of all of my other senses. I will not lie to you young man, but when I walked by you, all those alarms went off." Hector started paying attention more, and even looked away from the window to look at her. After about a moment, Maria continued. "After speaking with you and getting to know you in that short time, I can see that you are not inherently evil… So tell me, if you can. Why did all those alarms in my head go off?"

Hector's breath caught in his throat as he tried to come up with some kind of answer. Ever since his battle with Raven and Cinder, there was just _something_ within him that he couldn't understand. Ozpin said he is looking into it since he doesn't have much else to do while locked out of control, but he said that it would take a lot of time.

After about a minute of thinking about what he had to say, he could tell that Maria was getting a bit concerned. He had to get something out.

"I don't know… I've just been feeling different recently."

They sat in silence for the rest of the ride, all the way up to the point where _something_ landed on the top of the train right above them.

* * *

 **And that is it. I've left a lot of hints in this one about what UHFTP is going to be like, I am curious to see what you guys will manage to find! Make your predictions now!**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far!**

 **Beta: Crowskull**

 **P atreon . com(slash) Genatools**


	56. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 56

**Hello boys and girls! Welcome back to Unlikely Hero! Now that RWBY Volume 6 is over, I'll be able to finish my planning for the canon version of Unlikely Hero, which again, will be started once this story ends.**

 **But for now, let us give thanks to the reviewers from last chapter!**

* * *

 **Cjjt71200: Soon my friend, soon. Thank you for reading the story though!**

 **Zeldwaolffang: Hell** _ **was**_ **just an evil clone, but I took the liberty of making him more than just that. You'll see what I mean later in the story.**

 **TocoolTocool: I can neither confirm nor deny that, but now that I think about it yeah, Hector and Hell are similar to Piccolo and Kami from DBZ.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Oh man, it's almost been a year hasn't it? Anyway, thank you for feeling that way about the fight scene. It took a while to make and I had to go back and fix a lot. Tyrians semblance in this story is complicated. It only kicks in when he is about to die, in this case, he nearly died when Qrow stabbed him with his sword. When that happened, his semblance kicked in, it healed his dying body and gave him the strength to get the sword out of his body, and then it closed his wounds. But at the major cost of his sanity. Ever wonder** _ **how**_ **he got crazy? Well there we go, every time it happens, he slowly loses more and more of himself. Until it is actually revealed in the show, that is what I am going with for now. Hazel is alive, but barely. Winter Maiden is finally going to get some action! This has been a fight coming for a long time. Hector and Hells link will be explained soon in the story, but for now, the hypothesis is that if Hell dies, Hector dies, and vise versa.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **I've started a new story titled 'Detective Grimm', it's two chapters in, but if you haven't read it yet, now is the time!**

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

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Chapter 56- Frozen Battle

"If it works like I _think_ it does, if Hell dies, I die, and vice versa."

"That's… so _unfair_!" Yang cursed loudly after saying that, throwing her hands up in the air and barely resisting the urge to let her power explode outward out of anger. "If the bastard figures that out, Salem can just order him to kill himself and get rid of you that way."

"How did something like this even happen?" Ruby asked, grabbing on to Hector's open hand and squeezing it tightly like if she let go, she wouldn't be able to ever touch him again.

Hector squeezed her hand gently in turn, and thought about any possibility that could have lead to. He wrecked his mind all the way back when he fought Cinder and Raven for the first time, apparently that was when Salem got his DNA and a part of his being in order to create Hell in the first place, but when he fought Hell in Atlas, he didn't feel any connection with him when he was losing or when he was winning the fight. Not even anything when he fired that magical blast out of his hand that nearly killed him.

He didn't even know Hell was actually alive until now. He always had that suspicion in the back of his mind, since Hell is technically an almost perfect clone of him, he assumed that he wouldn't go down so easily. Because _Hector_ wouldn't go down so easily.

But then it hit him.

Ozpin warned him that pushing his body so far with the Kaioken would do more than just damage to his body, but to his very soul itself. If what he is thinking was correct, then he lost a part of his soul when he did that massive blast he used to defeat Hell during the battle of Atlas, and when that happened Hell might have been able to absorb some of it. Giving him the soul that he probably had help with unlocking, and that help no doubt came from Salem.

Hector always thought that something was off ever since he woke up after the battle of Atlas, and thanks to the help of Ozpin's intelligence and the help of Knolly. He was able to put the pieces together.

Hector lost a part of his soul during his fight against Hell, and Hell took that part of his soul and made it his own. Which would explain how Salem was able to contact him the day he woke up from his coma, and has been whispering in his ear ever since. She now had an opening, and with Ozpin in his own dormant state, she had no one in her way to stop her from getting into his head.

He relayed his thoughts to the girls around him once they sat down in an empty cafe, they all soaked the information in and thought hard on what they should do about this. They sat still and processed all of this information carefully.

"If you lost a part of your soul… how are you still, well… you?" Yang asked carefully, not wanting to sound too harsh to Rhea and Ruby, who both adore him unconditionally.

Hector didn't know the answer to that question, so he did the smart thing and asked Knolly for the answer.

"Knolly says that just like your body when it is injured, your soul can heal. That was why I was in that month long coma, my soul was healing the part that it lost." Hector explained with a sigh of relief.

Everyone else also shared their own sigh of relief, for a moment they were terrified that Hector was not completely whole.

"But…" And just like that, the moment of relief was replaced by a tense nervousness. "When a soul loses a part of itself, it will never be able to be exactly how it was before… which would explain how I suddenly matured so fast."

"That's not too bad right?" Ruby asked, a smile still on her face. She is just happy that her boyfriend isn't turning into a Grimm, she could care less that he lost a part of his soul, as long as Hector Rivers is still Hector Rivers, that is all she needs to be happy.

Hector smiled kindly, and an actual red tint appeared on his cheeks as Ruby stared at him lovingly. He looked away with an awkward cough when Yang made a teasing whistling sound.

"Still, there's still the problem of this link you have with your copy RJ." Rhea pointed out, surprisingly the one who to actually point out the obvious issue that the adults were looking over.

Hector sighed and he leaned forward on the table, running a hand through his thick black hair as he thought about _that_ problem again.

"I know Ray, I know." Hector said as he wracked his mind for some way of solution. For a second, he looked down at his left hand, considering talking to Salem about it on the off chance that she would actually tell him anything that he wanted to know about Hell and how she created him and later gave him a soul using the part that was absorbed by Hell. he tore his eyes away from where the symbol on his hand was located, and stuck his left hand in his pocket.

"I have an idea…" Ruby said sheepishly, as if she really didn't want to admit that she actually had an idea.

"What is it Rubes?" Yang asked, nudging her little sister sitting right beside her.

Ruby chuckled nervously and scratched the side of her head, cursing herself mentally for even thinking of the idea she had just thought up. Then cursing herself even more when she looked back up and saw that three pairs of eyes, blue, red, and orange were all traced on her now. Her silver eyes looked everywhere for something to distract herself and potentially distract the audience that she has attracted. But once Yang took her shoulder and shook her out of her mumbling she realized that everything she just thought was said out loud in a panicked mumbling.

"Ruby, what is it. I promise I won't laugh." Hector said with a kind smile that suggested he was actually being serious about what he said.

Rhea even smiled kindly at her, and the girl was three years younger then her! How bad was her awkwardness was going to get?

"Well… what if we find Hell…" Ruby stopped, and hesitated.

"Go on." Hector eased her to continue.

"Find Hell… and maybe convince him to give you back your soul?" Ruby suggested, her face going as red as her cloak as she pulled it up to hide her embarrassed face from Yang who just started laughing her ass off at the idea uncontrollably.

Hector at least had the decency to not laugh at all, although Rhea on the other hand stood up from her chair and stood behind Hector to hide the fact that she was also laughing silently.

"Ruby, remember what I said before? What I was sensing from Hell?" Hector asked quietly.

"Yes." Ruby affirmed with a nod.

"He is freezing, and burning at the same time, where in the world would that even be considered possible?" He asked next, silently enjoying teasing Ruby like this.

"Atlas…" Ruby sighed and slumped her head against the table, already seeing where this was going.

"Yeah, Atlas. So even if that were possible, and I could get that part of my soul that I lost, after fighting Hell because you know he is not going to give up his soul easily. We still have the Summer Maiden waiting in Vacuo to fight me, and she is on the other side of the world." Hector explained. "Don't get me wrong, what you're suggesting is plausible,"

"It is?" Yang and Rhea asked at the same time, but went ignored.

"But if it were possible, we would lose the Summer Maiden, and then we'd have the problem of trying to find the damn woman." Hector finished, and leaned back in his seat.

"Yeah but… what if Hell loses against whoever he is fighting?" Ruby asked next.

Hector widened his eyes at the thought, if what he said earlier was true, then if Hell was killed, then in turn he would die. Ozpin would die with him, and Jinn would have no owner and would almost be completely useless to the group. Basically everything would go to shit if he died, and Salem would have a much easier time gathering the four relics.

"Well… we'll have to root for Hell then." Hector said with a shrug, not really knowing what else to say.

"You said he was freezing before right? That he was fighting someone very powerful?" Yang asked, placing both of her hands on the table.

"Yeah that's what I said, why do you ask?" Hector asked, arching one of his eyebrows with curiosity.

Yang didn't answer with words, she didn't need too. Instead she placed her human hand on the table, and froze the wood in that area. The bluish white ice spreading across the table before melting just as fast as it came with a spark of flames that followed it. Hector instantly realised what she was getting at here.

"Unless there's someone else out there who's not a maiden and has ice powers, I think the woman who fought Rhea for a bit has made a return." Yang said simply, her voice monotone as the seriousness of the situation set in. "Hell is fighting the Winter Maiden, and something tells me that he is _losing_ that fight."

Hector's blue eyes stared down at the table, his fists clenching so tightly that his aura had to protect his skin from being cut by his nails. Every single time he has a plan set and already in motion, something just _has_ to come up. Not only is Hell fighting the Winter Maiden, but that means that Qrow, Mercury, and Winter are also all at risk if the Winter Maiden is now forced to fight.

"We stick to the plan." Hector said with an amazing amount of restraint, his voice sounding calm and collected even though his gritting teeth betrayed the sound of his voice. "What I said about this link I might have with Hell could just be a mental thing, we technically have the same soul, and we are biologically the same person. He just has a little more Grimm in him then I do. If anything, the Winter Maiden might as well be dealing with something for us."

"What happens if something happens to you?" Yang asked, earning a quiet gasp from Ruby. "I'm not saying that anything is definite, but just in case something does happen to you, both you and Ozpin are going to die, and the relic isn't going to have an owner anymore. We would literally lose our most powerful weapon, no offence."

"None taken," Hector replied with a wave of his hand. "To answer that question, I've already made some plans for that course of events." He looked down to Rhea. "If I fall, Knolly would be inherited by Rhea, and she would have access to all of the knowledge Ozpin and I held within my mind. Along with the power of the Relic of Knowledge."

Rhea let out a choked gasp, her wolf ears dropping at the thought of the torch being handed to her so easily like that. "Why me?" She asked, emotion in her voice for the first time since she found out about the fate of her father and the mystery that was her mother.

"Because, you're the Fall Maiden." Hector said after looking around to make sure no passersby were listening in. "Even though I am just six years older than you, you are my daughter, you have so much potential within you, and I am sure you would be able to surpass me in time." He smiled, and patted her head in between her ears, her golden orange eyes stared up at him, tears threatening to spill out of the corner of her eyes. "If something happens to you, there's no one else I can trust more with this. You'd have Yang and Ruby and the rest of our friends to take care of you and train you to use your powers."

"RJ…" Rhea muttered, a single tear now falling from her left eye. Ruby and Yang show their support by nodding their heads when she turned to look at them for support, then looking back into Hector's… No, her father's ocean blue eyes.

Hector smile grew wider as he pushed his hand underneath her chin and rose it up gently, so that he could easily plant a fatherly kiss on her forehead. "I don't think I've said it before… but I love you Rhea, don't ever forget that."

"D'aaaaaawwww~" Yang and Ruby cooed, unable to keep it within themselves. Hector chuckled nervously and looked away from them, a red tint sprinkled on his cheeks.

Rhea simply sat there with tears in her eyes. She has wanted someone to say that to her for so long, someone to look up too. In other words… a parent. Everything may have happened fast, like, really incredibly fast. But with a life like theirs, taking it slow just wasn't worth the risk.

Rhea hugged Hector suddenly, wrapping her arms around his chest as she practically leaped into his lap. It didn't help the red tint on his face as both his girlfriend and future sister in law cooed even louder and started giggling when he glared at them. Leave it to the sisters to cheer up a dark mood so easily.

Rhea hit the last nail on the coffin with the next words that came out of her mouth.

"I love you too… Dad."

Hector choked on his own breath and forgot all about everything for a good hour after that one.

* * *

Hector's other half wasn't having nearly as good of a time as he was. The sudden blizzard that the Winter Maiden created was so cold that even the flames from his own dark version of the Kaioken wasn't heating up his body fast enough to combat against the freezing negative temperatures of the power of the Winter Maiden. Hell knew that this battle was going to be tough, but liked his odds better then fighting his other half again, which was why when Tyrian scouted that Hector was actually not with the group of three humans, he planned an ambush to get rid of all three at the same time to draw out the Winter Maiden.

And it worked, in a sense. What wasn't planned was for Hazel to nearly get both of his arms blown off and lose half of his face while Marcus desperately fought with all he had against Mercury and Qrow. The scorpion faunus was doing what he could, but using his self healing semblance right before dying made him even more insane the before. So he wasn't doing much at the moment.

Getting his ass kicked all over the forest also wasn't part of the plan, but this was what he gets for holding back against someone more powerful then he was at the moment.

Hell winced when he found himself pinned to a tree by long sharp icicles, the frozen element cutting away at his aura and tearing his jacket in two to leave him in just a simple black T-shirt. He cursed himself mentally for wearing such light clothing and overestimating the heat of the Kaioken like he did, because now he was paying for it.

His pale skin got even louder as the blood underneath receded deeper into his body, and he felt a strange tingling feeling at the tips of his fingers as he grabbed one of the ice spears out of the air and threw it back at the Maiden, only for the ice to be shattered as it hit the palm of her pale hand and get absorbed into her bright white aura. Next Hell used the strength multiplied in his legs to jump into the air like a bullet when he found himself surrounded by walls of ice that were quickly closing in on him, threatening to crush is body in the middle of all of it.

While in mid air he couldn't dodge the Winter Maiden, who had used her magic to fly over to him, and summoned a massive bolt of white lightning that struck him and slammed him all the way back into the ground.

Hell's infinite stamina is what is keeping him in the fight so far, he rolled out of the way of the second lightning strike, being barely faster than lightning with the Kaioken times thirty five multiplier he has been constantly giving himself. He was able to dodge it enough and roll back onto his feet. He found the glowing Winter Maiden by the white flame poking out from her right eye from underneath her goggles.

He curled his fist, and thrusted it forward with a loud grunt. A blood red ball of fire coming out of his hand like a small blast that caught the Winter Maiden off guard enough to the point where she was forced to block with her forearms. The red flames hitting and dispersing over her white aura. Straight after she held out one of her palms and fired out a spear of ice, which pierced right through the follow up fireball and nearly impaled all the way through Hell as he used the back of his hand to destroy the spear before it could make contact with his body.

"Kaioken times forty!" Hell screamed loudly, going up to his new limit as his black and red aura flamed up even higher.

"Tch, you just have to make things more difficult." The Winter Maiden muttered as she created a defensive wall out of the frozen air to stop Hell's fist which nearly got close enough to strike her actual body.

The Winter Maiden has had years to perfect the use of her powers, and she has pushed passed any limit any of the previous Winter Maidens have had before. She is the strongest Winter Maiden in the history of Remnant, and it shows as she overpowers the even more powerful Hell easily and blasted him back to the ground with an long blue flaming ice sword which struck him in the shoulder.

Hell hit the ground hard, and he looked up in time to vaguely see the white light of the Winter Maidens flaming eye to block the next attack with one of his forearms. The ice bit into his aura and skin, freezing the point of contact at the moment of impact. Hell winced under the freezing pain, something he was still getting used too and pushed away the Maiden.

She flipped along with the momentum given to her by the monstrous strength of Hell, and disappeared in the white snow of the blizzard she created. Hell looked around and used all of the senses he could to try and get a bead on her, but the blizzard was just so thick and dense that he could barely see around himself in a radius of three feet.

"Here." The Winter Maiden said in his ear as she kicked him in the back, not doing too much damage, but enough to send him falling to the ground and to wildly counter nothing with a blast of superheated flames that dispersed as soon as it the ground behind him, leaving a black scorch mark on the ground in its wake.

"Tch, you know Winter, all that I am here for is the relic. If you just give it to me, you won't ever be bothered again." Hell said as he calmed himself down, something he wouldn't have been able to do if he didn't have the soul that he does now.

"Wrong." The Winter Maiden said as she let the blizzard fade away in one specific area, which was around her body a few feet above Hell. "You are here to kill me, and then take the relic, and I will not allow that. You have interfered with my plans too much already, I will push you and your allies out of this forest, and you will never return."

Hell arched one of his eyebrows as he protected his face instinctively with his arms, looking at the Winter Maiden through his arms with his red and black eyes, and with gritted teeth he asked the next thing that popped up in his mind. "You won't kill us?"

"No, that is not for me to decide." The Winter Maiden declared, and from the ripping winds increasing in speed and velocity, her white hood was blown off of her head. Revealing a head of long black and red hair. "Your fate is to be decided by the man you are based off of." The blizzard took hold of the surrounding area once again and the Winter Maiden faded away into the falling snow.

Hell sneered and blocked another ice blast that came from behind him, using his inhuman speed to keep up with the magical speed of the maiden who got up close and personal with a sword flaming with frozen flames, and nearly chopped his head off if it weren't for his powerful borrowed aura his head would be rolling on the ground at the moment.

He managed to land a hit onto the maidens waist, but only half of his fist was able to land and she rolled with the momentum of his fist and ended up behind him. She groaned loudly as she placed both hands on his back, and created a powerful explosion of ice that knocked the two back, forcing Hell into the ground as he is blown into the ground, and the Winter Maiden to be blown into the ripping winds of the blizzard she previously created.

Hell pushed himself out from the pile of dirt and rock that was upturned when he was forced into the ground, and shook of head of the stars he saw in his vision. He turned around and activated his semblance once more, his black and red flames burning hot and melting the snow around him. If it wasn't for that, he wouldn't have been able to see in front of himself at all. It is just so cold that even the flames from a times forty dark Kaioken isn't hot enough to burn it all away.

He adapted to the speed of the Winter Maiden and caught her long ice sword with one of his hands, shattering it and throwing a fist forward. Only for the maidens figure to shatter once his fist made contact. Hell widened his eyes just before a fist planted itself in the side of his head so hard that it made his ears ring. He almost thought himself deaf in his right ear before he was forced to focus on defending himself even further. The maiden went from bladed swordplay to close quarters unarmed combat.

He was completely on the defensive, and his pride made him hate that. Wildly losing his composure for a second he threw his fist forward with all the strength he had, only to wildly miss when the Winter Maiden ducked under it and created an ice dagger that stabbed and pierced his aura. He felt an immense amount of unfamiliar pain and tore the frozen dagger out of his body, and threw it at the maiden standing straight about ten feet in front of him.

The Winter maiden batted it away with the back of her hand and it shattered away into a hundred little pieces, burning away with cold blue flames as it hit the ground.

"I am beyond you Hell, leave this place, take your allies, and do _not_ return." The Winter Maiden threatened as she creates dark blue flames in both of her hands, frost building up her body as her white hooded cloak whips around with the wind, the skin of one of her arms becoming exposed and revealing the black outfit she has underneath. Her laced up black boots seemed to be a part of her pants itself and she had a black shirt underneath which was long on one side and half a black glove that connected to the sleeve, while the other side was purely just her lean muscled arm, underneath the cloak. A black belt with a silver buckle keeping her pants up, and frost building up on those as well. Upon closer inspection Hell can see a large black patch on the left side of her forehead, which would explain why she only had one flaming eye, she didn't have one on her left.

Her mouth was set in a thin line and she moved the white scarf she had on up to cover that part of her face before Hell could get a good look at it. Other then all that, he saw her hair and the upper half which was covered by large gray goggles.

"I am afraid I cannot do that Winter Maiden." Hell said as he entered another fighting stance. "I am afraid of _her_ much more than I am afraid of you."

The maiden rose one of her eyebrows in surprise.

"So you can feel fear then?" She asked, underneath the scarf she smiled cruelly.

"Good."

* * *

As Hell and the Winter maidens battle continued, Marcus and Tyrian found themselves in a grueling two versus two battle. Qrow went after Tyrian right away once the Winter Maiden revealed herself, and Marcus found himself actually struggling to keep up with the rejuvenated Mercury Black. He didn't know how tired he actually was until his adrenaline wore off when the Winter Maiden attacked him. He was so shocked by it that the adrenaline just stopped flowing. He had no idea a maiden could be as strong as what he just sensed.

He also had no idea how much stronger his son actually was until he realized that he was losing ground. Their legs clashed together in an epic shockwave that blew away the snow around them, and to his surprise. His sons kick was stronger then his.

Just like it was years ago...

With a snarl Marcus turned into smoke, and appeared behind Mercury. The younger Black smirked and let his fathers foot collide with his body. Only for it to pass right through his head. Marcus' eyes widened as Mercury appeared above him out of a cloud of smoke and smashed his foot into his face.

Marcus cried out in pain as he feels something in his face crack, most likely the bridge of his nose where his sons wet boot hit him in the face. He rolled away a few times and writhed in pain for a few seconds while holding his nose.

"Agh! You little shit!" Marcus yelled as he punched the ground and stood back up with a snarl. Blood running from his nose and face red because of how cold the air around his body.

"Remember _Dad_ ," Mercury snarled at Marcus as he cocked his leg up toward him. "Always keep your eye on the target." He taunted, repeating a lesson that was harshly taught to him years ago, and fired a concussive blast into his father's shoulder.

Just a few meters away from the battle between father and son, Qrow and Tyrian were having their second round. The aura gifted to him by the Winter Maiden healing his wounds and rejuvenating some of his stamina, but his long time enemy and other nemesis Tyrian also healed up a considerable amount, and managed to regenerate some aura to be able to fight again.

Something was different about Tyrian this time however, he fought more wildly, with less care about defense as he swung his weapons at him wildly as if he didn't even have weapons on in the first place. He fought like he was unarmed, which only made him all the more dangerous to himself and whoever he is fighting. He fought with his tail more as well, making Qrow have to keep track of yet another way for him to get seriously injured. His body was still recovering and fighting against the venom from earlier, if he gets hurt like that again, he wouldn't be able to push through it like he did before.

Unlike he might have before, Qrow didn't speak while fighting, he was too focused on moving his arms and legs at incredible speeds as he swung his massive sword. In this much of a fast paced battle, the scythe version of his weapon would only slow him down and come with more risk than benefit. He needs to finish this fight with his sword before Tyrian can get away and recover his full strength. With the mental state he is in now, he would be a threat to everyone that comes into contact with him.

"Qrow, Qrow, _Qrooow_ … I can't _wait_ to clip off those wings!" Tyrian cackled madly as he thrusted his tail at him.

Qrow made a 'tch' sound as he jumped back from the stinger which stabbed itself into the ground with a loud explosion like sound. He flicked his blade down and fired his hand cannon at the faunus who now had is tail stuck in the snow, but it failed to penetrate Tyrian's aura or blow off his tail like he wanted it too. The next shots after that were blocked by Tyrian's wrist blades, and before he could fire off another shot, Tyrian got his tail out of the ground and actually spit venom out of the stinger of his tail at him. Which he narrowly avoided by side stepping to the right.

Qrow glanced back to see that the venom hit a rock a few feet behind him, and started melting through that rock with a disturbing sizzling. He grimaced and imagined that getting into any of his wounds, it looked like Tyrian's venom in his stinger at a microevolution that made it even more potent and dangerous. When he looked back to Tyrian he was forced to block bullets with his aura as the crazed man charged at him with mad laughter, and then parried one of his wristblades only for the second one to cut away at his aura on the same spot where he nearled got disemboweled just a few minutes before. Or was it an hour… They've been fighting so long Qrow hasn't been able to keep track of time. But since the sun started to rise in the horizon it was good to say that it was at least an hour.

As Qrow winced from the pain in his stomach and his dark red aura flare up around the area where he was hurt, Tyrian kept running until he came up to a tree, and then proceeded to jump up and do a backflip. While in the air he spun and kept firing the machine guns that are inside of his wrist blades, every single bullet either missing, getting deflected, or bouncing off of Qrow's aura.

When he landed he was behind Qrow, and he pushed off his back foot and tried to tackle him to the ground like he was able to do before. But this time Qrow side stepped him and pushed the back of his head away from his body and legs, forcing Tyrian to slip on the wet snow and get his face pushed into the icy ground, tasting a mixture of blood and dirty in his mouth as he pushed himself back up.

However, before he could get up Qrow kicked him in the side, his purple aura flaring to protect himself from getting his ribs broken and rolling with the momentum as he used it to fling himself onto all fours. He smirked to himself as he lunged into a handstand and with both feet kicked Qrow in the chest, pushing him back.

Qrow was almost terrified when he saw Tyrian performing the bridge stretch and _sprinting_ at him at the same time. But he kept his nerves under control and fired his gun into the ground and jumped at the same time. Dodging in an unpredictable way as he came crashing down onto Tyrian, who narrowly dodged Qrow's highly elevated curbstomp with a handstand and flipped himself back onto his feet.

Qrow jumped away again before Tyrian's stinger could inject him with venom again, and they stood off against each other one more. Both sides breathing heavily with fatigue as they stared into each others eyes. Qrow's red eyes seemed to glow faintly a more of a blood red color, and Tyrian's purple. His manic smile was ear to ear as they circled each other, adjusting the posture and position of their arms and weapons as they tested each other for openings.

Off in the distance, Winter began to stir, her light blue aura flaring as she regains consciousness. Qrow noticed this and winked at her when their eyes met, and then nudged his head to the right to where Mercury and Marcus are still fighting. Winter nodded her head back and slowly reached for her sabre, just a few feet from her. Her hair was down and she was still recovering, but if she just had a few seconds. She can turn this fight around from a stalemate to a complete win.

Qrow smiled as he was the one to charge at Tyrian next, buying her time just in case Tyrian figured out what was going on even while his attention was focused on the older Huntsman.

Back to Marcus and Mercury, the two of them are fighting each other at even greater speeds and ferocity. Both of them but a mix of a gray and white blur as they seemingly teleported from one part of that forest area to the next. Their legs furiously clashing with each other as they both use their smoke semblances to the maximum. While Mercury did have the upper hand before, Marcus was quickly closing the gap. They were both bloodied, bruised, and screaming with pent up anger as they fought each other with the intent to kill.

Marcus was Mercury's target, and it worked the same the other way around.

At one point they both jumped up for a spinning arial back kick, in which both Blacks faded through each other as they turned their bodies into smoke, landing on opposite sides and slipping on the wet ground and both falling onto their faces. Their aura were flickering, and about to go out. Marcus was the first to start getting back up, and Mercury was quick to follow. Turning around slowly so that their black eyes can meet as they glare at each other angrily.

"You've gotten a lot stronger than... I thought you would…" Marcus said between deep breaths, bringing his fists up for another round. The battle damage so extensive that anyone could now see his own metallic legs.

"You've gotten weaker." Mercury said in return, not even bothering to bring his fists up into a stance and simply adjusting the positions of his feet. Blood pouring down from above his right eye and keeping it shut, a bruise at the corner of his lips and half of his shirt ripped off. This fight was nearing it's finale.

"Oh Merky, always with the bravado. I taught you better than that didn't I?" Marcus asked, spreading his arms apart and grinning at his son.

"You taught me to be a monster!" Mercury snarled, a smokey aura flowing around him as he glared at his target. "And the worst thing about it, you succeeded." He said next, thinking back on everything he has done throughout his life.

His whole life before Cinder recruited him, he spent it training with his father. Every night, and every day. His mother was the one to teach him about the world, to actually give him an education and was the one to patch him up every time Marcus went overboard with their training under the guise of it being for a Huntsman position. All that pent up anger was stored within his young mind until one night his father drugged him and knocked him out, and did a surgery on him which gave him the legs that he now has. That alone made him snap, and he was ready to fight his father right after that even when his legs were still bleeding from the surgery. Only to find that his mother was dying.

He could still remember the last words his mother said as she died.

 _Heh… I love you Mercury… I always will._

Those words haunted him the whole time while he was working under Cinder, Emerald became a sort of outlet for him. While she always said that she would kill him in his sleep and never cared for him, they both knew that they were pretty much the only person the other could truly call a true friend.

But then the battle of Beacon happened.

After that, he started doubting himself and Cinder more and more, especially when he saw Salem for the first time in person. He hadn't enjoyed doing what he was doing in Vale, even if he might have made it look like he did. Then another year later, and he lost the only reason he was even staying with Salem for. She killed his best friend, and then exiled him from his castle and doomed him to die. It was only out of Hazel's kindness that he did survive that day, and eventually found a traveling Team RWBY.

And it all started because of his _father_ , the man who was supposed to take care of him and instead trained him to be an assassin when he was just a kid. No kid should learn a dozen ways to kill a person at nine years old, it just wasn't right.

He would make sure no one would have to go through that again…

Because he was Mercury, _just_ Mercury.

The Huntsman.

Mercury grinned at his self proclaimed title and felt his aura flare up with more power. Even more smoke flowing out from his legs and pooling up above him. A new ability he is creating for himself at this very moment.

"Ha! Like I am going to stand still for that- what?" Marcus widened his eyes when his legs didn't listen to him, and he was trapped in place. He couldn't even use his semblance to get away. "What's going on!?" He asked loudly as he looked down at his legs.

There was a black glyph underneath him, a magnetic one.

He couldn't move his own legs.

Marcus looked back into the eyes of a smirking Winter Schnee, one hand held out and the other around the hilt of her sword stabbed into the ground next to her. A dimmer white glyph beneath her as she concentrated on keeping the magnetic glyph in place, freezing Marcus in place.

" _You_." Marcus sneered at the white haired woman.

"For the kingdom of Atlas, and for all the people you've killed, I sentence you to death!" Winter exclaimed, her aura flaring brighter along with her glyphs to _really_ keep Marcus where he is standing. "Whatever you're doing, do it now Mercury!" She yelled as she kept the glyph in place.

Tyrian had to sense to try and break away from his fight with Qrow, but as soon as he turned around he was put in a full nelson. He tried to stab Qrow with his tail but the little hole he had near the hilt of his sword trapped his stinger against his thigh. Pinning it there as the two of them entered a battle of raw strength. In which they were completely equal in.

"Do it now kid!" Qrow shouted through gritted teeth as he pulled Tyrian back, wincing when his blades dug into the aura on the side of his forearms.

Marcus started to panic when he still couldn't move, and Mercury's smoke took the form of hundreds of little spears that were all pointed at him. He tried to activate his own semblance so that he could fade away and get out of the glyph, but he was just too low on aura. Tyrian was being held back, and Hazel was still barely alive as it is.

Marcus realized that he was about to die.

"No! Stop that!" Marcus cried out futilely as he struggled to move one of his feet barely a millimeter.

"You know what I am going to call this move?" Mercury asked loud enough so that he _knew_ that his father was going to hear him, grinning cockily just like he always did before.

Marcus ignored him and kept trying to free himself, and to no avail.

"Patricide."

With a simple side kick toward Marcus Black, Mercury launched every single spear of smoke toward his father who was screaming with rage. The first one hit and exploded on contact, creating a large smoke cloud that blocked out his father's body. Mercury didn't care that he couldn't see his father now, he just had to keep it going.

It took a straight minute without stopping of every single spear of smoke that Mercury created with his aura and semblance. Only then did the smoke start to dissipate, and he fell to his knees out of exhaustion. His grey aura flaring as it broke. But even then he had a grin on his face. He has beaten his father. Again. And this time he was going to make sure that he was done for.

Marcus was miraculously still standing. Though his clothing was mostly destroyed with the only remnant of his pants staying on his body. His top half was bloodied and lacerated, stab wounds in his body and burn marks on most of the surface of his skin from the heat of the smoke. Winter finally ran out of the aura that the Winter Maiden gifted to her, and she her own light blue aura flickered out as it broke, but she had a pleased smile on her face when she watched as the defeated dangerous assassin fell backward flat on his back, eyes wide and… a black parasitic creature digging itself out of his shoulder.

Mercury widened his eyes in shock as he saw the Grimm creature dig itself out of his father's shoulder, and writhe around in pain on the ground before dying from exposure. He thought the worse when he looked back to his father, coughing up blood and struggling to keep himself alive, though his black eyes were staring into his. The white hair on top of his head also darkened, turning into almost the same shade of grey as his sons.

"Finally… that thing was in me for a lot longer than I thought it would be." Marcus said in a calm soft voice, almost amused with the situation he was now in.

"What… what was that!?" Mercury asked angrily, pointing to the black stain on the ground beside his father's head.

"What do you think kid? That fucking parasite was in me this whole time, it's been in me ever since you were… I dunno, five years old?" Marcus said with a bitter chuckle.

"Explain yourself now before I finish the job." Mercury threatened as he kneeled beside his father and resisted the urge to wrap his hands around his neck and strangle him to death.

"Alright, alright, sheesh. You must have got that from your mother." Marcus through the blood in his mouth. "After I failed my first mission because of that asshole over there." He made a gesture with his eyes toward Qrow and Tyrian, still wrestling with each other in a battle of strength. "I found out that I needed more power, and so I accepted an offer from a woman named Salem. She gave me that thing and it made me stronger, no doubt about that, but it screwed with my mind, made me do things I didn't want to do. I was an assassin, a real piece of shit, but even I had boundaries." Marcus did his best to keep his eyes open, so that he could keep looking at his son. "One of those things, was training you to follow in my footsteps, I never wanted to bring you into all of this."

Mercury widened his eyes, feeling burning tears behind his eyes as he struggled to process everything he was hearing. He wanted to yell and scream at his father for everything he has done to him, but at the same time the logical side of him said that it wasn't his father's fault the whole time, he was being controlled.

"Another one of those boundaries was doing what I did to your mother… that pushed me over the edge. I deserved what you did to me after that, which was why I just managed to go easy on you, pull my punches and kicks. Hell, I even wished I died at the end of that fight. Because the next time I was able to get _some_ control over myself was when…" Marcus coughed up more blood, this time it sprayed out of his mouth and all over his chest. "Damn, you must've punctured a lung or something."

"During the battle of Atlas… when you found me while I was carrying Yang's Dad and Blake…" Mercury realized, remembering that bizzare scene of his father giving a tip on how to use his semblance.

"Yeup… that was actually me that time." Marcus chuckled and smiled with bloody teeth. "I wanted you to kill me… I became everything I was trying not to become… a damn ruthless killing machine." He tried to reach one hand up to touch his sons face, just one more time, but he just couldn't raise it higher than a mere inch, and his vision began fading to black.

"You've done good Mercury… I'm proud of you. I… I was never meant to be a father… I just didn't know how to give… my love." Marcus exhaled his final breath, closing his eyes and his head rolled to one side as his body lost it's life.

Mercury didn't know how to feel, he was so conflicted. His father caused him so much pain throughout his entire life, and to find out that the whole time he couldn't even control himself? He didn't know how sad he was until he realized that he was bawling his eyes out and screaming in sorrow.

Qrow heard everything, this whole time his worst and most dangerous nemesis just wasn't in control of himself other then the first time they met when he saved Summer from him. He loosened his grip just a tiny bit and that was enough for Tyrian to be able to get one of his arms free, and jab his elbow into his side, causing him to cough and let him go.

Tyrian jumped away from him and next to Hazel's barely conscious and alive body. He lifted his good arm off the ground and put his head underneath it. He didn't even speak a single word as he took himself and Tyrian, and jumped into the winter storm where the maiden and Hell were still fighting.

Qrow was the only one with aura left, and he saw the opening that they all had. Winter stood up on her own, but Mercury was still being emotional and was still beside his dead father. He ran over and picked him up from his armpit, and swung him over his shoulder. Mercury didn't even fight back as he was hauled away from the fight. They were able to escape, this time.

The Winter Maiden watched as Qrow, Winter, and Mercury all got away. Her cloak and outfit were a little battle damaged during the fight with Hell, but it would be easily repaired once she gets away.

Hell was literally frozen stiff now, the Winter maiden created a massive blast of freezing magic that froze Hell on the spot. He was encased in ice so cold that not even his Kaioken could get him out of it. The Winter Maiden even had the audacity to humiliate him even further by waving goodbye at him, and disappearing out of the blizzard, and letting it grow in size and intensity.

Tyrian found Hell in the ice and started to hack away at it, and the whole time Hell was staring in the direction of where the Winter Maiden escaped. An angry expression across his features as his flames grew, and melted away the rest of the ice, making him fall to the ground and cough up the water that he inhaled on accident.

"Where's Marcus?" Hell asked between coughs.

"Dead, very dead." Tyrian said with a shrug.

"Damnit." Hell shook his head. "Focus on getting warm for now, and then get out of here." He said with gritted teeth, his eyes glowing angrily as his semblance heated up even hotter then it was before. "I'll go after her myself."

Hell screamed as he unleashed his hidden potential, and his dark aura and eye color both turned an ocean blue.

* * *

Qrow yelped in surprise when he was picked up from the ground suddenly. Mercury hanging off of his back as his feet left the ground. Underneath Winter, a slab of ice lifted her off of the ground. Qrow looked up to see who it was that was taking them away, only for them to narrow as he saw the Winter Maiden was the one who was carrying him.

"Where are you taking us?" Qrow asked, struggling as much as he could with the effort of someone who was a few hundred feet above the ground.

"Somewhere safe, I'll explain everything later." The Winter Maiden said simply.

Qrow didn't bother to question her further, she _did_ just save their lives, and he would rather be taken to somewhere safe and warm rather then have to deal with the freezing blizzard coming at them, flash freezing the ground as it closed in on them.

"Who are you?" He asked instead, looking up at the Winter Maiden.

She actually looked down at him this time, her hood whipping with the wind behind her head while at the same time her scarf hung below her mouth, revealing pale almost snow white skin.

"An ally." She replied with a small smile.

* * *

 **WOW, what a chapter this was. I bet you guys have been struck with the feels after what happened to Marcus. That's one thing as well, Marcus is actually dead now, he isn't coming back. Hazel is still alive, barely, and Tyrian is also alive, but now he is even more insane than before. So that is fun, and lastly Hell is going after them on his own, and he also gained the blue Kaioken, which is stronger than the normal Red Kaioken, so that's a thing to be worried about.**

 **So now that this little arc is finally over, we can get back to Hector and the group and see how they are doing. Maybe a little more with the Summer Maiden as well.**

 **Please review, let me know what you think about this story so far! I hope you guys enjoyed this, and now it is time for Mister Beta CrowSkull to edit, so wish him luck!**

 **I got this in the bag, no worries. -CrowSkull**

 **P atreon . com(slash) Genatools**


	57. RWBY: An Unlikely Hero chapter 57

**Alrighty then, I feel like I made a mistake last chapter. Not with the writing itself, but with a certain part of the story of which I know some of you will know what I am talking about. Those who haven't figured it out yet, must enjoy the rest of the story.**

 **Zeldwolffang: It would be hilarious, I agree.**

 **Oblivious Ninja IJ: A theme song for this story… I never really thought about it, but if you have any ideas I am all ears.**

 **Arctech: I love cliffhangers, one of my favorite things to do because that means that when the story updates again I know you would come back. It's a little trick of mine ;), and also I just enjoy doing things like that.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: I know what I said before, and I decided to follow a bit of your advice a few chapters back. When you said that this story is it's own little AU and that I don't have to follow what RT do, I may have taken the liberty as to create Tyrians semblance off of what I think could be possible, almost like what I did with Mercury and Marcus. I didn't think that Mercury wouldn't even have a semblance, so that was a fun thing to figure out, and imagine my forehead slap when I heard that Marcus' semblance was to steal other semblances. I've changed a lot from the main story, and most likely I am not going to stop there. When I do the other story of UHFTP, I do plan to follow the cannon, and stick to the cannon. Of course I am going to put a bit of my own charm and create some other things to go along with the in betweens. I will not however be making the same pairings, powers, personalities, etc. It's going to be its own separate story, and I intend for it to be different then this one. Thank you for your concern however, just know that I have a plan and I know what I am doing so far. To the other parts of your review, It made me giddy to write that scene with Rhea and Hector, Marcus met a tragic end and Mercury is conflicted with how he feels about it, The Winter Maiden really wrecked Hell's shit, but she was a little injured from her fight so keep that in mind. And I cannot confirm nor deny that claim. I do have a question for you though; How come you don't review my other stories? You've stuck with me for so long that I thought you would have reviewed or read them by now.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews! I really appreciated the input.**

* * *

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

 **Speaking of CrowSkull, I am going to be Beta-ing one of his stories, so go take a look at that please! I'd like to give him some more spotlight and I got like 312+ of you guys here to send his way.**

* * *

Chapter 57- Return

Shortly after Hector felt like he was completely back to normal, the link he felt between himself and Hell reduced in intensity. He could barely get Rhea off of his back during the tense waiting for him to sense the outcome of Hell's fight against the Winter Maiden. It was both a relief and worrying that Hell was still alive, he was very angry and instead of freezing he was now overheated. The Winter Maiden at the very least survived, which was great news. Now it was just the case of wondering what happened to Qrow, Winter and Mercury-

Rhea pulled at Hector's ear to get his attention placed back on her, she demanded to be allowed to piggy back ride on her stepfathers back. Taking full advantage of Hector's inability to say no to her for at least another few hours. Of course Yang and Ruby were taking pictures whenever they had the chance. Actually, Ruby was the one who was taking pictures, Yang was recording the entire thing, absolutely refusing and completely ignoring the knowing glares Hector managed to send her way as he was walking with both of his arms wrapped around Rhea's legs as she rested her chin on one of his shoulders.

"Yes Rhea?" Hector asked in a soft kind voice, opposite of the tone he wished to use against Yang for recording the entire spectacle.

"Why are we going back to that base? I thought you wanted to get to Vacuo as soon as possible in order to fight the other magic lady." 'Magic lady' was the code word the four of them decided to use in order to let the others know that they were talking about one of the maidens, in this case Rhea didn't need to confirm which one she was talking about, since everyone already knew that they were going to Vacuo to find the Summer Maiden.

"Because Rhea, Ruby wants all of us to say goodbye to the others, they have to go up there soon because of a shortness on capable fighters. Besides, we have plenty of time to get to Vacuo, there's no need to rush off to Shade just so you girls can watch me fight yet another magic lady." Hector explained as the small base appeared in his vision yet again.

"Nope," Ruby called him out on his expertly told lie that he would have gotten away with if she weren't around. "I just managed to convince him to at least visit at least one more time before we left, because he was doing the thing where he thought he had no time to do anything again. Since we have like a week to get to the magic lady it didn't make sense for us to just rush over there. Isn't that right Hex?"

"...Yes." Hector sighed. "In my defense, I did say bye to them already back at Atlas."

Yang made a 'Whapish' sound with her mouth, suggesting that Hector is being whipped into shape.

"Oh shut it Xiao Long, I don't need to hear that from you." Hector indignantly replied as a tick mark formed on his left eyebrow.

"Hey man, I'm not the one being bossed around by two girls half my size." Yang quipped with a giggle, which caused a chain effect to the other two girls who both began giggling as well, all to Hector's expense.

"You have no idea how hard it is to say no in my situation." Hector weakly defended himself.

"It's okay Hex, we still love you." Ruby said as she patted her hand against one of his forearms. "Now onward my healthy steed!"

Hector rolled his eyes but increased his pace anyway, it was funny in a way. Because Yang and Ruby both nearly broke into a jog because of the quick long strides Hector was able to make with his long legs. Rhea was enjoying herself during all of this of course, so much so in fact that Hector got distracted and nearly bumped into someone.

"Sorry- Ah there you are!" Hector exclaimed when a pair of mismatched pink and brown eyes looked up at him. Neo stood before him with an ice cream sandwich still in her mouth, and a bright gleam in her eyes as she recognized Hector and the others. Without uttering a word like she was known for, she gave the other ice cream sandwich to Rhea, who hopped off of Hector's back to enjoy it herself after giving her thanks.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a few hours." Hector asked with a raised eyebrow.

Neo patted her parasol and grinned madly ear to ear.

Hector's face fell. "Neo… please tell me you didn't kill anyone."

Neo nodded her head and gave him a thumbs up.

"So… you didn't kill anyone?" Yang asked. She still didn't know how to feel about Neo suddenly coming back, the little ice cream girl who decimated her a few years ago who was also a known criminal. Other then nearly being killed by her she had no reason to hold a grudge against her, as long as Neo didn't cause any trouble, then she wouldn't mind her working with them.

Neo nodded her head again, not even turning to look at her.

Hector sighed out of relief, to which Neo chuckled silently at.

"Don't scare me like that please, I have enough going on so I don't need to be constantly worried if you killed someone every time you do one of your disappearing acts." Hector scolded, to which he earned a pout because of him being what Neo would describe as mean.

"Oh please, that isn't going to work on me. Don't act like you've never done anything illegal before."

Neo shrugged her shoulders and fluttered her eyebrows innocently.

Hector rolled his eyes in response.

"How do you understand her?" Yang asked, mostly because she had no idea what was going on here.

"Oh I have no idea, I just sorta guess all the time and I just get lucky." Hector explained with a shrug. "I know some sign language, and I _know_ that Neo knows it too, she just decides to be annoying like this." That earned him a hard slap on the back of the head, everyone ignored the fact that Neo had to jump to do that.

"That's what you get Dad! Stop being mean to Auntie Neo!" Rhea exclaimed with a pout of her own, much to Neo's delight as she pretended to cower behind the wolf faunus.

"Auntie? Since when did Neo become my sister?" Hector asked.

"Ever since you adopted her like you do every other bad person you come across?" Ruby suggested, holding back her laughter.

"What? Since when do I adopt bad people?" Hector challenged with a confident smirk.

"Adam." They all answered at the same time, even Neo held up a sign which said Adam on it. Pulling it out of some pocket dimension and holding it out before her.

Hector's smirk faltered. "O-okay, but I had a good reason for that!"

"We know you did it because he had silver eyes, but what about her?" Ruby asked, gesturing to Neo.

"I… okay I don't really have a reason for that. I just couldn't see why I shouldn't let her come along, she just stared at me with those mismatched eyes and I couldn't resist it." Hector was forced to answer honestly. Neo pretend to swoon to show just how flattered she was, even letting a light shade of pink dust itself across her cheeks as she used Rhea for support to over exaggerate just how flustered she was.

"Okay so I adopt bad people sometimes!" Hector surrendered, throwing his hands up in the air out of his indignation. "What about Mercury? I don't remember ever adopting him myself."

"Well if you want to go there _we_ were the ones who had to deal with that one." Yang started. "But still, it's not like we forced _you_ to get along with him like you did."

"Yeah, I remember at Atlas you two were in a room together. You were giving advice to him about something." Ruby finished, giving him an all too satisfied look that told him that she knew what they talked about.

Hector's face paled, and his mouth hung open but when no words came out he shut it again.

Ruby smiled brightly at him, skipping up to him to kiss him on the cheek before grabbing on to one of his hands. "We're not making fun of you, I think it's really sweet that you are so willing to hand out second chances like you did."

"T-thanks." Hector stammered, gulping nervously as he tightened his hand around Ruby's smaller one.

"So does that mean I can keep calling Neo auntie?" Rhea asked, giving him the puppy eyes. Since she was a faunus of the canine variety, it made it all the more irresistible.

It become impossible to resist when Neo started doing the same thing beside her. Her mismatched eyes even changing colors to match Rheas as she brought upon the best pouty puppy eyed face that she had in her arsenal.

"I…" Hector sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sure, why not."

"Yay!" Rhea cheered, her usual good mood back into full swing as she and Neo jump and hug each other.

Yang made another whipping sound with her mouth. To which Hector nearly activated his semblance unconsciously in annoyance as he glared at her.

A few minutes of making fun of Hector's inability to say no later, Neo used her semblance to make a new outfit for herself and change her hair and eye color because of how close they were getting to the military base near the Bullhead transport center. All the jokes died down to a serious mood as even Ruby let go of Hector's hand when they noticed that the new headmistress of Beacon was absent, along with all of Team JBLN. It took Yang's scroll dinging as a message was sent to her to cheer up the mood again.

Apparently, the recently formed Team Javelin with their plus' being Nicholas and Adam have already made their way up to Beacon, as was said in the message. They went up there early along with the headmistress because the forces still at Beacon needed immediate reinforcements. No one needed to worry about them once they all read the message, at least not _too_ much. Team JBLN was basically all fully trained huntsman level at this point, and of course they had an actually fully trained huntsman along with Adam Taurus, who is better than most huntsman already on his own. If anything, they were only worried about if Adam's disguise would hold up.

"Damn, we must have just missed them." Hector said with a sigh through his nose.

"I mean… we _could_ go up there for a few minutes, and meet up with them that way." Ruby suggested, subtly egging Hector on to make an exception in the plan and head up to Beacon.

"Ruby, we talked about this." Hector said as he turned around to look at her, his blue eyes staring right into her silver as an apologetic look was expressed on his face. "It's not that I _wouldn't_ love to go up there and finish off the Grimm that were left behind after the fall. But you know we are short on time, and no this isn't one of 'my moments'." He added when Ruby made to protest. "The reason I can't go up there is because if I do, it's going to be too hard for me to turn away. I have memories that aren't mine of this place, not to mention the actual memories that I have of this place from when I was on Earth." He shut his eyes tight, thought about what he was doing and considered his options, but ultimately looped back around to the same conclusion. "If you want to stay, I won't stop you. Neither you Yang, with the powers you both have you could easily defeat the dragon. Especially if you use you silver eyed powers."

"That's not happening." Yang stepped up, eyes flaming for a split second before going fading away just as fast as it came. "Remember our talk?"She mouthed to him when Hector looked her way, when he understood what she wanted to say his eyes widened slightly and he nodded his head, and then snapped his eyes away from hers to glance down to the ground. "Yeah? Well that's why we're going with you to Vacuo, right Sis?"

"Yeah." Ruby affirmed, smiling gently.

"We don't know what is going to happen in Vacuo," Yang looked left and right, and then behind her to look for anyone who might have been listening in. "We don't know what _Salem_ is doing right now." She said next, her voice barely above that of a whisper as she leaned in closer to the group.

"I get it." Hector said in a worried tone, afraid that someone might have overheard them. "I'm glad that you feel that way, but you know I can take care of myself. I won't hold it against you if you want to stay-"

"Where you go, I go." Ruby proclaimed, stepping up closer to him. "I won't let myself let you go off on your own again, the last time that happened, and I am not saying it _would_ happen again, you lost an eye and… a lot of yourself. You are only just getting back to how you usually were before, and if I let my selfishness keep me here while you go off to fight the Summer- magic lady, and you get hurt again or God forbid _killed_ … I won't be able to forgive myself."

Hector couldn't stare into her eyes any longer after she said those words to him. She was right of course, he had a bad tendency to get himself hurt. Be it by an enemy or just to himself because of the Kaioken ability. She already expressed how worried she was after he woke up from his month long coma, and that lead to… well, a lot of confessions.

"Okay." Hector finally got a word out of his mouth, letting his cheeks cool down for just a few seconds before lifting his head up to look at the silver eyed warrior. "Together then."

"Together." Ruby affirmed with a single nod of her head.

Rhea sniffled in the background, and when the two lovebirds turned to see what the source of the sound was, they saw Rhea and Neo holding each other, each with a tissue in hand and with glassy watery eyes.

Neo even blew into her tissue for extra emphasis on how cute she thinks the sight before her is. Then throws said tissue to the ground behind her.

Hector managed to keep it together, more or less, but Ruby was not. She discovered her hidden talent once again to change her facial color to that of a strawberry. She drew her hood up and hid behind Hector's wide frame. Ignoring the laughing that constantly sounds out from Yang's mouth as she did so.

"Seriously, you guys hate it when we tease you but you just give us so much ammo to do it with!" Yang said as she wiped away a single tear out of her eye.

Hector refused to give her the satisfaction of a response and looked down and away from her. Ruby did the same but in the form and burying her face in his back.

The laughing broke when all of their scrolls dinged at the same time, and when Hector looked down to his new one. The message from the pilot was displayed over the screen.

' _I managed to get everything done early, whenever you're ready I can take you to Shade.'_ It read.

"Well…" Hector's eyes shone in the sunlight as he looked to his team. HRRY if he remembered correctly, though with Neo in the mix now he didn't know if the team name changed or not. But there was one thing he _did_ know at the moment.

"Time to get to work."

* * *

Adam Taurus used to be many things. A leader, ruthless, merciless, pragmatic, and downright deadly. Now he was no leader, he is no longer ruthless, he has shown himself to be merciful at many different points in his life after the events at Haven. The only thing that stayed the same about him was him being downright deadly. Which was why he found it strange that he was being intimidated by one such as Glynda Goodwitch.

She was the new headmistress, or so he's heard. But when she _demanded_ that he and the others in his group were to be sent to Beacon much earlier than expected, he just couldn't bring himself to say no.

He looked down at his clothes to make sure he was still in the disguise given to him by that little bitch Neo. Adam was admittedly worried that he would be stuck in this disguise for the entire duration of this mission, and then all the time afterward until he met up with Neo again to give him back his badass red and black getup that he spent a lot of time creating. Getting his hair as red as he got it took _hours_ of trial and error after all.

After checking his sword for the umpteenth time as he walked quickly to follow Team JBLN and Nicholas Arc, he sighed and confirmed that once again, it was in perfect condition. He was nervous, not because of fighting Grimm, he has done that for most of his life. But because he is expected to learn how to use his eyes quickly and slay a dragon.

Back then before he started walking on the path of redemption, there was only two things he was ever afraid of. Cinder Fall, and that terrifying dragon that took down most of Beacon itself. Now it was just the latter of the two that he was afraid of, it killed some of his men at the time by just collateral damage. He made an effort to avoid it which lead him to the cafeteria, the very one where he was confronted by Blake in.

A flash of memories ran through his head as he looked at that cafeteria, he killed many students during the fall, but he killed the most in there. Blake only saving that last one just in time. She tried to fight him, but he was toying with her the whole time, and then… then there was Yang, the blonde brawler. Screaming in rage as she lunged at him with a haymaker already charged up. He still remembered how easy it was for him to use his semblance to max power and cut through her aura, flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter. She didn't stand a chance.

"Politan." Jaune called out to him by his hopefully temporary nickname, making him realize that he actually stopped moving in order to recount what he did here. He snapped himself out of it with a shake of his head, not able to not notice that not so subtle glare coming from Blake from the corner of his eye. She must have remembered the very same event when they ran by.

"You alright?" Jaune asked him, to which he looked at him with his silver eyes.

"Yes, I'll be fine. I was just remembering something… unpleasant, that I did here." Adam said softly.

"That's one way to put it." Blake said with a huff.

"Guys," Jaune sighed. "Look, you two have sort this problem you have with yourselves _after_ we reinforce the front line."

"I agree." Ren nodded in agreement. "It is important that we do not fight amongst ourselves in this trying time."

"I don't need to do _anything_ with him." Blake hissed. "Let's just get to the line."

Jaune looked like he wanted to say more, but his father beat him to it. Grabbing Blake by one of her shoulders and shoving her toward Adam, who had the decency to actually catch Blake and let her push herself off of him. When she turned around to yell at the one who shoved her, the words died in her throat.

"I'm not going to let your personal problems get in the way of reclaiming this school, get your shit together, _both_ of you." Nicholas seethed. "You two will be fighting together, nothing brings people together like battle."

"You can't be serious." Blake managed to get out.

"Serious? Girl, do you really think I'm not serious right now?" Nicholas asked, glaring into her eyes with his ocean blue. His anger showing in the way he almost looked like he was baring his teeth. Blake shrunk under his gaze, unable to keep looking him in the eye as her faunus ears flattened against her scalp. "I won't let your petty bitching get in the way of my son's team and it's safety, catch up with us when you're actually willing to let this guy fight with us and not just doing it because we say it's the right thing to do."

"I can help." Adam protested, stepping up and challenging the older mans authority.

"I know you can." Nicholas agreed easily. "But it takes two to tango, and I haven't seen you try to make up with your old partner here besides a mere apology."

"But I-"

" _Actions_ speak louder than any words can." Nicholas cut him off. "I know how dangerous you are in a fight, I've heard a lot about you."

Adam looked down in shame, he was famous for all the wrong reasons, and he may never be able to change that.

"Which is why we are going to need your skills if we are going to be able to avenge those who fell here. Don't get me wrong here, we need you, but not as the conflicted man that you are now. We need the dangerous man that you once were, the very man who was able spread fear in the entire world who even heard the sound of his name." Nicholas stated as he backed up, leaving Adam to think on his words. "Make a choice, work together, and save the school, or keep bickering amongst yourselves and end up being the ones who failed to avenge the fall of Beacon."

With that, Nicholas turned himself around fully and walked through the stunned three other members of Team JBLN. Jaune, Ren and Nora looked between Nicholas and their other comrades, but when Nicholas called for them to follow they listened to his words. They didn't need to say it, but they supported the man's decision.

Adam clenched his fist tightly, his gloves wrinkling under the pressure. He felt an anger at being told off like that by a human, an anger he hasn't felt for a long time. But he was able to suppress it, fighting with anger is what got him what he got at Beacon. He wouldn't rely on his rage anymore. Adam worked so hard to bury the person he once was after Haven, and now he was being asked to dig him back up again?

Blake noticed his inner conflict, and as she looked at him she was reminded not of the young man she was terrified of ever since she left him. But she was reminded of the same man he used to be before, the one who was merciful, the one who didn't go out of his way to kill. He reminded her of the boy she fell in love with many years ago, the same one she wasn't able to keep in the light. In a way, she was responsible for how low Adam got, and there was a time where not a single day went by that she didn't blame herself for that.

"Blake." Adam called to her after about a minute of standing there with his back turned to her in silence.

Blake didn't respond, but Adam knew that she was listening.

"Do you hate me? Even now?" He asked her in a monotone voice.

Blake thought about it, hard. Did she hate him before? Absolutely, but _does_ she hate him as he was now? The man who is trying to redeem himself, who already got Yang's forgiveness, for as impossible as that might sound, especially since he was the one who took her arm, and caused countless nightmares.

"Before, I did. I hated what you became." Blake started, Adam made no motion whatsoever, but she knew he was listening. That was just how he showed it, if he weren't interested in hearing what she had to say, he would have just simply walked away from her without uttering any more words to her.

"But now… I really don't know what to feel about you. Adam, you do understand that you hurt a lot of people, some of those people were my friends. Then after Haven I believed that there was nothing that could be done to bring you back to the way you were before." Blake gulped and stepped closer to him, almost reaching toward him with her hand before she thought against it.

"I changed." Adam stated, it was a fact.

"Yes, you did." Blake agreed, she couldn't disagree with him. There were undisputed facts that supported his statement, even though she wanted to find every reason to still hate him, she couldn't just ignore them. "Very suddenly I might add, see it from my perspective. You-"

"I attacked Haven with the White Fang under my control, I murdered Sienna for power, I know what I did. I've already thought about your perspective Blake." Adam finally turned around to face her, his silver eyes staring into her gold. "To you, I went from being a monster who wanted to rid the world of everyone living human, to a man seeking redemption, a man willing to protect the weak, the very man who now has a human woman waiting for him."

That last part made Blake widen her eyes in shock, to think _Adam_ of all people would ever even _consider_ letting a human get so close to him was unbelievable. Would have been, if she didn't see it for her own eyes already. She saw that Claire woman kiss him, she just couldn't help but spy on him, just in case he was going to attack the human. That was how paranoid she was, and she realizes her own error. Finally.

"Adam." Blake said with a sorrowful laugh. "You really have changed have you? Back to the way you were before."

"... I'm trying, but yes, I'd like to believe that I have." Adam proclaimed, an actual smile appearing on his face. The kind of smile Blake thought she would have never seen on his face again.

Blake sighed, and held her head by it's temples with both of her hands as she actually considered trusting him for now. It bothered her, the uncomfortable urge to both hug and stab the young man before her. But she wasn't unfair, not even to him. As much as he might have deserved it…

"I'm willing to give you a chance now." Blake finally said, already sensing the happiness emanating from Adam. He was the one who unlocked her aura after all, they always had that link with each other, though it faded away with how their relationship died out, but since she no longer hated the man, the emotional link was making a return.

"If we save Beacon, and kill that dragon Grimm, then consider yourself completely forgiven." Blake offered.

"That is what I am here for anyway, so I'll take you up on that offer." Adam said with a smile.

Blake actually returned the smile for a few moment, before looking past Adam and toward the direction that the rest of her temporary team went. "We should get to the others, they are going to need our skills."

Adam gave her a knowing smirk as she walked by him.

"Is it time for the return of strike team Shadow Blades?"

Blake smirked to herself as the sound of her old team name that she and Adam had together. They used to be one of the best duo strike teams in the entire White Fang back in earlier days.

"Yes, I believe a return is acceptable."

* * *

The Summer Maiden sobered up rather quickly after a few more hours. Team SSSN had a harder time recovering, and Ilia has been burdened with the job of nursing the team of men back to health. She made a note to herself to never challenge the Summer Maiden to a drinking contest, and for that matter no other maidens in general just in case they also had a natural affinity for keeping their bellies full with alcohol as this one does.

"Wait… where are we going again?" Sun asked, using Neptune for support. The blue haired boy happens to be the most responsible one out of the four, mostly because he was actually able to keep his balance and didn't drink nearly as much as they all did.

"We're going back to Shade Sun." Neptune repeated for the third time.

"We were in Shade!? I thought we were in Mistral…"

"We were in Mistral like seven months ago dude…"

"Hah! Figures, the monkeys are always such lightweights." Natsuki said with a laugh as she lead the group. Walking through the sandstone streets of the city leading up to the academy.

"Yeah I actually agree with that now." Ilia muttered underneath her breath. "But why _are_ we going back to Shade? Didn't the headmaster ban you for a few days for flying in and breaking his computer?"

"Bah, that idiot is just jealous that I am going to replace him soon." Natsuki said with an imperious wave of her hand.

Ilia stopped walking, and so did the drunk Team SSSN. Just hearing the news itself was enough to make Sun completely forget that he was very hungover in the first place. Scarlet stood up straight and brushed his bang out of the way of his face, and Sage threw up to the side purely out of shock. The other people passing by didn't even regard the fact that there was a guy throwing up beside them and kept walking along like it was normal, and in there defence it probably was.

"Geez, keep looking at me like that and people are going to start talking." Natsuki teased as she saw the flabbergasted looks on their faces.

"Wait… you're going to be the future headmistress of Shade?" Ilia asked after blinking her eyes several times. "Why? I mean how? Since when were you a Huntress?"

"Chameleon girl, I graduated last year, why do you think I've been flying around the entire continent killing every Grimm I see?" Natsuki asked with an amused chuckle, leaning on one of her hips as she looked at her with her unusual reptilian eyes.

"... You told me that you just liked fighting and killing Grimm."

"Yeah well, you never asked me if I was a Huntress or not, and honestly that's your fault."

"That's not-" Ilia took a deep breath to calm herself before she did something she was going to deeply regret and make an enemy out of the most powerful woman on the planet. "Okay, so apparently you're going to be the future headmistress of Shade Academy, that's good to know now. So what are we going over there for now?"

"What do you think a fully trained Huntress who is also the Summer Maiden does in Shade?" Natsuki asked, leaning toward the chameleon faunus and showing her the nametag she has kept hidden in her breast pocket.

Ilia squinted her eyes as she read the nametag, it had her name on it obviously, but it also had something she would have _never_ expected to see coming from the Summer Maiden. She was a professor. The Summer Maiden who spent the last few days in a bar drinking with minors was apparently teaching kids.

"How!?" Ilia's voice screeched as it reached notes she didn't know her voice was capable of.

"What do you mean how? I got all the power in the world and skills up the ass, why wouldn't I be teaching kids how to survive out there in the world?" Natsuki asked, somewhat offended by the pure disbelief that was plastered all over Ilias face.

"Well… you did sorta spent the last few days drinking with a team of minors." Sun pointed out, and then hid behind Neptune when she glared at him with her flaming blue angry eyes.

"That is beside the point." Natsuki relented as she turned back around and kept walking. "Ever since Beacon fell, most of the kids wanted to keep going to school to get their Huntsman licenses. Nobody trusted Atlas after that video of their robots going haywire went viral, and now that Haven has no official headmaster at the moment, and classes have only just started getting back into the swing of things. That leaves us being their last resort. I decided to become a teacher because of two things, I want to bring this kingdom back into its glory days, and actually get this shithole of a city back in shape."

"Wow, that is actually an admirable goal." Ilia said with a small smile.

"Did you expect me to _not_ have a goal in mind?" Natsuki asked as she glared at Ilia, offended. "Seriously, just because I like an adrenaline rush every once in a while doesn't mean I am just a brainless idiot. I know my limits."

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Ilia apologized quickly. "It was just… unexpected, but what happens if you lose your upcoming fight? You'd have to go with Hector and join his war."

Natsuki laughed, and kept laughing for a good minute straight, and then all the way up until they were just about to enter the Academy itself. She stopped at the last step before the large wooden double doors, and looked back at Ilia, wiping away an amused tear from her eye as she looked at her.

"Chameleon girl, if he somehow manages to beat me, I'll get the whole damn kingdom to join in on that war of his." She declared as she pushed a fist over her chest where her heart is located, a sign of a promise being made.

* * *

 **[Important A/N]**

 **And there we go, end of this chapter. It was shorter than usual, around 6.3k words, but there is a good reason for that.**

 **Soon, I am going to be starting to work full time at my job. It is literally going to cut my writing time in half and I won't be able to write nearly as much as I am able too now. So chapters with these lengths, 6-7k words each is going to become the norm pretty soon. I am not going to stop writing, of course I am going to keep going. But four chapters a week, one for each story, is not going to be possible anymore pretty soon, I don't know exactly when this is going to happen, but I know it is going to happen soon. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up.**

 **When Summer comes around, I should be able to write a lot again, maybe get back to my fast af pace of four chapters a week like I've been doing the past few weeks. I just need the money right now, and it sucks but money is important right now, especially since I am paying for my own tuition and books for college.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think! If you want to follow the progress of all of my stories, you can keep up with me on my twitter account that I made just for you guys! My username is Genatools, and on there I also post drawings of the characters from my stories, so if you're interested to see what almost all of my OC's look like, go take a look there.**

 **If you wish to support me in a more direct way. I have also made a P atreon account, anything you could give would be very helpful for me.**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**


	58. RWBY: An Unlikely Hero Chapter 58

**Here we are again boys and girls! I will do my best to keep this story updated regularly but as you all know, full time jobs cut a lot of free time out of my life. I will do my best to keep up on this work for you guys, I have to at least finish this story, I have put way too much time and effort to not finish this story. This will have an ending, I will make sure of it. And hopefully by 2020.**

 **Oblivious Ninja IJ: You know, since Neo is now around I suppose Team HRRY can be changed to Team HNRRY, I'll give you that one. Team Javelin is a special case, Blake's initials are both B so I had to improvise. Qrow's team was already given the name of QWM, for Quantum. So that is where that has been left off for now.**

 **Arctech: Yeah, I realized that the Summer Maiden wasn't really doing much besides her flashy appearance. So I went in that direction. As for CrowSkull, I suppose you can say that about him, even though I personally view him as more of a good friend then a big brother, even though he is older than me. Starting out is always troublesome man, I mean, look at the beginning of this story. It took like 20-30 chapters before it got to where it was now. You'll get better with experience. Lastly, don't worry man, I have no intention to stop writing altogether. I'm just going to slow down a bit so I don't end up burning myself out with work and writing. You have my schedule for now, but I'm letting you know now that it is going to be changed.**

 **Zeldawolffang: I am sure you are not the only one, we shall see what the outcome is shortly!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: It's pretty sad that a fanfic writer such as myself was able to make someone care about Adam and not the actual writers of RWBY. But I thank you for saying that! Natsuki is going to be the** _ **next**_ **headmaster, she will be soon, but not right now. Whenever you cut down that Mountain, I will be looking forward to your next reviews on my other stories ;).**

 **Guest: UHFTP is a special project that will be following the cannon. I might keep the pairing alive, but it depends on what happens in the actual show itself.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Beta: CrowkSkull**

* * *

Chapter 58- From Shadows

Nicholas and his sons team made it to the front line rather quickly. They sprinted as fast as they could and ended up in one of the destroyed dorm buildings. The soldiers already there were tired and about to pass out from exhaustion, so seeing a team of Huntsman led by a well known and renowned huntsman such as Nicholas Arc was a welcome sight for them all to lay their eyes upon.

They pushed back the first wave quickly, and just on their own Nicholas, Jaune, Ren, and Nora were able to push the Grimm to the other side of the building near the exit. That was when they saw the dragon.

The dragon Grimm that was majorly responsible for the fall of such a great Huntsman Academy, was still in the exact same position it was in when Ruby first used the power of her silver eyes. But it was a much different sight this time. When they left the school for the first time, the dragon was completely petrified in stone. Now however, a little more than two years later, the black scales of the Grimm was beginning to show again, the stone flaking off like a reptile would it's unneeded skin. It's red eyes were open and blinking, but it's entire snout was still petrified in stone.

It was going to awake again soon, that much was obvious. The Huntsman and soldiers that have been fighting here for months upon months were losing more ground than they were gaining. Even if they made it to the dragon, they didn't have anything destructive enough to kill it, and with Ruby gone with Hector and their own team headed off to Vacuo, Adam was the _only_ way to slay the dragon for good.

Glynda had to assist a different front of the school, as did their team. Apparently there was fighting almost on every front at all times, nearly all night as well. She warned them that the Grimm would not stop coming, and that they shouldn't spend too much time fighting at a time lest they burn themselves out early.

Nicholas Arc lead the charge on his front, his son beside them and their golden auras which were once white flared as they used their near perfect fighting genes take over. Jaune, and his father fought together as did Ren and Nora. The latters synergy were even better than the formers.

Ren found out a way to use his semblance in a battle against Grimm as well. Instead of using his semblance only to his or other's negativity, he is using it every time he slays a Grimm, using his invisibility to his advantage to sneak attack every single Grimm that turns his back to him.

Nora on the other hand, was having a blast standing on one of the wrecked fountains statues and firing off grenades out of her grenade launcher every second or two. Cackling maniacally as groups of Grimm are blown to pieces all around her.

So far they were doing good, the Grimm were of little to them as they were now. But there was still one major problem. For every ten Grimm they killed, another twenty were spawned and made it their way. They were all very strong in their own right, and could fight for hours with little breaks in between thanks to Jaune's semblance and his massive reserves of aura. Not to mention Nicholas' own semblance which was able to drain the life out of the Grimm he grabbed and add the energy to his own aura reserves, the only downside being that he needed a few seconds to use it properly and was lucky to just get a few seconds to breathe at a time. But still, they could only hold off for so long, eventually the Grimm were going to start pushing them back, and they already were.

Jaune hacked and slashed until the black blood on Crocea Mors was covering every speck of the silver of his blade. He has come a long way since initiation, going from barely able to defeat a single Beowolf to slaying entire packs of them with little issue. But his stamina and aura reserves could only get him so far, and his body very quickly was getting drained of every drop of stamina that he had left. Using his semblance constantly to give the others some of his aura was not helping anything either.

Soon enough, after a few minutes which to them felt like hours, they were pushed back to the dorm building. Other Huntsman came by to help, having enough of their break when they realized that they weren't going to hold out on their own much longer. The soldiers were low on ammo and were resorting to using their handguns and whatever hand-thrown explosives they had on hand at the time, but it did little to stray the sea of black constantly flowing toward them with no indication of it even coming close to a stop.

"Shit!" Nicholas cursed as an Ursa slashed at his arm, taking away a significant chunk of his aura and driving him back further.

Jaune shoulder tackled the Grimm before it could attack his father any more, and drove his sword up it's chest and out the back of it's neck and let it slide off of his sword with a sickening crunch.

"Good save, we'll make a Hunter out of you yet." Nicholas said with a nod as he reached into his pocket and quickly threw a throwing knife faster than a bullet can travel right past Jaune's head. Killing the Beowold just as it tried to pounce on him. "Keep your wits about you at all times." He scolded playfully as he flourished his sword and stepped past his son.

Jaune sagged his shoulders in defeat, just as he was about to repeat a cool one liner he had heard from a Spruce Willis movie right as he saved his dad, he had to go and one-up him completely. Jaune never gets his cool moment.

Another knife zoomed past him, making him jump slightly as it stabs into the eye of another Beowolf which was just about to pounce on him _again_.

"Pay attention!" His father shouted to him, bringing him back into the reality of this battle.

Ren was out of ammo in his submachine guns, and he couldn't find the time to reload. His trick with his semblance could only last as long as he had aura to fuel it. After regrouping with Nora he was right back to fighting the old fashioned way, the only way to fight a Grimm. Kill it before it killed you.

"Make sure you protect those jewels Renny!" Nora sung as she shifted her grenade launcher back into its warhammer form.

"Nora, now is not the time for such jokes." Ren berated as he slashed away at another Creep.

"Come on Renny," Nora said as she slammed down her hammer on top of the Creep he had just slashed across the chest, crushing it and smashing it against the ground. Killing it instantly. "Live a little! We could literally die at any second you know~"

"If that happens you won't be able to get any more pancakes." Ren paused as he thought of a way to motivate his childhood friend turned girlfriend. "Or any… Nookie." It took a lot of inner strength for Ren to say that word, but Nora would just not refer to sex in any other way. And if pancakes was enough for Nora to cause trouble over…

"NO!" Nora screamed as she slammed her hammer back into the ground with great strength, completely destroying the hand of a Beowolf which had the misfortune to lay it's hand there at that very moment. "Nothing shall deny my my nookie with my Rookie cookie, NOTHING!" She yelled as she brought the sharp end of her hammer up and stabbed it through the bottom of the Beowolf's head, killing it instantly.

Ren rolled his eyes as he watched his girlfriend go crazy on the remaining Grimm around them. Yelling everything she could about nookie and his signature pancakes. That was the love of his life right there he thought to himself. He smirked as he followed his battle maiden into battle, they wouldn't fall here, not after everything they have been through. Even though they were gradually being forced back closer, and closer to the walls of one of the old rundown dorm buildings.

Soon, their battle for reduced to a test of survival, practically pressing up against each other shoulder to shoulder as they swing their weapons with more ferocity than skill with every passing second.

That was until a hailstorm of bullets descended upon a majority of the Grimm, killing and injuring several and creating an opening for two figures to land in the middle of the chaos. One black, and the other pink and brown. The rest of Team JBLN and Nicholas all sighed out of relief as Adam and Blake stood beside each other, the hilt Adam's neon pink disguised sword in hand and machine pistol in the other, Blake's on both blades of Gambol Shroud.

"About time you two stopped being pansies." Nicholas quipped as he wiped sweat from his brow.

Adam replied by unsheathing his sword, narrowing his silver eyes toward the Grimm, and using his semblance to create three other shadows of himself. Black and neon pink shadows slashing at three different directions with three different kinds of slash attacks. Before all of them retract back into Adam as he follows it through with his own fourth attack, killing the sixth Grimm by cutting its head off.

He smirked and leaned over to allow Blake to vault off of his back, firing her gun off with one hand right as she landed into a roll and stabbed an Ursa in the chest, and dragged the blade up it's cavity and spilt out the organs from within, pulling back before any can get on her. Next she used her own semblance to dodge a Creep and left behind an explosive clone.

When the explosion was set off Adam pulled her back to get her out of the way of a charging Alpha Beowolf and behind him, stabbing his sword forward three times in quick succession and killing the creature easily as it still stands. It's heavy body falling down beside him as Adam sheaths his sword dramatically as the beast falls forward with a dull heavy thud.

The other Grimm around him stared into his soul, which was unfortunately for them straight into his eyes. As soon as eye contact was made they froze on the spot, sensing incredible danger and a few of the younger ones even whimpered out of fear as the silver eyed warrior stood before them, hand on the hilt of his sword as he prepared to slash at them with his Moonslice semblance.

The pink of his hair which would normally glow red glows a neon pink, along with some details on his clothing. He smirks as he places his hand on the hilt of his sword, sliding it out of its sheath just barely enough to show it's glowing color. In a blink of an eye, right as the first Grimm finally decided to face it's fear and attack him. Adam attacks.

His semblance tears through the Grimm with little to no issue. A clean cut right through the torso of the attacking Beowolf, slicing it in two. The other Grimm ahead of him in an almost one hundred and eighty degree angle have also all been sliced. Some in two and others losing a limb. During this Adam's silver eyes flickered white for just a split second as he thinks about protecting the others rather than doing this for self satisfaction like he was doing for many years prior.

Nora cheered for him and clapped her hands as he sheathed his sword with a click right as the Grimm he's slain fell to the ground. It was enough to make him chuckle as he stared challenging at the endless tide of Grimm, all of them scared of his silver eyes.

"Why was he left behind for?" One of the other Huntsman asked as he pointed at him. "That guy is badass!"

"I have to agree… though he could use a color change." A woman's voice said as she stepped past that Huntsman, her brown hair with a yellow highlight blowing in the air behind her as she walked forward with three other Huntsman behind her. Two men and one woman with unmistakable bunny ears which stretch a foot above her head.

"I think I've spent enough time reloading, what do you guys think?" The leader of the team smirked as she adjusted her sunglasses so that she could see over them with her chocolate brown eyes.

"Oh. My. GOD!" Nora screamed as soon as she recognized them. "I've missed you guys _so_ much!"

Jaune looked over and widened his eyes with a pleasant surprise as he met her eyes, smiling brightly as he waved over to time. Right before switching back into battle mode as he cut down a Creep just as it was about to attack him from behind.

"Looks like someone's not the worst in the school anymore." Coco Adel said with a wink as she transformed her handbag into it's minigun form, only with a few tweaks added to it this time. "Come on kids, let the adults handle this one for you."

"Coco… we're not that much older then they are." Velvet Scarlatina said with a roll of her eyes.

"Only by two years." Yatsuhashi helpfully added.

"Psh, we're in our twenties now! I am like _eighty_ percent sure that these guys are not up there yet in the years." Coco waved off with one of her hands.

Fox didn't say anything, he could have, but he could honestly use that breath that would be spent for something more important. Such as fueling his body so that he could fight against the Grimm before him.

And now that no one was talking back to her, Coco aimed her minigun toward the gaggle of Grimm surrounding the pink stranger. Thinking that they are about to attack him. "Oi, Pinkie! Get out of the way will ya?"

"Huh?" Adam hummed in confusion as he looked back at her from the corner of his eye. He thought that he might have seen her before, and probably did given the fact that she was once a student of Beacon. But he just couldn't place his finger on it. During his distraction, Blake threw her ribbon around Adam's body, and tugged on it hard. Pulling Adam off of his feet and toward her, making her feet skid against the ground as she caught him.

She nodded to Coco to let her know that there was no risk of friendly fire now that Adam was now of the way, earning herself a smirk in response. She revved up her weapon, the revolving barrels of the large weapon spinning loudly as it starts to fire not just regular bullets, but _explosive_ dust rounds. Her arms vibrated with every bullet fired and she waved the weapon in wide arcs as to cut down the must Grimm she possible could. Fox stood next to her with the crate of bullets and watched with a blank expression as the belt very quickly was pulled out of the box and right into the receiver and firing mechanism of each barrel.

The return of Team CFVY bought them all enough time to pull back into the building. Adam scampering up to his feet as Blake started pulling him along by her ribbon, not getting any time to untie it, and acting as if he was on a leash. Nicholas grabbed his son by his forearm and started pulling him back as well, Nora carried Ren bridal style and in just a few precious seconds everyone was back in the safety of the dorm building that they once lived in.

They might have lost the battle outside of the building, but they won the battle on the inside. While Jaune, Nicholas, and their team headed off outside to fight off the Grimm. Adam and Blake were already caught up and cleared out the Grimm on the inside of the building. Given Adam's immense strength, the task was done quick and easily, giving them both the opportunity and opening to go and help out their friends.

As soon as the main entrance doors were closed off and barricaded again. Team CFVY turned to the present members of Team JNPR, and Blake, than quickly enveloping them all in one big hug.

"Ooooh! I missed you kids so much!" Coco cried as she hugged the closest person to her, which was Jaune. He chuckled as he hugged her back, resting his chin on the top of her head and happily taking the moment to relax.

"I knew you had the arms for a big ol' hug like this!" Nora cheered as she initiated the hug on Yatsuhashi, surprising the large man and 'coaxing' him to hug her back by squeezing her grip around him just a little tighter. Enough so that he didn't have any other option but to hug her back.

Velvet and Ren were pretty much the only ones who actually had the most polite hug. Wrapping their arms around each other momentarily before breaking apart. A nod being shared between the two as they met each others eyes.

Fox looked to Blake, they both considered their options, and while sharing no words between each other, shook the other's hand politely. They were content with that until Coco came up behind Fox and Nora behind Blake and pushed them together, forcing them to hug each other.

"Coco… please don't do that again." Fox pleaded as he broke apart from Blake.

"Nope! I'm trying to get you to be more social." Coco said with a triumphant grin.

"Oh my God you two!?" Nora asked with wide eyes. "I'm trying to get Blake to break out of her shell too!"

"No, you haven't." Blake corrected, and was ignored outright.

"Hah, I knew I wasn't the only one out there with a job as impossible as ours." Coco wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. "It just sucks that they don't seem to appreciate our efforts at all."

Nora joined her in their fake crying session. "I understand that on a _spiritual_ level my sister."

Coco and Nora stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds after, barely stifling their laughter until finally Nora was the one to break. They laughed like that for a good couple of seconds as Coco backed up, getting a better look at the Jaune, Ren, Nora, Blake, and the disguised Adam she has still yet to acknowledge yet.

"It's good to see you kids again, never thought I'd miss you as much as I did." Coco said with a much more serious and emotional tone. "Glad to see you all again, what have you been up to in the past two years after the fall?"

"Oh gosh, well, where do we even start?" Jaune asked, his mind racing with every single event that has happened since he and his team first started traveling with Ruby. There was so much to tell that he didn't even know when to begin.

"Ooo! I can answer that!" Nora said as she cleared her throat. "First we went with Ruby to Mistral you might know her as the leader of Team RWBY but now she is like the most badass girl ever and then we fought this really crazy scorpion guy and he almost killed her uncle but we got away in time then we came up on our old village killed an old Grimm and moved on after that nothing much really happened and we made it to Mistral! Then this guy named Hector showed up with Ozpin's-" She was cut off when Ren slapped a hand against her mouth, silencing her before she could spill anything else that may pose a danger for the other team to know.

"We've been doing a lot ever since the fall…" He conveniently left out the part where they have been saving the world. "Let's just say that we are aligned with the hero of multiple kingdoms." Ren explained in a much more simple fashion.

"Ah, that guy I heard about on the news? He did a lot to save Atlas, or so I've heard. But I do know about what he did at Haven, where has that guy been all this time?" Coco asked no one in particular. "No, don't answer that. How about you Pinkie?" She sauntered up to Adam, who was trying to stay out of the conversation this whole time. Yet now he has been unceremoniously dragged into a conversation he would much rather not be a part of at this current moment. He doesn't know what Neo's semblance is going to wear off on him after all. "What's your story? Can't say I've seen any eyes like yours since Ruby, you related to her or something?"

"I…" Adam hesitated, not really knowing how to respond to that.

"Yes." Blake answered for him, latching onto the idea immediately before Coco could brush it off as something ridiculous. "He is Ruby's cousin… Pollitan Rose."

Adam looked at her with wide eyes, but when Jaune, Nora and Ren made wild gestures from behind Team CFVY telling him to just go with it. He sighed and nodded his head in confirmation.

"My little cousin has been getting herself into a lot of trouble lately." He said, forcing his voice to sound higher than it really is just in case his voice was recognized. "I couldn't just let her carry the weight of the world on her shoulders alone, so while she goes on a mission with the other half of our group, I came here with the promise to her that I will avenge Beacon before the time she gets back." Adam completely made all of that up, but the understanding and actual adoring looks he was getting from Coco told him that it somehow worked. Somehow.

"Awe~! You must care a lot about her huh?" She asked, expecting him to respond.

Jaune, Ren, Nora and Blake once again nodded their heads and gave him a thumbs up. Nicholas even joined in on their antics, all gesturing for him to say yes, and keep going along with the improvised lie they had just thought up out of nowhere.

"Yes… I do." Adam said with a forced grin only a Rose could have on their face. It didn't nearly as kind as Ruby's would, but it was close.

"Well then, looks like you're up to a good start already." Coco said as she nudged him with her elbow and winked at him from over her sunglasses. "We've been doing our best to save this place for the past two years since the fall, making hardly any progress. Then you come in and all of the sudden we take back a building we've been trying to take for the past few months. Keep that up and we'll save this place in no time!"

"I hope so." Adam said with a genuine smile on his face this time. Not saying anything else, he happily let the others take control of the conversation again, sneaking away when Nora tried to continue the entire story of everything that has happened to them in the past two years. Not getting any farther then what happened at Haven from what he hears.

He didn't move too far away from them, entering one of the dorm rooms that is so ruined it might as well just be a storage closet now. Despite already having cleared out the Grimm in that building, there was still a paranoid side to him that made him stay on guard the entire time. He stepped into the bathroom of that dorm room, and looked at himself in the mirror.

He almost choked on air when he saw his red hair and usual clothing in his reflection, but when he looked down at his sword it was still pink, and his gloves were still brown. He looked back up to the reflection and looked at himself after making sure no one was going to walk in on him. It would be an embarrassing story to tell if Adam got recognized on the first day of the mission to reclaim Beacon because some random person just walked in on him looking at himself in the mirror.

Luckily, that didn't happen. So far, everything was going well. He slayed Grimm, protected people, both faunus _and_ human. Something he would not even have thought about doing in the past. He doesn't know how this change came onto him so quickly, but now that it has taken place. He can't imagine doing those terrible things he did before anymore. He can still kill, but only if he has too, and right now he was too busy just thinking about protecting others. Feeling a warm sensation behind his eyes that he passes off as the adrenaline draining away from his body finally as he relaxed.

He thought on the promise he made Ruby. He had a one on one chat with her before at Haven not too long ago. She was surprisingly very kind to him, and very friendly. Like he wasn't the former supreme leader of the White Fang beforehand. They talked about their eyes, and what it can do. Ruby passed on the information that Mercury gave to her while they were still traveling to Atlas.

Emotions… at least, the happy ones were not exactly easy for Adam to come by. For as long as he could remember, he was born into the White Fang. Taught to fight and kill at a young age. There was a light in him for most of his life, and especially when he first met Blake, but it flickered away every time he took a human life. Until finally he fell over the edge when Blake abandoned him on their mission with that train. Later, he became one of the main reasons that Beacon fell in the first place. One of his biggest regrets in life was that he was scared into following Cinder and whatever her plans were.

It was interesting to hear about the powers that his eyes could hold, it could petrify Grimm, burn them to ash, and even damage people if the light was on bright enough. She tried to give him some tips on how to use it, the power being mostly emotional and coming with the desire and intent to protect those that you care about. She was no expert on it, but she was the best teacher that he could possibly ask for at the moment.

He asked Ruby why she wasn't angry with him for doing those evil things, for cutting off her sisters arm and maiming her. There were so many reasons for her to hate him, and yet she didn't. Of course the answer he got was naive and idealistic.

" _I believe that there is a light in everyone, you always had a light in you. It just took a while for it to turn on all the way y'know? But since that light is on now and back in control, all those bad things that you did can be forgiven. All there is left is for you to forgive yourself."_

Those words haunted him for a long time after that, he wasn't able to think of anything else for the longest time. But at that moment, he didn't verbally state it to her, but he made a promise to reclaim Beacon whenever he could. Conveniently, Hector gave him the task of taking back to school soon after that.

He would only be able to completely forgive himself once Beacon is reclaimed, he can't do anything for the people that he has killed, nor the lives that he has ruined. But if he can just save the school… it may be enough to make him actually feel like he has been redeemed.

* * *

Salem's throne room was deathly quiet, even more so than it usually was save for the passing sounds of Grimm moving past the castle. She was in different clothing this time, no longer in the dark black dress she was usually wearing. Instead it looked like she was in ancient armour as black as the skin of a Grimm, her hair was still tied up as it usually was, but it was noticeably shorter than before. She looked battle ready.

As time was going by once Hell left to go on his mission to find the Winter Maiden and retrieve the Relic of Creation by any means necessary, she has been spawning hundreds upon thousands of Grimm, and adding her own special traits to them as she wished. Such as wings to Beringels, sharper teeth and claws for Beowolves, and thicker and more durable armour for Ursai. The Nevermore she created herself were also upgraded in their own ways, white bone armour plating wrapping around their heads and edges of their wings. They almost looked like Wyverns, but were still very weak in comparison.

That was a plan to reveal later, or so Salem thought to herself. Her red and black eyes wearing glaring into Tyrian's prostrated form, Hazel's barely alive body was handed off to Watts so that he could save his life. He only just barely did, and now Hazel was in a coma.

"Marcus Black is dead." Salem repeated the words spoken to her, Tyrian twitched and spasmed under her gaze, his even more damaged mind not able fully comprehend the disappointment Salem has for him. "Hazel almost lost his own life, and you Tyrian… are on the brink of completely losing your mind. What other news do you have for me?" She asked, her voice dark and monotone. Her simmering anger clear in each and every word she spoke.

"H-Hell i-is uh… still pursuing t-t-the W-W-W-inter-"

"Calm yourself!" Salem demanded, slamming her fist into the armrest of her throne, destroying that side of her throne completely as she pushed herself up to her feet and threatened to kill Tyrian on the spot with her magic. Red balls of flaming magic were already in her hands as she awaited Tyrian to stop hyperventilating.

"Hell is still going after the Winter Maiden… I wasn't able to stop him." Tyrian finally spoke up, cowering in fear and apologizing to his Goddess straight after. Prostrating himself before her and begging for her forgiveness.

"Oh Tyrian…" Salem said with no real emotion as she went down on one knee, softly stroking the faunus' hair as he cried into the floor. "As if you had the power to make Hell do anything."

Salem stood back up and sighed, fixing her chair with magic and sitting back inside of it. Thinking about what to do with her most powerful creation. She did warn him that if he let his newborn desires rise above hers, that she would make sure personally that they became lost to him. He can't say that she didn't warn him. She specifically stated that if he couldn't defeat the Maiden to retreat immediately, and come back to come with her to Vacuo to hunt down the Summer Maiden there.

She can't say that she didn't expect that outburst of desire from Hell, she sensed his rising power as she could Hector Rivers. They were biologically identical after all, just one of them was much easier to control then the other.

"I will deal with Hell personally when he returns, and he will." Her red eyes flashed. "He always will."

"But of course my queen!" Tyrian exclaimed with a cackle. "He has _your_ magic within him, as long as he lives he will always be drawn to you! As will that Rivers fool."

She snapped her fingers, silencing him. "That reminds me, Ozpin hasn't been very active within his mind as of late." Salem pointed out. "While that is very lifting to know, it is also concerning."

"Why is that my Goddess?" Tyrian asked from his position on the floor.

"Now Tyrian… I won't be sharing everything I know." Salem said with a threatening look, silencing the faunus instantly. "All you need to know is that I will be departing to Vacuo soon. As for you…"

Tyrian preened happily.

"You will do nothing." Her words were sharper than any weapon that managed to hurt his body, he hung his head in shame as she continued. "You have done enough Tyrian, and failure after failure is not befitting of you." She rose one hand, and developed Tyrian in a black and red magic coating, restricting his movement completely. He didn't even try to struggle. "You will do nothing but train. You will train until you are strong enough to defeat our opponents. If my memory is correct, one of your stronger clones lost against that silver eyed warrior, Ruby Rose. You were able to defeat her and all of her allies once all on your own. You need to become that dangerous again… or else you will become useless to me."

"I will train my Queen!" Tyrian cried, even as the magic keeping him paralyzed in place caused him pain to his entire body. "As much as I can, I will become the peak of what I am capable of. I _will_ become a threat again, if I fail again… please end my life." He begged, staring at her with wide yellow eyes as his purple aura flickered on and off again to protect him from harm, but to no avail.

"Hmph, see to it that it is done." Salem said as she released him, a smile now on her face.

"Yes my Queen… if you would allow me to know… when exactly will you be on your way to the Summer Maiden?" Tyrian asked just before he left the room, letting his curiosity get the better of his weak mind.

Salem answered by raising one of her hands, her eyes glowing a bright red color. Every window in the throne room was blocked out by shadows. Every single one of those shadows belonging to a Grimm, listening to her every command. She as well stood up once more, satisfied with herself and the army she has spawned. Tyrian smiled at the sight, worshipped it. Found it beautiful.

"In one weeks time, the Summer Maiden, and the Relic of Destruction shall be mine… as will Hector Rivers."

* * *

Hector, Neo, Ruby, Yang, and Rhea all departed from Vale shortly after he got the message from the pilot. Before they left they gave the kingdom one last look of goodbye. They will return of course, and hopefully they will be returning to Beacon Academy, newly reformed, and once again active. Adam was left to make that happen, his final test to see if he could be trusted completely, even though he's already earned the trust of a few.

Rhea was being more active now, finally getting past the harrowing revelations of her parents. It only made Hector feel guilty about the fate of her mother, one day, he is going to have to break the news to her, and he doesn't know if she will be able to still call him her father afterwards. He made a promise to himself to tell her once the situation with the Summer Maiden is dealt with and finished.

Now with a lot more room in the Bullhead, Team HRRY, or HNRRY now since Neo was around, were able to stretch their legs a little farther. Hector has been mentally training in his mind with the help of Knolly, with Ozpin absent, the magical being of Knowledge acting in place of the former headmaster. He has been training like this for a few hours already, and thankfully he has been left alone while doing it. He needs all the training he can get if he was going to defeat the Summer Maiden without having to use his very soul as a weapon like he did against Hell.

It was idealistic to even think that he could get that strong that fast, but with his genetics and with the combat muscle memory of Ozpin still within him. It gives him an advantage in learning.

He fought in the empty white space of his mind that he used to visit all the time back in his days when he first woke up in this world. The one where Ozpin himself trained him in, they spent countless amounts of hours there. There used to be a point where Ozpin would even train him as their body slept. He needed to catch up quickly after all for the upcoming battle of Haven, only having a few months to do so.

Even after what Ozpin did, he couldn't help but miss him. He was like another father to him in this world, always there for him and offer him advice. He trusted him, even as he lost that trust over time ever since he became the owner of the Relic of Knowledge. He still missed him, if only he just wasn't so-

Hector cut his own thoughts off as the desk of Ozpin appeared in the empty white space. Something that only happened when the other soul occupying his body was there with him. Even on the outside world the others were able to see the shocked look on his face.

Professor Ozpin sat in his chair before him, both of his hands resting on top of each other as he looked Hector in the eyes. His brown eyes very visible to him.

" _Hello Mister Rivers."_ The former headmaster greeted him, a small smile on his face.

Hector tried to greet him back, but he couldn't. He couldn't trust him that easily anymore. He simply narrowed his eyes at the man and solidified his stance, ready to fight if need be.

" _Still with the blue eyes I see… it strangely suits you."_ He offhandedly complimented.

Ozpin gestured to the seat in front of his spectral desk after a few moments of awkward tense silence. Hector kept his eyes narrowed and was ready to fight at any moment. Physical threats he could deal with, inside mental threats were much harder to fight off and needed every drop of concentration.

" _We have much to discuss Mister Rivers… I understand why you don't trust me anymore, and why you probably won't ever trust me again once you were given the visions of my past. But I assure you, we are no longer enemies, for we have a common goal."_ He leaned back in his chair. " _Please, sit."_

Hector thought long and hard about it. He considered mentally asking Jinn about what he should do, but stopped himself. Ozpin would know what he was doing, he always did.

Hector sighed, and relaxed his stance.

"This better not be another one of your tricks… Ozma."

* * *

 **Oof, isn't that a rough cliffhanger to leave off at? Yeah, I know, I suck. This chapter was a lot of set up. Adam and friends doing their thing at Beacon, Team CFVY returning, Salem foreshadowing some things, Ozpin returning suddenly. Yeah, I did a lot this chapter now that I think about it.**

 **I was thinking about drawing Marcus Black from this story, he was played a pretty big part in the development of Mercury, and was a good villain in the story before his tragic passing. If I do end up going with it, you guys can see the finished drawing on my twitter account meant just for Fanfiction stuff. Username is the same as my profile name. Go wild and enjoy all the other drawings of characters from all of my stories. I even drew a Spring Maiden Yang, that is my best one by far.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story!**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**


	59. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 59

**Here we go again guys! Lets see if I can finish this chapter quickly. This might not be a very long chapter, possibly 6-7k words it just depends on how much I decide to get through. As I have said before, I started working full time so the time I had for writing has been cut in half. I have managed to keep up so far, but soon the updates are going to start slowing down. Expect slower updates for all of my stories. It should start picking up again around May or June.**

* * *

 **Oblivious Ninja IJ: Yes you did, you are the reason for the birth of the new name of Team HNRRY. Thank you Neo for fixing that, now I'll see you on the next chapter of Unlikely Hero!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: One day, I was thinking about writing a story revolving around Adam as the main character, one besides the other one for this story I was thinking about writing. One of these days if I can, I might try to go for a role reversal between Adam and Blake. For the dragon in Vale, I went off the same thing that happened in Vol 6, when Ruby froze the leviathan with her eyes it didn't die, just part of its body froze into stone but it was still alive. Maria in her flashback used her eyes on the Nevermore and it died instantly. I think it depends on the size of the Grimm for how dangerous silver eyes actually are. Dragon, almost kills it, Leviathan is the same thing, but when it comes to smaller Grimm like the Apathy for example, it just one shots them. The goal for Adam here is to destroy the dragon itself, and we'll just have to wait and see what happens with that. I admit, I did chuckle a good amount when I wrote that Nora line. Lastly, that thing you mentioned about Ozpin will be answered further down below.**

 **Arctech: Let me know what you post that story! I'll happily read it and post a review of my own for you. Keep in mind that I am not the best reviewer out there, but for one of my fans I will do only my best. As for that first thing, you would be right mostly.**

 **Guest: I can confirm now for you that is not going to happen, sorry if that disappoints you.**

 **Boltrcrontic: Thank you for saying that! It means a lot to me, I hope you keep enjoying my stories!**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Quickly one more thing. I know that Vol 6 revealed a lot of stuff, and I have adapted some of that stuff into this story. But as you can see from the past 40 something chapters, I am WAY out of the cannon. So Ozpin and Salems backstories are going to be different, maybe even more fairy tale like. Yes, Ozpin's old name is still Ozma, like I said, some things will stay the same, while others will be vastly different.**

* * *

Chapter 59- Fairy Tales

Hector begrudgingly took his seat just as he was told to. Keeping his blue eyes locked onto Ozpin's as his bottom hit the cushion. He made it clear that he was not quite trusting him again so easily. Keeping his fists clenched, and his eyes locked onto his movements. If Ozpin was so much as stand up too fast, Hector would immediately back out of their mind, and back into reality. If they were to fight within this state of void, their powers would be near limitless because in their minds, they could make reality as they so please. It was a place of vast imagination. It was fun to mess around in there from time to time, and of course it couldn't be replicated in real life.

Ozpin adjusted his hands absentmindedly, but once he noticed Hector tensing up, he sighed softly, and kept them in place. Not moving a single muscle in either of them. They stayed like this for what felt like hours, and in truth it actually might have been perceived that way for them. While on the outside it has only been a couple of minutes. After the next few moments, Hector began to relax just a tiny amount, getting into a more comfortable position in the chair he was sitting in.

"I see that you have all been quite busy," Ozpin finally started, his mouth set into a natural smirk as he watched Hector perk up at the sound of his voice. "The plan you came up with is sound, and the backup ones that you have not yet shared with you friends are also admirable. It seems like you have inherited my intelligence and wisdom, even though you are so young."

"I had too," Hector almost spat. "The person I shared a body with went out of line, and decided to hide himself away from me for quite some time. You can imagine the stress I felt when I realized that now everyone was relying on me, and the intelligence I didn't fully possess at the time."

"Your manner of speech has also become more formal, as if you are older than you actually are." Ozpin pointed out, amused by his small observation.

"Yeah, I wonder why that's a thing." Hector rolled his eyes. "Asshole." He muttered underneath his breath.

"You relaliated in a way that was almost unforgivable for me Mister Rivers." Ozpin said, his smirk disappearing, and was replaced my a thin line that represented his anger and hatred for such a decision that had to be made.

"You think that was an easy decision for me to make?" Hector snarled. "I trusted you Ozma, I kept quiet when you blatantly lied to my friends, I even lied to them a few times myself just to cover for you. When you tried to force our souls to merge, which you _knew_ could have very well killed me, I had _no one_ else to go too. You forced my hand Ozma, at least Salem was willing to help me instead of working against me at the time."

Ozpin let him rant more, and more, letting him curse and vent out his frustrations against him. Most of it was true, some of it was his younger age coming out with some irrational, and irrelevant points. But the truths were what made Ozpin feel guilty. As much as an immortal man who has lived for centuries could possibly feel, but his guilt was still there. Hector did bend over backwards for him a lot of times, and he could count on one hand how many times he did the same thing for his vessel- no… his friend. He would be lying to himself if he stated that Hector was anything less.

"I understand your anger, and your hatred for me. On that day I was… out of line. I shouldn't have tried to do something so cruel to you. Especially when you didn't deserve it. For that, I am truly sorry." Ozpin said, bowing his head slightly in an apologetic fashion.

Hector leaned back into his seat, sensing that Ozpin was actually being genuine to him. One positive about sharing your body with another soul was that you couldn't really lie to each other. At first he could, but once they became closer and more used to their connection that was no longer an option between the two.

"Yeah… I guess I went a little far with the whole breaking your curse thing, making you mortal again." Hector said with a sad nod, remembering all the things that happened on that day.

"I will die naturally soon, Salem's dark magic was able to undo the light magic that was keeping it together. But not completely."

"Explain." Hector demanded.

"I can no longer live forever, that is true. But even if you die, I would still be able to reincarnate just _one_ more time, but it would take the rest of the magic that I have left. Leaving me practically powerless." Ozpin explained.

"So basically what you're saying is that I am pretty much your last hope?" Hector asked, dark humor becoming apparent on his face.

"Correct…" Ozpin admitted.

"Ah, I see what is going on here now." Hector said with a chuckle. "Since you realized that I am your last hope to defeat Salem now, or more accurately. I am the last vessel powerful enough to do what you need to be done. How close am I?"

"Almost, most of what you said is correct." Ozpin said with a nod. "But not all of it, yes. I do need you. You are very powerful in your own right, but you cannot hope to defeat Salem as you are now alone, even with a hypothetical Kaioken times eighty you would hardly stand a chance." He continued, even as Hector widened his eyes as the realization of how big the gap is between he and Salem actually was. "I need the silver eyed warriors, the maidens, and the relics as much as I need you."

"Yeah, I get it." Hector said, cutting Ozpin off from saying any more as he gripped the bridge of his nose and rubbed his face with the flat of his hand. "I figured that I couldn't beat Salem on my own, no matter how far I push myself. But I was going to gather the maidens and the relics anyway. I have Ruby and Adam with me, not to mention Summer Rose is apparently still alive somewhere out there in the world. I get that you are trying to help again, but I don't know if I can trust you again Ozma." He said with a shake of his head.

"I mean, we haven't even gotten to that yet, I got access to more of your memories, far enough that I found out what your first name was. Don't even get me started what I found out about Salem. You couldn't trust me with all that, why should I trust you with not only _my_ life, but the lives of my girlfriend, daughter, and the rest of my friends?"

"Fair point… if you would allow it, I can tell you a story." Ozpin suggested, and leaned forward. For once, Hector didn't tense up at his movement, and only seemed intrigued by his words.

"What kind of story are we talking about?" Hector asked, leaned in on his armrests in return.

"A Fairy Tale," Ozpin stated, earning a single chuckle from Hector as he muttered the words 'Of course' under his breath again, but made no motion to stop him.

"This particular tale is called… The King, and the Witch."

Hector listened carefully as Ozpin told him a story.

/-/

 _Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. This kingdom was called Archaea, a kingdom which was lead by the great king Ozma. This was a very prosperous kingdom, the people loved their king, and he was able to lead them all into a long era of peace. However, there was one major problem that even the greatest of warriors could not set out to solve._

 _There was news that a woman with blonde hair and pale skin has been experimenting with Grimm, trying to see if she could merge both human and Grimm to form the ultimate lifeform. The name of this Witch was… Salem._

 _Salem was a wielder of forbidden magic, dark magic. In this world there were two sides. Light, and dark. Both kinds were given to them by the two God brothers, the God of Light, and his sibling, the God of Darkness._

 _There were two major kingdoms in the world, the kingdom of light, Archaea. And the kingdom of dark, Drachaea. There were other kingdoms, but none were as iconic or nearly as powerful as these two._

 _Dark magic was frowned upon by wielders of the light magic, and it also worked the other way. Even though that they were all human, they still warred against each other for hundred of years. One side was never able to defeat the other until eventually, both sides forgot why they were fighting in the first place._

 _A treaty was made, peace between the wielders of light, and the wielders of dark. The treaty held up strong, the agreement being that neither sides magic will intrude into the others._

 _That treaty was violated when the evil witch Salem came into the kingdom of light, and started kidnapping beings of light magic as well as beings of dark. She was an enemy to both kingdoms. An enemy to the whole world, there was nowhere where her name was not feared._

 _She was able to use her dark magic to such a degree where she could manipulate the Grimm. The enemy of all mankind, even the kingdom of darkness were they enemies. Her experiments were also getting out of hand, exploding to such proportions where they would destroy nearby villages. Kidnapping children of both light and dark, testing all sorts of nefarious things on them._

 _Originally, it was assumed that one day, she would wind up ending herself after another one of her failed experiments, or at least… that was the people hoped._

 _She unleashed hordes of her failed experiments. People who were no longer people, transformed into monsters attacked, slaughtered everything in their path besides Grimm. Their minds were so deteriorated by Salem's experiments it was said that they now had the mindset of a pure Grimm, and were even treated as such by the creatures of darkness._

 _The king of Archaea himself decided it was time to handle this problem personally, the king of Drachaea already fell in battle against the woman. The men that were able to escape were terrified as they told the world what they witnessed. Since the two used the same kind of magic, Salem was able to steal his magic, adding it to her own and killing him brutally afterward as he was extremely weakened._

 _Ozma was the most powerful wielder of the light magic at the time, and even the God of Light himself told him that the delicate balance between light, and dark was being disrupted. Ozma was then sent out on a task to end the reign of Salem and her evil ways. With the punishment of failure endlessly hanging over his head. A curse of soul immortality._

 _Salem heard of his coming, and quickened the process of her experiments. Acquiring humans of all kinds along with Grimm of all kinds. Trying to see what would work, and what wouldn't. Nothing worked for the longest time, and she felt fear as she heard the king of Archaea slowly catching up with her._

 _Ozma was just able to meet eyes with her for the first time, right as those ocean blue eyes turned an evil black and red. Her power was also multiplied exponentially. Her blonde hair turned a snow white, and every vein in her body turned a sickly dark violet color. She adorned a Grimm black engraved battle armour, and her black and red magical aura was enough to strike fear into the King's heart._

 _He fought her regardless, even when his green aura was vastly dwarfed by the size of the Witches strength. Their battle was legendary, destroying the continent they were fighting on. This continent later became the Grimmlands. Only through his sheer determination, and the power of will. Ozma just barely managed to wound Salem, at the cost of fire magic burning his entire left side._

 _He was defeated, the power of dark overpowered the light. But before Salem could finish off the King of Archaea, the Gods of Light and Darkness descended onto their plane of existence._

 _The God of Light told the evil Witch that what she had done is truly, and is unforgivable._

 _The God of Darkness told the King that he failed in his task to defeat Salem, and so broke his promise to the God of Light._

 _Foolishly, Salem tried to fight the Gods, cursing them and using the full power of her magic. It was a fruitless endeavor, and the God of Light put her down with but a wave of his hand. With the Witch defeated, Ozma prostrated himself before the God, only for him to be cursed and killed on the spot by the God of Darkness._

 _Which left only Salem, utterly defeated and dismantled. The God of Darkness, whom of which she thought would have been proud of one of his wielders of dark, was abhorred by her experiments. Saying that humans and Grimm were never meant to become one, and should never be so._

 _To make things worse, since both the Kings of the Kingdoms of Archaea and Drachea were dead. The world was plunged into yet another war. Chaos and destruction exploded throughout the entire war as armies in the millions clashed against each other._

 _The God of Light was disappointed in what he foresaw would be the outcome, with Archaea being vastly weakened and without their king. They would be overrun by Drachaea if given time, and would be most certainly be wiped out from the world. At this point, there was no more balance._

" _This experiment has failed brother, you know what we must do now." Said the God of Light._

" _Of course, I understand what must be done." Replied the brother as he rose one of his hands._

 _With a great purple explosion, every single human on the planet was stripped of their magic, and the billions of people were reduced to but a few hundred scattered all over the world._

 _Salem was shocked as she felt the magical presence of every other human on the planet completely vanish, and for once something that was once deemed impossible, she felt an incredible amount of fear toward the Gods. Whose attention was now focused on her._

" _Because of all of the evil things you have done, and all the lives you have brought perish and tarnished. Death is not a suitable enough punishment for you." The God of Light said to her._

" _W-What are you going to do to me?" Salem asked him, just mustering up the strength to prop herself up on her knees._

" _You will be punished with the curse of immortality, and a great deal of your magic will be taken from you." The God of Light declared._

" _You will also be locked in eternal conflict with the man you fought known as Ozma. He will also have most of his magic taken from him." The God of Darkness continued._

" _You two will either fight until your minds break, or you will come together, and bring forth the golden age of Humanity. Only then, will we return to this world, and remove the curse from you. As of now, humanity is but a… Remnant of what they once were." Both the Gods spoke as they began to hover in the air, towering over Salem as they grew larger and assumed their draconic forms._

" _No! You cannot do this to me!" Salem screamed as she felt her magic begin to get drained from her body. "I swear vengeance upon the both of you! One day, it will be you who is cursed!"_

 _The Gods didn't bother to respond to her, it would have brought no satisfaction nor would it be beneficial. They both fired off into the air, and pierced through the moon, shattering it into many pieces._

 _Salem cursed at them with all her might as they traveled away, even as the fragments of the moons landed all around her. She screamed even as her now immortal body prevented her from dying._

 _Ozma woke up the same moment he was killed, but inside of another's body. The God of Light spoke to him one last time. Telling him that if he managed to destroy Salem, then the curse would be removed from him. His Kingdom was destroyed, and that she was to blame for it. He also gave back a great deal of his power._

 _The God of Darkness went back to Salem, and gave her some of her powers back. Telling her that if she killed Ozma, then she would get not only her curse removed, but the rest of her powers. Allowing her to become the new ruler of this planet._

 _The Gods went behind each others back, and only worked together to create the relics. Telling only Ozma, and Salem of their existence. Beings of Knowledge, Creation, Choice, and Destruction created to aid what was humanity in their second coming._

 _It is said that even to this day… Ozma and Salem are still fighting._

/-/

"And that, is the story of the King, and the Witch." Ozpin ended his story, leaning back in his chair as he let Hector process everything he had just been told.

Hector rested his arms on the armrest, holding his head up high even though his gaze was aimed at the ground. The parts he remembered from Ozpin's memory during his old life as Ozma now suddenly made a whole lot more sense. So the relics being gathered together _wouldn't_ summon the Gods, that was something that he thought for the longest time. Or at least it was not specifically stated that bringing all four relics together would do something like that.

But that means that the moment Salem is defeated or killed, or soon after. Both Gods are going to return. He didn't know what that would mean for himself, humanity as a whole, or even the planet for that matter. But what he did know now, was that he needed to gather the maidens and claim all of the relics at once. Jinn once told him that when one relic selected an owner, it becomes much easier for the person to gain ownership of the other relics. So at least he had that going for him.

"Alright… the title of that Fairy Tale could use a name change… but damn." Hector shook his head. "How long have you been alive? Do you know exactly how many years you've lived?" He asked.

Ozpin smiled sadly. "Ever since the moment I died for the first time, it has been about three thousand years… give or take a few decades."

Hector gasped softly, disguising it as suddenly inhaling air. Being alive for that long, seeing the people that you love grow old while always knowing you are going to outlive them, watching as friends and family die. Over, and over again. That sounded like hell… He can't imagine going through that for so long. He couldn't even comprehend losing Ruby and the others already. He just couldn't lose them.

"Shit… well, I appreciate you telling me the full story. I was thinking about asking Knolly about it, but I was afraid of what I'd find out." Hector said.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Even though you still know what her actual name is, you still call the Relic of Knowledge by that name?" He asked.

Hector snickered. "Yeah, Knolly is just a name that I can't move on from. But hey, she seems to like it."

" _That, I do."_ Jinn confirmed.

"Very well, do as you wish." Ozpin said with an amused smirk, enjoying the short moment of joy.

"There's just one thing I don't get though." Hector said honestly as he thought back on the story. "Why did the Gods make you both immortal, and then demand that one of you kill the other? How come they each went out of their way to give you two back your powers as well?" He asked, making Ozpin raise an eyebrow at his questioning. "It seems like one wanted you to win, and the other wanted Salem to win. Other then that I can't say I fully understand everything you just told me."

"I understand your confusion Mister Rivers, I myself have asked the question hundreds, perhaps even thousands of times. The part about the Gods coming to us after the battle is true, during one of my lives I tried to rule over humanity again, and while doing I made that legend was spread around the world quickly. But since that was around two thousand years ago, it faded away into yet another Fairy Tale."

"Most of the last part that I told you was what the God of Light himself told me. Since, well, I wasn't alive past the point I was cursed. The part about the God of Darkness speaking to Salem is something I cannot confirm, but since her dark magic is nearly back at full power, it would not be a mistake to assume that he did."

"Oh great, so apparently she has the powers of the God of Darkness, if only heavily diluted." Hector said with a sigh.

"As do you, Mister Rivers. Remember what the God of Darkness said to Salem? Humans, and Grimm should never become one. Salem managed it, and became the superhuman she was trying to become. You however, are a special case." Ozpin said.

"Special how?"

"You are able to control that dark side, even resist against it when it tries to take hold of you. For example, at the battle of Haven after your battle with Cinder, Salem tried to take over your body. I helped as much as I could, but it was yourself who made up most of the resistance. For a time after, you almost gave into your darker side. That was when you killed Cinder, and drew power from the darkness to keep up with Raven, who at the time was the Spring Maiden, even though before you were unable to defeat Cinder, who was weaker than Raven at that time."

Hector opened his mouth to speak, but Ozpin continued before he could.

"Before you interject, I must add that you also have light magic within you. I believe that I might have told you that before. You are something that has never been possible before, a being of both light, _and_ dark magic. Part Grimm, part Human, and part… I dare say, God."

"Woah, woah, woah." Hector stopped him from continuing. "I am _not_ a God, I know that Doctor Polendina stated that I have some unrecognizable cells within me, but there is no way that those cells are Godly, I just can't believe it."

"Is it as unbelievable as… a young man suddenly awakening in the woods of a different dimension?" Ozpin countered, making Hector stammer over himself. "Or people that are able to look at Grimm and kill them? Magical women with the power over nature?" He leaned in closer to him, looking straight into Hector's eyes. "Or a man capable of multiplying his strength and speed at will?"

"Stop!" Hector shouted, a little louder than he intended, but it got his point across. "I get it, everything that I thought was impossible before is now in fact possible. But still, you can't seriously believe that I'm… part God, do you?"

Ozpin leaned back, choosing his words carefully of which to reply with.

"From the memories that we share, I recall that you asked Jinn what that other unknown part of you was. Jinn is near omniscient, she knows everything needed in order to aid humanity. In other terms, mortals." Hector's shoulders sagged as he figured out the direction this was going in. "She doesn't know what that part of you is, because she only knows what humanity are able to understand and comprehend. I am sure you see where I am going with this, correct."

"Yeah…" Hector sighed. "So there's a possibility that I am part God, somehow. How would that even be possible?" He widened his eyes. "Are they-"

"No, neither of the God brothers are actually female." Ozpin said before he could finish. Hector actually sighed purely out of relief.

"Alright… that's a question for another time then." Hector dropped the topic before he could lose his mind over thinking about what he has been told. "I already got a fight scheduled with the strongest Maiden on the planet.

"So I've heard." Ozpin remarked smugly. "Well then… where does this leave us at?" He asked the well needed question.

Hector stood up at his words, and gestured for Ozpin to stand as well. Slowly, the desk and chairs began to fade away. Leaving Hector and Ozpin in a sort of standoff. Hector kept his hands in his pockets, and Ozpin kept his hands on the top of his cane as it was placed out in front of him. Waiting patiently for Hector to make up his mind.

He took a step toward Ozpin, and held out his hand with a forgiving smile on his face.

Ozpin happily shook the slightly shorter boys- no, _man's_ hand. He was no longer the same boy as he was when he first reincarnated into him.

"Looks like Hectozpin is making a return." Hector remarked.

And just like that, the moment was ruined.

Only for Ozpin to suddenly be allowed to take control, just to see the shocked faces of Ruby, Yang, Rhea, and of course Neo. Who just watched his black hair turn white, and his skin get paler. If that wasn't enough to scream that Ozpin was back in control his aura also flared green as well.

Ozpin raised a hand to touch his face, feeling for the first time in what feels like months, before chuckling to himself as he sees the even more shocked expressions on the others faces.

"Well then… hello girls." Ozpin greeted with a wave, and a polite smile.

The response he got was in the form of the barrel of a Crescent Rose was shoved in his face by a very angry Ruby.

"Oh dear…"

* * *

Qrow, Winter and Mercury passed out exhausted the second the Winter Maiden got them all to her secret hideout, which was located deep within the most northern part of the world one could possibly reach. It was somewhere only someone with the powers to control the cold would be able to reach. The three passengers she had nearly died of hypothermia on the way there. Mercury was the first to pass out, he was the one who arguably fought the most out of the three, quickly followed by Winter, who was already weak as it was. Then finally Qrow, he kept trying to ask the Maiden questions as to who she was, and what her intentions were. The only reason he stopped was because he couldn't find the energy to keep speaking.

The aura that the Winter Maiden gifted to them were temporary at the very most. It granted them a decent boost in strength and rejuvenated some of their stamina. But it began fading away the second that Marcus Black was defeated.

Once she got there, the Maiden placed the three of them in the one bed that she had. Made completely out of snow. Where the were, the snow wasn't actually freezing cold and defied the laws of nature. The three of them all lied in a soft mound of warm snow.

The Winter Maiden herself backed out of the room she left them in, and three off her white cloak with a raspy sigh. Revealing her full body for the the first time in a long time. She wore a tight all black outfit which hung tightly to her body, if a little baggy in some due to her battle against Hell earlier that day. She slowly drew up the sleeve on her left arm, revealing it not to be flesh, but metal.

She repaired the silvery bionic arm, fixing the wires and putting them all back in place as they were before. Then rolled the sleeve back down past her elbow. Just above her elbow was a thick scar that traced up her shoulder and around her side and back.

After that, she turned her attention on her actual fleshy arm. Which took the brunt of Hells strongest attack the one moment she was caught off guard. It felt almost broken, but it was most likely a hairline fracture. Her aura would repair it in time, but it still hurt a lot. She didn't have a sleeve on that arm at the time, she needed it bare so that she could use her powers more easily. She could use her powers on her bionic arm, but not to its full potential lest she destroy her own arm.

The next thing that came off was the tie she had around her hair. Her black and red locks fell down a few inches past her chin and hung there. She flicker her head back as to allow the strands of hair room to spread, sighing out of pleasure for the cool air that flowed over her scalp. Her clothes were laced with aura, so they would be repaired in time.

She looked down at the ice table she created for herself years ago, seeing a reflection of herself with her dark goggles on around her face. Now that the hood was off, she could see the black cloth she wrapped around her head to cover her left eye. With a soft sigh, she took off the goggles and discarded somewhere behind her.

She stared into her reflection, at a face she hasn't even seen herself in a very long time. The left side of her face was covered by that black cloth, stopping just before the corner of her mouth and even covering some of her nose as well, not that it was damaged at all. That side of her face was just heavily scarred. The attack that caused it to her was very powerful and nearly killed her. Would have if she didn't drag herself for miles to the nearest village she could find.

Of course, that village was already destroyed and abandoned, and she all but gave up hope before a short dark skinned elderly lady found her and nursed her back to health. That woman's name was Maria Calavera, and she would never forget her for what she did for her.

She was also the previous Winter Maiden, and when she passed away of her old age, she inherited her powers. Maria trusted her with the powers, and made her swear never to use it for evil.

The Winter Maiden stared into her own eye as a single tear came out as she thought about her old teacher and caretaker. She wiped it away just as quickly as it came, and looked back down to her reflection, staring into the one eye she still had.

That one eye, was silver.

Losing her other eye robbed her of the powers she once had, the power to stare at a Grimm, and unleash that light of a God. She lost it when she battled against Salem, a wielder of darkness. Along with her left arm, and almost took away her ability to breath with how damaged the left side of her neck was. She cursed herself for losing, cursed herself for being forced into hiding for years upon years just to recover, and most of all, she hated herself for leaving behind her two daughters for the sake of the world. She still wasn't at full strength even now, but now it was time to get out of hiding. The Winter Maiden has been found, and she had the relic no less.

Summer Rose clenched her fists around the Relic of Creation as her anger raged on.

Damn Hell, damn Salem, damn the Grimm, and _especially_ damn the Gods. They had done nothing but cause the world pain and discord by leaving Salem and her old headmaster to fight an endless battle just to fulfill some stupid bet they made with each other.

Now, it was time to come out of hiding. Time to get back out there in the world, and be the Huntress she strived to become. It was time to push back Hell, and find Hector Rivers.

Summer turned her head around to see the still passed out Team QWM, and sighed to herself exasperatedly.

But she couldn't leave the other three behind, not with how week they are now. She stood up from her seat, grabbed her goggles, and then put her white cloak back on. Summer stood wordlessly as she looked toward the wonderful view of the dark blue night sky, dotted by the white clouds of winter. With a wave of her hand, she caused another blizzard that would slow Hell down. She could still sense him coming her way, he must be able to sense where she was, and the heat he was giving off was too much for her to snuff out so far away.

"No… not yet." Summer said to herself as she put her goggles back on tightly around her head. She would not reveal herself yet, no matter how badly she wanted too. Instead, she began her recovery process immediately, Hell would eventually get there, and when he did. The battle they would have will be on a much grander scale then before.

* * *

 **Yikes, I feel like I took a risk with this one. Okay, so first thing's first, Maria Calavera was originally NOT going to make an appearance in this story, but I felt like it would be a nice little treat for you guys to have since she is a beloved character of Volume 6. She did NOT have silver eyes in this story, and YES, Summer's fight against Salem will be shown in a flashback. When? I cannot say.**

 **As for the return of Ozpin and the Fairy Tale he told, that was what I was going to do with this story. I was actually thinking of using the Gods as a plot point for this story, and imagine but surprise and a teensy bitty small amount of frustration when RT did it first. Consider this story having its own cannon at this point, and that little Fairy Tale I wrote is the backstory of Ozma and Salem instead of the lonely girl in the tower.**

 **Please keep in mind that this story is NOT following the cannon, there will be references, and some things will remain the same, but ultimately this is it's own story altogether.**

 **Now, since my Beta is on vacation at the moment, I will be editing this chapter myself. Wish me luck on that one. It's been a while.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story!**

 **T witter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**


	60. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 60

**Wowza, there were a lot of reviews to go through after last chapter. I apologize for not updating this story last week, I had some family problems I needed to personally handle and I needed the one week break. But no worries, I am back now! I won't be responding to** _ **every**_ **single review this chapter, because as you all probably know, I am on a tight schedule.**

 **Oblivious Ninja IJ: Yeah, a lot of people predicted the identity of the Winter Maiden, I may have made a bit of a mistake with writing down the hair color of the Maiden, I realize that now.**

 **Zeldawolffang: You're not the only one who did, don't worry.**

 **Arctech: Qrow never was able to see her face, and didn't see the color of her hair. The only thing he might have seen was the color of her cheeks, and maybe her black gloved hands.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: That was the intention, I didn't want the Gods to be liked in this story. The Gods in the show were dicks, but these ones were even bigger dicks, and acted like children. I mean, not only did they do unspeakable things to humanity, they both saw it as a kind of game or competition, that's why I had them both go to Ozma and Salem in secret respectively. I always did think that Ozpin and Salem being lovers once upon a time was a little predictable, so I made them mortal enemies in this one. I'll confirm it right now, yes. The other relics will be sentient. Hector did that because of that exact reason. Like I said before, Maria wasn't going to be in the story originally, but I figured that since she is so popular, I'll give her a little cameo. Sorry for the disappointment. In my personal opinion, I think silver eyed warriors need BOTH eyes to be able to use that power, so that is what I am going to go for here. For that whole last part… let's just say that it is in the planning phase ;).**

 **Fpinheiro96: Here it is! Enjoy!**

 **Wow, there was a lot more reviews, but some of them aren't on the last chapter. But thank you all who reviewed anyway, I read them all and they all made me smile.**

 **One last thing, this is the 60th chapter of this story! Wowza, did not expect to get this many words written down.**

* * *

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

* * *

Chapter 60- Familiarities

Adam Taurus- No, _Politan Rose_ was currently standing guard for the night shift in the defence of the most recently conquered dorm building of Beacon Academy. It was going to take a while being referred to as the colorful cousin of Ruby Rose, but other than that, he has also been told that this is the first building that the Vale Huntsman and police force were able to recapture, and apparently he was the one who made that final push for them.

All he and Blake did really was just clear out the upper floors of the building while the others held a strong defense in front of said building. Since they weren't worrying about collateral damage he was able to go all out. With his skill and amazing prodigelic amount of strength, he cut through all the Grimm with ease, and still had more than enough strength to keep going.

He was being considered a hero… something that is vastly different compared to what he used to be referred to as. Monster, terrorist, a man without mercy, and many others he was sure he was called. Hero, was never one of them, at least not to humans. He remembered that Sienna Khan called him a hero once. Bless her soul, betraying and killing her has become one of his biggest regrets in life. She did nothing but good for the faunus, and he ended her reign by his own hand.

Since the building they captured was one of the dorm buildings, people now had a place to sleep, and beds to rest in. It was much more comfortable than sitting against a wall or in the dirt outside while people were still fighting not far away. He even had a room to himself, which was frequently visited by that ginger haired girl. Who is also part of the reason he decided to take the night guarding shift just to get away from her. Adam was sure that Nora was a good girl but… she was just too much for him, too touchy. As much as Adam have changed since the last time he saw these people, he is unsurprisingly not fond of the idea of being grabbed by the horns and egged on into charging like an actual bull.

The memory did make him let out a small smile however, as much as he hated it at the time. It was funny to think about it as a memory.

"Ahem." A mature woman cleared their throat from behind him. Adam straightened up slightly but didn't move to face her, he already knew who it was. He also knew that there was someone behind him, but he just thought it was just someone coming to relieve him. He planned to just tell them that he was insistent on keeping this spot, but he already knows that he cannot say that to someone such as the Headmistress of Beacon Academy.

"Can I help you?" Adam said in a forced higher pitched voice, it was still really deep and masculine as it always was, and his voice acting skills needed some obvious work. But he just managed to make it sound higher than it really was.

"Not at the moment…" Glynda said as she took a few steps, ending up beside him nearly shoulder to shoulder. "You have great skill Mister Rose."

Adam cringed at the name. "Please… just call me Politan." He pleaded, he'd much rather be called by that name instead of _that_ name.

"Very well, Politan. I've had your cousin Ruby as a student for some time. I've been through her records and helped her train to get better than she was at the beginning of her first year." She turned her face so that she could look at him from the corner of one of her eyes. "So tell me, how come I have _never_ heard of you before? I was not aware that Summer Rose had any siblings, and I knew her when we were younger."

"I… am a distant cousin." Adam went for without much hesitation, as much as he hated to admit it. He was very good at lying, he had to be in order to lead men to their deaths as he did while leading them during the battle of Beacon, or when he had to convince almost two hundred faunus to go on a suicide mission to breach Vale the day of the attack, only for the attack to not even be worth anything beside the blood it spilled.

"Ruby, and I never even met until about a month ago, but when I heard about her I wanted to find her as soon as possible. I heard about the attack, and I have no other family to live for. I had the skill and strength to help her, and so that is what I am doing." He lied expertly, and it showed on Glynda's face that she was actually considering taking that as the truth. She looked away for a few moments, her green eyes looking to the darkness that was outside of the shattered window, but turned back to him as quickly as they parted.

"I almost believed that… I would have, if you didn't have the same sword and semblance as a man I am very sure many would not welcome around here." She said slowly, making sure that Adam heard and understood every single word that came out of her mouth.

Adam didn't respond to being called out like that, but he did shift his weight slightly to the left to lean off of the wall, the hand that was already on the hilt of his sword tightented unconsciously. His mind screamed at him to run away and ditch this quest he set himself on, but he forced such thoughts down easily. He turned to face Glynda for the first time since the first time they met… two years ago.

Two years ago, Glynda and Adam Taurus crossed blades for the first time. This was during one of the most violent attacks on a Vale bank that was not welcoming to faunus, and she was called in to help defend the bank. Adam Taurus was the one who lead the attack, and after killing all of the hostages, the two of them fought each other to a near standstill. If they kept going, Glynda would have won. At the time, Adam was nowhere near as skilled as he was back than, and neither was Glynda. If they fought as hard as they could now, they might as well say goodbye the the entire section of Beacon where they were staying at now.

The two of them never encountered each other again, not even during the Battle of Beacon. But when it came down to it, Adam instantly recognized her as the woman who nearly bested him during that attack two years ago, and did his best not to be seen by her. He expected that the story that the team he came up with and told Team CFVY would spread around rather quickly, since people were going to start asking and talking about him after what he did to help capture this building, and a small part of him even knew that Glynda Goodwitch was going to figure it out sooner or later. But it looked like the story didn't hold up so well with her. The silver eyes he had only took him so far.

"Fair enough…" Adam said with a sigh, not even bothering to try and keep up the already dead lie for any longer lest he dig himself a deeper grave. "Yes, I am who you think I am." He confessed, if he was going to get caught now. So be it. Escaping now would only lead to death, and where death appears. Grimm follows. He might even be able to get away, but not without being forced to eliminate those who would stand in his path.

Glynda met his eyes for a few long moments. Not saying anything for a full minute. Adam felt like he was holding his breath. He genuinely wanted to slay this Grimm dragon and save Beacon, and he couldn't do that from behind bars, and as good as Team JBLN was, they were not going to be able to slay the dragon on their own. It looked like the thing was going to break out of it's petrification any second now, and when it did. He would be needed, or more specifically. The power within his eyes.

"You've done a lot of damage _Taurus_." Glynda hissed, and Adam hung his head a few inches. "You've killed people, caused an uncountable amount of damage to Vale, and tried to do the same to Mistral. You're the most wanted man on the planet, even more so that Roman Torchwick once was." All of it were truths, Adam wasn't going to deny any of them.

He awaited his fate, if he was going to be arrested here. He'd just have to break out when the dragon awakened. He would hold up his side of the deal, and then escape back to Claire.

"Yet here you are… fighting alongside humans and your fellow faunus in an effort to save the school you once sought to destroy." Glynda suddenly added, surprising Adam enough to make him look back at her straight in the eyes. "That does _not_ sound like the man that I am staring in the eyes right now, silver eyes now less." She left it unsaid that it was something she was not expecting, she never did see his face until recently, but then again. Not many people did.

"So tell me, why are you suddenly doing good for the world?" She asked, turning her body to fully face him, and yet still making it obvious that she would take him down herself if she had too. He was trapped really, there was no getting out of this questioning without violence.

So Adam faced her head on, and took his hand off the hilt of his sword, even when it felt so wrong to go against his instincts like that.

"I don't want to be a monster anymore." Adam said completely honestly. "I know what I did was wrong, and I can't be sorry enough for the things that I did to hurt people, even if my words, and feelings may mean nothing to them. I want to do good now, and someone gave me the second chance that I've yearned for." He chuckled. "You know him as the Hero of Two Kingdoms I believe, though pretty soon it may become three since he sent me over here to save this place."

"Ozpin- I mean, Mister Rivers sent you here?" Glynda asked, surprised by the news.

Adam shrugged, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes, but he let me have a choice in the matter. You can see the choice I've made now."

"So I can." Glynda agreed, narrowing her eyes at him. "Legally, I am obligated to bring you in. I am positive the Council would love to hear the news of your capture" She pointed out.

Adam sagged his shoulders, and even his silver eyes seemed to grow sad at the news.

"I cannot redeem myself from behind bars…" He said weakly.

"I know." Glynda said with a nod, and then turned around to put her back to him. Adam awaited to hear the words 'You're under arrest', but he did not hear them. He simply watched as she took a few steps away from him with a mild amount of awe.

"Mister Rose, I hope that after that Grimm is slain, that I will never see you on Beacon grounds again. Have we come to an understanding?" She asked without even looking at him, it was clear that she didn't actually _want_ this outcome, but the fact that he had silver eyes may have just won him over to her, at least for right now.

"Yes… Miss Goodwitch." Adam said quietly, not even catching on to the fact that she just called him by the name he asked her not to call him by.

Glynda didn't need to hear any more. She made her decision clear not by her words, but through action. She was going against the law _and_ the council for him, and Adam wasn't about to let another one of his second chances to go to waste.

When she disappeared around the corner, Adam leaned back against the wall, and slumped his head back against it. Letting out a loud puff of air that he didn't know he was holding in his lungs. That was probably one of the most stressful moments in the last few weeks, and a _lot_ has happened in the past few weeks. How many second chances was he going to get?

Another head peaked out from around the corner, one with bright orange hair.

Nora had to _biggest_ smile on her face.

Adam almost gave into his murderous tendencies once more as he realized what just happened was apparently all part of some plan of hers.

"What did you do?" Adam asked, even as one of his eyes twitched in annoyance.

"Oh you know," Nora dashed up to his side, and gripped both of his shoulders. "Things."

"Why are you so interested in me?" Adam asked her, pulling away from her, and leaning over what was left of the windowsill.

"Oh, that whole thing with Double G wasn't even my idea." Nora pointed out, grinning widely as she watched Adam slowly turn his head to meet her eyes.

"Yeah… that may have been all of our ideas." Jaune Arc said from behind him, followed up by Ren, and even Blake.

"Why are you all here…?" Adam asked, eyeing all four of them as they lined up in front of him.

"Well, we were told that you are not good with crowds, so you are always hanging out on your own brooding." Jaune said with a nervous smile, still not quite used to having the terrorist around.

Adam eyed Blake suspiciously.

She just shrugged, completely unapologetic for what they both know she did.

"For even as sudden of an addition you have been, you _are_ a part of our team." Ren said with a small bow of his head. "We have been worried that you are… well."

Adam rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"Lonely! Duh." Nora said as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close to her body.

Adam snorted. "You really think I'm lonely?"

"Yup!"

"What? No I'm not!"

"Don't go against her Adam, it never works out in the end." Blake warned him, and she had the bags underneath her eyes to prove her point.

Adam took a few moments to think about his choices. Which were A. Go along with Nora's plan, or B. Go against it. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to reject this idea of having company.

"Fine, you can all stay with me in here." Adam said finally, turning around to face the window again even as Nora happily sat down on a chair beside him.

What's the worst that can go wrong?

Being friends with Nora Valkyrie couldn't be _too_ bad… right?

Right?

He really needed the confirmation, and he got none.

* * *

"What have you done to him!?"

"Why are you back so suddenly!?"

"Why is your hair white again!?" Rhea cried while pointing an accusing finger at the top of his head.

Neo held up a sign that said: _I have no idea what's happening, but i'm mad! :(_

"Girls… please." Ozpin said with Hector's body, holding his hands up in surrender. "I am not here to cause trouble, Hector and I have come to an understand I can assure you that is the truth."

"Really? I am having a hard time believing that." To everyone's surprise, it was Ruby who said those words. "How could you do that to him Ozpin? He trusted you, we all did! Then you had to go and betray us like that!" She cocked Crescent Rose, even if she wasn't actually going to fire the weapon. It was Ozpin in control right now, but it was still Hector's body. To hurt one of them would mean hurting both.

"Miss Rose, please, I swear to you that this is no trick. Mister Rivers and I have come to… 'make up'." Ozpin grimaced as he said that, which confused the girls at first, but the only narrowed their eyes as a result soon after. "Mister Rivers told me to say that…"

" _Damn right I did."_ Hector said with a mental laugh. " _Now say-"_ Ozpin blocked out the ridiculous request that his other half gave to him, it would have done nothing to help, and now Ozpin is thinking that Hector gave him control on purpose just so something like this would happen.

" _You would be correct in assuming that."_ Hector said, hearing his thoughts. " _Yeah, not so fun the other way around huh?"_ Damn him…

"He is very talkative…" Ozpin said, shaking his head side to side softly as he sighed.

Ruby and Yang looked to each other, and Neo went to write something else on her sign that she got from somewhere. Rhea didn't really know how to feel about this, it was still her Dad's face, but at the same time It wasn't really the _same_ man who adopted her, even though he still had the same face. If a little paler and had white hair and brown eyes instead of what her Dad usually had. She hadn't even known Ozpin herself, only seeing him take control twice in her life. Once on the Bullhead ride to Atlas, and once during the battle of Atlas when he had to deal with the Super Beowolf. She was warned about him though, so for now she would hang back with her fellow Maiden.

Neo finished writing her sign and held it up. It read: _Maybe we should hear him out?_

She shrugged straight after when the other girls stared at her, if they were expecting her to actually say something. They were going to be dissapointed.

Ozpin sighed, and shut his eyes. When he opened them, a red and blue aura surrounded his body, covering all of Hectors features. When it faded away, his hair was black again, his skin was back to its tan color, and his eyes were blue again. Lastly, his usual smile was on his face.

"Forgot how it felt to not be the one in control all the time, that was weird." Hector said as he stretched his arms out above his head, and let out a tired yawn. "So, I think I have some explaining to do."

"Wait, how do we know you're really Hector?" Yang questioned, narrowing her red eyes at him. Ruby looked like she wanted to jump into him for a hug, but when her sister made a decent point, she stepped back reluctantly.

Rhea didn't however, she stepped straight up to him and jumped straight into his arms. Giggling happily when Hector hugged her and tickled her sides.

When he turned to still see Yang's suspicious glare, Hector rolled his eyes.

"Kaioken." He said with a sigh, and a very low power of his semblance lit up around his body. It made him very hot to touch, but with Rhea being the Fall Maiden and having fire powers, she was practically immune to it's effects. "Believe me now?"

"I… how did this happen?" Yang asked as she sat back down in her seat, giving Ruby the cue she needed to seemingly teleport to Hector's side and hug him. After a few second of that, they both leaned back against the inside wall of that Bullhead, and the girls waited for Hector to finally explain himself.

"So I may have had a long… _long_ talk with Ozma." Hector started.

"Ozma? You mean Ozpin right?" Yang asked.

"Nope, I mean Ozma. That's his real name."

"Since when?"

"Since his very first life as the King of Archaea." Hector revealed, but the news did not come as a shock to his comrades, but only added to their confusion. Which made Hector realize that he would actually have to explain everything in order to get his point across.

So he did, he started with the fairy tale that Ozma told him. Started with the brief history lesson of what humanity was like a few thousand years ago. The Kingdoms of Darkness and Light, the origins of Ozma and Salem, all the way to the Gods themselves. He told them about the relics and why they are collecting them. How Hector originally thought that the relics would summon the Gods back to Remnant, only for their true function to now become unknown to him.

He left out the part about him possibly being part God, and Ozma made sure to let him know about that.

" _You should tell them the truth."_ Ozma suggested.

" _Ozma, shut up. I know what I'm doing."_ Hector replied, still not completely forgiving him after he attempted to take over his body permanently. Though, he quickly felt bad for being so rude. " _I'll talk to Ruby about it later, how does that sound?"_

" _Fair enough."_

"Gods… are real?" Ruby whispered to herself, trying to process everything she has just been told.

"Ozma is over three thousand years old?" Rhea asked innocently. "Wow… he must be lonely."

" _Oh she has no idea."_

Neo didn't know how to feel about all this new information. She already knew about the Maidens and Salem thanks to Cinder. She of course didn't mean let her in the know, but during her 'Employment' to her Roman sent Neo to spy and eavesdrop on her regularly. Never did she think Gods were a thing however, in the life she has lived. Gods were never something she thought existed. Neo shook her head and pushed her face down further into the pillow on the bed in the corner. She missed just being the everyday criminal.

"Salem is immortal!?" Yang shouted, gripping her armrest so tightly that with one tug she could probably yank them out of the wall. "How the Hell are we going to kill her then!?"

"I knew that was going to be asked, but luckily I have a plan for that." Hector said with a small smirk.

"And what is that?" Ruby asked, curious to hear this plan of his.

"We can't kill Salem, that much is confirmed." Hector began. "I have almost all of Ozma's memories, and he has been trying to kill Salem in every way possible. Nothing worked, nothing physical, nor magical attacks work on her. Not even silver eyed attacks." He looked to Ruby, who reached up to touch the area around her eye before huffing, frustrated with herself. "She can be hurt, just not killed. She'll regenerate before that happens."

"So what do we do then? If it doesn't matter if she feels pain, then what's the point of fighting her?" Yang questioned.

"We don't _have_ to fight her, at least not for a long time." Hector continued. "I'm thinking of something more of a… _non lethal_ approach. Let me explain before you speak up."

"Salem can't be killed, it's impossible. She was cursed with eternal life thousands of years ago, and Ozma has tried to kill her by both magical and physical means. But since this curse was given to her by a literal God, nothing like that can work on her. Ozma told me that she is a very heavy wielder of dark magic, which is what the Grimm are made of, and why they always disappear when killed. Knolly confirmed that for me for your information."

"Salem has so much dark magic in her body, plus the experiments that she ran on herself, that she became the perfect balance between human and Grimm. Which basically makes her the strongest woman on the planet, even above the Maidens." Hector nodded to Rhea and Yang, two of the four season Maidens. "Something else I learned about the Maidens is that with each generation of Maidens, they get the potential to become stronger, and stronger. All it takes is some crazy training. That was part of Ozma's long term plan, have a group of Maidens get so powerful they would be able to defeat Salem. You guys have Light magic within you as well, which is supposed to be the counter to Dark magic."

"Supposed to be, or is the counter?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hector shrugged, not really knowing the answer to that question. "That's the weird part, because _apparently_ ," Hector emphasised the last word, as if he was talking to Ozma as well. "Both magic types counter each other. I'm guessing it just depends on which side has more magical power than the other."

"And how much power does Salem have?" Ruby asked next.

"Well, think about it this way." Hector crossed his arms, thinking on how to explain this. He originally was going to have Ozma explain everything, but since the girls didn't really trust him at all and were about to attack him. He once again found himself explaining something he himself didn't have a great grasp on _again_.

"Damn it Ozma…" Hector whispered underneath his breath.

" _I don't see how this is my fault."_ Ozma said in defence.

" _Everything,_ is your fault."

"Huh?" Rhea tilted her head in confusion.

"Nothing. So you guys know that Salem is over three thousand years old right? Well, she mastered the balance between a human and Grimm when she was in her early thirties, and then had _three thousand years_ to grow in power and train. I don't know how strong she is, but I know that the Grimm confuse her for the God of Darkness because of the amount of Dark magical power she has within her. It's why she is able to control them in the first place."

"Now let's get to you guys, the Maidens." He continued as he gestured to Rhea and Yang. His mouth was getting dry, and he really wished he had some water to drink. But he couldn't afford to stop now, he was on a time limit before his fight with the Summer Maiden began. "You all have light magic within you, and Ozpin created you all about… eight hundred years ago?" He didn't sound so sure.

" _It has been approximately eight hundred and sixty seven years since King Ozma created the Maidens, Master."_ Jinn confirmed for him.

"Thanks Knolly. It has been exactly eight hundred and sixty seven years since Ozma gave up some of his power to create you four. There has been quite a few generations since then, so you guys should be really strong on your own individually."

"But not enough to beat Salem?" Yang asked.

"Not even to beat Salem." Hector nodded his head. "Which was why there is four of you. If all four of the Maidens fight Salem together around this era, combined with the help of myself, the power of the relics and all of our friends and silver eyed warriors, we _might_ be able to defeat her in combat. Just not kill her." They all expected him to sigh and go on about how he didn't have a plan, but instead. He smiled and licked his dry lips.

"Salem managed to master her balance _only_ when she defeated, and absorbed the essence of the Dark King of Drachea, which means that it is possible to steal the magic of another person." Hector sat up straighter. "What I plan to do, is have an epic battle with the bitch alongside all of you guys, beat her ass into the next dimension and then steal her powers and seal them away in one of the Relics. Preferably the Relic of Destruction, so it could destroy the power she has been building up for all these years"

That about got the reaction that he was expecting. Gasps and wide eyes all around.

"The obvious question is how can I manage something like that, right?" Hector asked before the girls could verbally put out the question.

Ruby nodded at speeds no nodding motion should ever reach. Her head was but a vortex of black and red, and that made Hector both amused and concerned for the bones in her neck.

"Knolly can explain that bit for me." Hector said as he rubbed the blue gemstone on the ring on his finger.

A blue haze pooled out of the ring, and then the gold metal of the ring also faded away as Knolly's physical form came forth. The pilot shut the door to his cockpit with a muffled curse about something that went 'Goddamn kids and their Gods and shit.' It was fair to assume that he was also taking the news rather hard. Hector would have to give him a little talk later, or maybe even give Neo that task. He was sure she'd more than welcome it.

Jinn's form stretched her long body and floated in the center of the Bullhead. Even yawning as if she had been asleep this whole time.

"I see I have been summoned just to explain something for you, hmm?" Jinn teased, smirking at her owner as he nervously laughed and scratched the back of his head.

Rhea's jaw slacked open in awe at the sight of the magical being, as did Neo, Yang and Ruby's. The latter two of the three have already seen Jinn's physical form already, but seeing her come out of the ring was a brand new experience for them, and it wasn't like they saw a literal deity appear every day.

"Ask any question, and I shall tell the answer." Jinn chanted as she sat back on nothing but air. Neo dodged out of the way lest she be caught in it, unbeknownst of the fact that she couldn't actually touch the deity, her hand would go right through it if she tried.

Hector rolled his eyes at the usual chant. As awe inspiring the sight of Jinn may be to others, Hector must have seen her a thousand times already. Both from within his mind, and outside it.

"Fine, be like that." He cleared his throat. "How do we steal Salem's power and seal it away in one of the Relics?" He asked, reciting a line that Ozma made him rehearse in his mind many times.

"Two questions in the disguise of one, you are getting clever Master." Jinn chuckled.

Hector looked away, a little embarrassed. "I told you not to call me that when you're in this form."

"Why…?" Ruby asked dangerously, her voice darkening into a tone that was foreign to Hector's ears. He wasn't afraid of anything, but _that_ , _that_ was what he was afraid of.

Jinn laughed again, pretending to not have heard Ruby before she cleared her own spectral throat.

"In order to steal the magical power of someone else, you must have that same kind of magic type. Master has both types of magic within his soul and body, so he is the only one capable of stealing Salem's magic." Jinn began.

"Wow… no pressure." Yang said, patting Hector's shoulder as she moved to sit beside him and Rhea.

"Tell me about it." Hector sighed.

"However, your counterpart, Hell, is also capable of pulling such a magnificent feat, he just does not know it yet." The Relic continued, but no one commented on what she said. It wasn't like Hell was going to become a good guy anytime soon anyway. "It is possible steal and seal away her power, but with the amount of evil energy she has within her body, there is a very good chance that you would become corrupted as well. Perhaps even more so than Salem because of the already present dark magic within you. It would be so vast it would overwhelm and destroy the light within you as well."

"Which is why you must deliver it into the Relic of Destruction at the same time you are absorbing her power. This must happen at the same time, or else you will be corrupted. There is no other alternative unless you would rather kill yourself with her power within your body." Jinn said with a neutral frown on her face.

"That won't happen." Ruby said, determined. "I won't let it happen, if Hector gets corrupted, I'll bring him back into the light."

"You would fail." Jinn said before Hector could speak up. "I've already looked into possible outcomes in advance, and you fail in every single situation. My master kills you, and all of your friends, even King Ozma, Hell, and the Maidens. The dark power combined with his God given semblance would make him near unstoppable." Ruby hung her head, and from the corners of her eyes Hector could see the tears start to form. It must have hit her hard, to realize that if the worst happened, she would be powerless to stop it.

"God given?" Hector muttered in confusion. "No, we're not going into that just yet." He whispered to himself straight after, hoping that no one heard him.

"So, why should we even risk it?" Yang asked, leaning in with her elbows on top of her knees. "We don't even know if Hector can even steal her magic in the first place, this seems way too high risk to consider. There has to be another way to stop Salem, right?"

Hector hung his head, giving his answer to the question with his silence. "Tell them, Knolly."

Jinn nodded her head, accepting the unasked permission for what it was without much issue.

"There is _no_ other way to defeat Salem." Jinn said solemnly.

The deity was left floating about in the Bullhead as the others processed the new information they have just been told. Ruby was gripping Hector's right hand, while his left was occupied by Rhea's. Hector could feel the mark burning on the back of his hand, almost as if it was taunting him. Almost as if Salem was taunting him, listening in on their conversation this very moment. He sniffed and brought his head back up, dispelling such thoughts out of his mind.

"This is probably the last time in the history of Remnant that humanity will get a chance to neutralize Salem as a threat." Hector stated, not said. It was a factual statement, and it couldn't be denied. "We could very well be the last generation of people that could put a stop to Salem and her reign, Ozma only has one shot left, and he is going to be powerless without any of his magic."

"Damned if we do, and damned if we don't." Yang said with a bitter chuckle. "Sounds about right."

"Sounds like my life in all honesty." Hector said with a bitter chuckle of his own. "I've been given choices like those the whole time I've been here, so why not take another risk?"

"I don't want you to die…" Rhea spoke up, which was quickly followed up by Ruby with sad looking silver eyes.

"I don't want to die either." Hector said with a sigh, showing a rare sign of fear and nervousness. It wasn't often he felt fear anymore, being as strong as he was. But the thought of being corrupted by Salem's power, and killing everyone he loves and cares about? That scares him more than anything.

"But it is a risk we are going to have to take." He said next, determined. "I need you all with me on this, I can't do this without you."

"Eh," Yang shrugged. "It's not like we're already going to Vacuo to get the Summer Maiden and the Relic of Destruction. I'm in."

"So am I." Ruby spoke up right after, looking determined as ever.

"You are my owner, so I am not able to say no to you."

" _Wow, thanks Knolly."_ Hector thought in his head with a roll of his eyes.

" _You're welcome Master."_ She replied.

"You saved me from my village… and even took me in as your daughter." Rhea began. "I owe you everything, I will stand by you for the rest of time Father."

For as serious as Hector was at the moment, that one word was enough to make him melt into a smile and a dark red blush on his face. One of which everyone laughed at.

Next was Neo, who everyone turned too. She looked like she wasn't paying attention up until now, but she nodded her head without really knowing what she was agreeing too nonetheless. She was a strange girl, but then again, she was a strange girl who really knew how to stab a person, and they were all secretly glad they were on their side. Some more than others…

Rhea still thinks she is as innocent as a butterfly, and for now Hector was willing to let her believe that as long as Neo doesn't try anything. It was cute while it was lasting though, so that was a plus.

"Alright, now it's time for the second part of this little talk I had planned for you guys." Hector said as he turned back to Jinn, and then wrapped his arms all around Ruby and Yang to bring them closer to him. "Hold on to me, we're about to go on a little trip."

"What kind of trip?" Ruby asked innocently.

"Wait, can you get high off this thing?" Yang asked, suddenly more interested than she really had the right to be.

"What? Why would you even think that?" Hector questioned with a confused look on his face.

Yang simply laughed nervously, even as Ruby glared at her with her silver eyes.

"Moving on," Hector sighed. "We have a few days before we end up in Shade, so instead of just sitting around, I figured I would go ahead and do something important for you too. It involves Summer Rose, your mother."

Suddenly, Ruby and Yang got a lot more interested in what he had in store for them. Even Rhea leaned in so she could see what was going to happen, even though her last visit into a vision was rather traumatizing. She actually did want to know what happened to this Summer person as well, she was the one who defeated her by simply holding up a blue flame in a enclosed room. Her whole existence has been one big mystery to everyone.

"What are you going to ask the Relic?" Ruby asked, her voice was soft and hoarse, and was full of emotion. But her desire to know the truth was stronger than anything else at the moment. She _needed_ this closure.

"Knolly… tell us all about Summer Rose, and what happened to her." He asked the Relic.

Jinn smiled, and a haze of blue surrounded the entire Group. Neo saw this go on, and jumped away, afraid of the blue fog.

/-/

The world around them changed from the enclosed metal room of the Bullhead, to a familiar cliffside on the island of Patch. The sight of a woman with a white hood on with their backs to them was the first thing that they spotted, and Hector had to physically hold Ruby back from hugging her lest she fall out of the vision. Summer wasn't really there, this was just a vision anyway. She understood what he meant right away when he told her that.

This was the first time Hector was going to see Summer Rose, and Rhea commented on how she recognized the white hood. But saying that when she saw it, it was more grey than it was white.

Slowly, the woman began to turn around. Her red tipped black hair started blowing with the wind as she turned around. Even with her facing the group, she still had most of her body hidden by the white cloak. She had a smile on her face, which quickly turned into a neutral line as she looked back at them, through them probably. As expected, her eyes were silver, and she was _very_ beautiful. She also looked a lot like Ruby, it was like looking in the mirror for her. Though, one thing that made Hector wonder was that she didn't look old at all, she looked like she was seventeen, maybe eighteen. If this was around the time she supposedly "Died", then she should at least have a few wrinkles. But at this time, she had _none_.

Yang and Ruby began to tear up, while Hector and Rhea stared up at her in awe. He offered the girls what support he could, but was captivated by the silver eyes of Summer Rose.

Staring straight into his…

Hector raised an eyebrow, and turned to see if there was anyone from the old Team STRQ behind them, or anyone for that matter, maybe even Summer's father or mother. But instead he saw no one. He turned back around, and Summer Rose fully turned her body to face them all.

She was still staring at him, curiously and raised an eyebrow when he turned to face her again.

"Who are you?" Summer asked.

Hector as well as all of the girls with him, gasped. He didn't know how to respond, only opening and closing his mouth every few seconds to try and get something out.

He lost hold of Ruby, who waved her arms around her face to get her attention, but Summer didn't see her, neither did she see Yang or Rhea doing the same. She only saw Hector.

"What are you doing here stranger?" Summer asked again, leaning one of her hands on one hip. "There's Grimm around here you know."

"I…" Hector began, still not knowing what to say. He has never had this happen before, and neither Ozma nor Jinn were of any help right now. One was shocked into silence, and the other had nothing to say. Which left him practically alone in this.

"You can see me?" He asked, needed the confirmation of what was happening right now. He even glanced back over his shoulder to see if there was anyone behind him, and still there was no one there. Not a _single_ soul.

"What kind of question is that?" Summer asked with a giggle, amused. "Of course I can see you silly. Black hair, blue eyes, tan skin, I'm guessing eighteen or nineteen years old. Any of those ring a bell?"

Hector was shocked.

She could see him… when he was looking at her through a vision…

"What the fuck is happening to me now?"

That phrase pretty much summed up his entire life.

* * *

 **Chapter 60 is here, and here we go into some time traveling shit. I bet a lot of you are thinking the same thing Hector was thinking just now. What the fuck is happening to him now? First he was pulled into a world different from his own, found out he had magic in him, fought more battles with the experience he got from a 3000 year old King, found out he is maybe part God, and now Summer Rose is speaking to him from the past. Yeah, Hector has no idea what is happening right now.**

 **Next chapter is mainly going to be focused around this vision that Jinn is giving Hector and the girls. I feel like if I** _ **don't**_ **do that, there is going to be an outrage.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the chapter!**

 **If you would like to know the progress of every chapter of every story before they come out, then you can keep up with me on my twitter!**

 **You can follow me at: Twit ter . com (slash) genatools**

 **If you would like to support me directly, and motivate me to pump out chapters even faster. Then here is the link to do just that:**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**

 **Thank you all for reading!**


	61. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 61

**Here we are with another chapter of this crazy ride of a story. I got a mixed reaction to the Summer seeing Hector in the visage thing, but don't worry I have a plan. Trust me, this story is full of stuff that does and does not make sense, this is my first ever one after all. Now more than sixty chapters in the making. I'm sure I'll make it work, when have I not?**

…

 **Plenty of times I'm sure. *Cough* Tyrian Clones *Cough***

 **Shut up younger me, that was a bad idea, and we both know it.**

* * *

 **Thank you all to those who reviewed last chapter, I appreciate the feedback, and as much as I would love to respond to you guys, I am on a tight schedule. I wanna get to the story as quickly as possible before I have to get to work later on. Just know that I always read every single review I get, and I look forward to every future review I get for every one of my stories.**

 **One thing I'd like you all to keep in mind, since Hector knows Ozma's real name, he is going to call him that from now on. That's just how he is, the one exception is Jinn, whom he calls Knolly most of the time. So when you see Ozma, just know that it's Ozpin.**

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

* * *

Chapter 61- Singularity

 _Why does all the weird shit happen to me?_ Hector thought to himself as he stared eye to eye to Summer Rose in the past.

" _I… don't know what to say about this."_ Ozma said, and Hector could _feel_ his confusement as well, so there was no lying detection needed there.

 _Knolly, how about you?_ Hector asked in his head, hoping that the relic could hear him.

' _There is no need to worry master, everything that is happening to you happens for a reason, and this needs to happen.'_ The Relic told him, and Hector could feel a sweat drop from his face as Summer tilted her head in confusion at him because of his silence.

 _What is so special about me? Why specifically me?_ There was a plenty a dozen more questions that Hector wanted to ask the Relic, but for now, it seemed like he had to deal with something much more immediate.

"Uh, hello? Remnant to stranger? You in there?" The mother of Ruby asked him, even stepping closer to him to see if there was anything wrong with him.

"Uh… yeah, I am." Hector said nervously, feeling a sense of nausea coming over him.

"How come she can't hear us? Or see us? How come she can only see you?" Ruby asked him, desperate to have her mother's attention.

"I don't know… I don't even know why or what is going on right now." Hector replied to her.

Summer blinked. "Are you okay? You don't seem well." She pointed out the paleness in his skin tone.

"I… uh. Yeah, I'll be right back."

Hector ended the vision then and there, disappearing into the wind right in front of Summer's eyes. Ruby, Yang, and Rhea were all taken with him, not that the woman knew that. When he faded away, she widened her eyes and thought she was hallucinating for a second. She looked left, and then right. Seeing nothing but her favorite cliffside.

"Was it something I said?" She asked herself when she couldn't find the young man.

/-/

When Hector's physical body regained consciousness, he groaned a curse loudly into his hands. The blue mist disappeared, and he was about to try his best to explain himself to the girls as soon as he could. But instead of finding himself in the Bullhead, he instead found himself back in the white void in the depth of his mind.

Only Jinn was present, and in her physical form no less.

"Knolly, what's going on here?" Hector asked out loud as he took a step toward her, feeling a lot weaker than he usually felt.

"We are in a void, this is where I reside in until you summon me." Jinn said as she sat backward into the air. "I know you desire an explanation, am I correct?"

"Where is everyone?" Hector asked instead, looking around for Ruby and Rhea.

"They are paused in time, or rather. Time is passing by so slowly for them, that it feels like time itself has stopped." Jinn explained. "You need to go back into the vision Master."

Hector tried to ignore her, but when he tried to contact Ozma, even he was unresponsive. Whatever the Relic of Knowledge did, worked for just the two of them. There was no getting out of this, and there was no getting help from his friends.

"Why do I have to go back to that?" Hector asked. "I already have enough on my mind with the Summer Maiden and the relics, I don't need to be traveling through time for something I don't even understand! How did Summer even see me? How far did you take us!? I told you to show us what happened to Summer!"

"I understand your frustration, but this is something that cannot be avoided." Jinn started, cutting him off before he could continue. "She is able to see you, and I cannot explain that for you."

"Why not?!"

"I have been ordered not too."

"By _who_!?"

"You."

Hector recoiled in shock, his blue eyes widening and narrowing as he tried to process what he had just heard. It was… _him_ that ordered Knolly not to explain how Summer was able to see him?

"How is that possible…?" Hector said as he held his head, feeling a headache come in. "How is any of this possible?"

"You shouldn't be surprised by what is, and what isn't possible anymore Master." Jinn said with an amused chuckle. "The world works in strange ways."

"Knolly…" Hector looked up at the relic. "Jinn… what are you?"

Jinn smiled at her owner. "I am Jinn, I am Knolly, I am the Relic of Knowledge. I provide Knowledge to humanity if they so seek it. I am a servant to you, and I exist in all planes of existence, same as my brother, and sisters."

"The other relics…" Hector scratched at his chest, feeling a dull pain start to bother him in that area. "Are they all the same as you?"

"Yes." Jinn answered easily. "Though each have their own… special abilities." She chuckled fondly. "Deus is the youngest, and the most hotheaded."

"And I have a feeling I am going to meet that one soon as well." Hector sighed. "So, what do I have to do now Jinn? Do I really have to go back to Summer, and do what? Play guardian angel to her?"

"That is for you to find out Master." Jinn replied, and just like the other times Hector didn't even react to her calling him master when she was in her physical form. "You will not be gone long, to you it will be but a few hours. But to Summer Rose, it would mean a lifetime of debt."

Hector thought long and hard about it. Everything was so crazy and hard to believe. He never once thought that one of the things he'd be doing was traveling back to the past and meeting Summer Rose in person. Ruby and her sister are probably not going to be very happy about him being the one Summer is able to see and speak to, but at the same time he didn't really have a choice in the matter. Because apparently, his future self ordered Jinn not to tell him anything.

He'd just have to trust himself then…

"Fine, just put me back in the vision- whatever that is I came from." Hector said with a sigh.

Jinn smiled. "What of the girls?"

"They might hate me for it, but I can't afford to have their thoughts cloud my judgement. They can be present, but I don't want to be able to see or hear them until after what needs to be done is done."

"Understood Master, I'd suggest that you prepare yourself for the consequences of that decision however."

"At this point, I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't." Hector shrugged, willing to save that mess of an argument for later. "Might as well be damned later on in life."

"Heh." Jinn chuckled, it was one of the first times that Hector actually saw the relic chuckle over anything. She usually always showed how she felt about things with her expressions, or her inner feelings which Hector can sense.

"What?" He felt the need to ask.

"Oh nothing," Jinn waved her hand. "That was just the same thing you said the first time you showed up inside me."

It took a while for Hector to process the way Jinn said that to him.

"What!?"

"Good luck, Master." The Relic said with a grin as she put Hector back into the vision in a flash of blue light.

/-/

"AH!" Summer screamed and fell backward when the same young man she saw from earlier suddenly appeared in her path. She stood on that cliff enjoying the view for a few minutes more, thinking about the new topic on her mind which involved a certain stranger visiting her and disappearing into the wind.

Hector blinked his eyes a few times and looked down at himself, he was transparent, as he always was in visions like these. But right now, he was slightly _more_ see through, much more than before anyway.

"Who are… it's you again?" Summer asked in her confusion as she propped herself up on her hands.

"God this feels weird." Hector muttered to himself as he looked down at Summer, and just as he ordered Jinn. Ruby, Yang, and Rhea were all not visible to him. He knew they were there with him, but he couldn't afford to think about that now. "Sorry about scaring you… need a hand?"

He offered his right hand to help the mother of his girlfriend up from the ground. Summer regarded it curiously, but ultimately decided to accept the helping hand. When she went to grab it however, her hand passed right through his own. She tried again, as did he, but the same result was acquired.

"What are you, a ghost?" Summer asked as she helped herself up instead.

"Uh… yeah, this is going to be hard to explain." Hector said more to himself than to her. "Would you believe me if I said that I am from the future, and I am traveling back in time to be a guardian angel of sorts?"

Summer narrowed her silver eyes at him, and much like her future daughter. It was a look that warned him to be careful with his next words.

"Right… okay uh, how old are you?" He mentally slapped himself for asking such a stupid question. But he tried to keep a friendly smile on his face anyway.

Summer rose an eyebrow at him, but when she shrugged Hector almost sighed a breath of relief.

"I'm seventeen, and I'm just about to head to Beacon in a few days for my first day!" She exclaimed cheerfully, acting so giddily and excitedly as she clapped her hands together and jumped in place.

Seventeen…

He was older than her right now…

 _Fuck…_

"Oh really? You're going to be a Huntress then?" Hector asked, if he was supposed to be watching over her for whatever reason, then he might as well get to know her. Even though he already knew the answer to most of the questions he had for her.

Once again, he mentally slapped himself in the face for asking such a stupid question.

"Yup! I'm going to be the best there ever was!" Summer said as she flexed one of her arms, and being the mother of Ruby, it went without saying that she was about the same size as she was at that age. "What about you? What're you going to do in your life?"

Hector rose an eyebrow and gestured to his spectral see through body.

"Wait… are you even real?" Summer asked next, stepping back to get a better look at his body.

"At this point, I don't even know." Hector said with a sigh.

"Oh my God I'm seeing a guy that isn't really here." Summer said with a panicked voice. "Am I going crazy? No wait, why am I asking you? Oh gosh, I'm schizophrenic!

 _Yup… she is definitely Ruby's mother._ Hector thought with a roll of his eyes.

"Alright, calm down Summer. You're not schizophrenic, this is by no means happening naturally." He said with a nervous grin.

Summer stopped freaking out, and stared at him with a surprised look on her face.

"How do you know my name?" She asked, one of her eyebrows raising above one of her silver eyes.

Hector choked on the words he tried to get out next, he never really did ask for her name yet. He just already knew it because he was trying to do something nice for Ruby and Yang.

"That settles it." Summer said with a shake of her head as she walked past him, brushing against his spectral shoulder and walking right through him as she did so. "You are a figment of my imagination, if I forget about you. You'll go away."

"I don't think it's that simple!" Hector called out to her.

He wanted to follow her, but his legs didn't listen to him. His arms and the rest of his body did, but he couldn't turn around to go follow her like he thought he should have. He just stood helplessly as Ruby's future mother turned his back on him and thought him as just a figment of his imagination.

"Not listening to you!" She shouted for good measure as she continued to walk away into the forest, presumably back to her house or parents. If they were still around at this time.

"Summer wait-" He cut himself off when the surrounding area changed again, he stared on in shock as the world around him itself changed, he saw the sun set and rise over and over for a few times. Then the next thing he knew, he was in the Beacon courtyard. He knew that was it because of Ozma's memories, and his own.

Hector was disoriented for a few seconds before finally coming back to his senses as he heard that casual chatting of everyone around him. There was a crowd around him, walking through him, past him, and all dispersed as they walked around the fountain in the middle of said crowd.

"Beacon…" He muttered to himself. "What just happened?"

' _We went slightly ahead into the future Master, you'll know what to do next.'_ Jinn said to him in their mind.

He didn't know what to do at first, but once he saw a familiar girl with a white cloak covering almost her entire body hiding away from the rest of the crowd. He suddenly knew what he had to do next.

 _At least my legs work this time_. Hector thought to himself as he casually strolled over to the unsuspecting girl and sat down next to her. Being a transparent being at this time, he didn't make any noise at first. He quickly fixed that as he thought of a way to get the girls attention again.

"Yo!" He greeted loudly.

"AAH!" Summer yelped as she skid away from him about three feet, still sitting down but curling up into some sort of defensive ball as her silver eyes scoured for whoever it was that scared her.

When those eyes landed on his, she widened them, narrowed them, and then widened them again.

"You again!?" She said loudly once she recognized Hector as the same person from the other day.

"Yeup, I am back again." Hector said with a bitter chuckle. He would have to get back at Jinn for this, and himself in the future. And Ozma too. Because somehow, he felt like he had some hand in this. "Honestly, I think it would be good to get used to me pretty soon."

"Why are you following me?" Summer asked, scared and creeped out.

Hector just looked at her with a blank expression.

"Oh… yeah." She flushed and looked away. "Calm down Sum, you're just seeing things again."

"Yeah, I am still going to have to correct you and say that I am definitely real right now." Hector said, and felt a bad feeling that he was going to have to repeat that a few more times just to get it through her head.

"No you're not, stop talking to me." Summer said as she pulled her hood even further over her head.

"Oh come on, it's not like you can ignore me forever." Hector said adamantly. Since he was forced to be some vision of hers, than he figured that Summer _had_ to have something to do with whatever he had to do here. She was also the only person that could see and hear him right now, and it wasn't like he had anything else to do anyway. Time flow around his physical body must be going incredibly slow.

"Can, and will."

"You just talked to me again, so you're not ignoring me."

"Mm mm."

 _She's almost exactly like Ruby._ Hector thought to himself with an amused snort. She looked like her too, though that was to be expected, she was her mother after all. It also seemed like some degree of social awkwardness also carried over, it must have ran in the family.

"Okay, so this is how things are going to be." He said as he lied down on the stone foundation of the fountain, feet pointed toward Summer as to not make her feel any more uncomfortable.

"Yup." Summer said as she turned her body away from him even more.

"Hm?" A male hummed curiously, it was one that Hector thought he recognized, and he sat back up just so he could confirm his thoughts.

In the crowd not too far from where he, and Summer were sitting. He could see a head of blonde hair paired with blue eyes. Tan skin, and an outfit he remembered all too well. It was Taiyang back in his prime, at this point, he was also younger than he was. Which was weird to say the least considering who he was currently dating.

He regarded Summer for a moment, who had her head pointed at the ground doing her best to ignore what she thought was just some messed up trick her mind was playing on her. Looked at her for a few seconds, shrugged, and then started to walk away again.

Hector saw this as a chance to do _something_. Maybe this was his first chance to actually make some progress?

Doing the first thing that came to mind. He jumped up from his seat, and lunged for Summer while screaming as loud as he could.

"AAAH!" Summer screeched as she jumped out of her seat, and partway into the crowd, running away from the source of her fears. But as she was running, she bumped straight into the young Taiyang that Hector saw from earlier.

"Oof, you okay there?" Taiyang said as he pushed Summer gently off of him.

"I uh… maybe?" Summer said awkwardly as she pushed off of him, face red and silver eyes trying to look anywhere but him.

"Maybe?" Taiyang echoed.

"No its-" Summer took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Something just spooked me, sorry for bumping into you like that."

"Heh, don't worry about it. I've been told that bumping into someone was the bests way to make friends." Taiyang quipped with a laugh.

Summer giggled in response, finding his little joke amusing.

"Sooo… what's your name?" She asked, sparking up a conversation.

"The names Taiyang 'Dragon Fire' Xiao Long, strongest student coming out of Signal Academy." He introduced himself with a smirk that held a _striking_ resemblance to Yang's.

"Oh really? What do you use as a weapon?" Summer asked giddily as she looked around his body for any kind of object that may be used to fight with.

"Tell you what, tell me your name, and I'll tell you all about these babies." Taiyang said as he cocked his own version of Yang's future Ember Celica gauntlets. His were bigger however, and must have been heavier. They looked almost the same, save for some major shape differences around the wrist guards.

"Deal! My name is Summer Rose, and-"

Hector tuned the rest of the conversation out, he did see what Summer used as a weapon, but it didn't look like anything that was going to blow his mind. Because of everything he has seen, and the current situation he was in. Not a lot could surprise him.

As Taiyang and Summer started chatting away and becoming quick friends, Hector started to look around again, trying to see what else could be going on at the moment while he waited for the next phase of his sudden new mission.

"Listen here you little shit, we are here for _many_ _reasons_ ," _That_ was a voice he could never forget.

Hector instantly recognized the new voice, and saw that a decent section of the crowd dispersed to let two people through. Both with black hair, and both with vibrant red eyes. Hector almost broke down at the sight of Raven after everything that happened with her, but in this state, he was not able to feel that degree of negative emotions. She looked exactly like Yang, only with a different color palet and the same clothes that she usually wore as her older self. Except this time her attire was slightly smaller in size.

Qrow… looked almost the exact same. Just a tad shorter, and with a clean shaven face and no spots of grey in his pitch black hair. Hector felt like he should have expected that, but it still surprised him a good amount that there was little to no change.

When he focused less on what they looked like and more and _what_ they were doing, it seemed like Qrow was actually being dragged along by his sister. He did fight back from time to time, but all it did was rile up his twin. Perhaps that was his intention, Hector wouldn't have been surprised if it was.

"And not _single one_ of them is so you can be a lazy bitch!" Raven exclaimed as she pushed and shoved her way through the crowd.

"Awe, come on Ray." the teenage Qrow whined. "No need to be a bitch, I have to do this too you know."

"Don't call me either of those things, and I won't kill you in your sleep." Raven hissed.

"Heh, in your dreams sis."

"You should be aware that I am capable of a lot of things."

"Yeah, and beating me is not one of them."

"Oh please, it's not like you are able to beat me."

While the twins were fighting stopped in the middle of the crowd, they formed a sort of invisible aura around them that pushed away anyone that got too close. Or it may have just been their natural instinct to not get involved in whatever teenage Qrow and Raven were arguing about.

Hector snorted at them, he dealt with them both as adults, and they only get _much_ worse. Especially when Qrow gets drunk and Raven becomes the Spring Maiden. He remembered that around the time he first met Qrow he actually almost threw up all over him. And the first time he met Raven they sorta almost fought each other until one of them died.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Summer backing down from the two of them. Apparently scared of the display the twins were giving off.

"That girl is scary… her poor brother." Summer said with a shudder.

Meanwhile, Taiyang might as well have had hearts in his eyes.

"She's… so beautiful." He said as he waved at his face in an attempt to cool himself down. "I _have_ to marry that woman!"

"Eugh. Marriage." Summer said with a heave, not at all liking the idea at so early an age.

"Oh, you have no idea just how complicated your life is going to get." Hector said as he walked up to her and tried to place a hand on her shoulder. Only for him to nearly stumble over himself when his hand went right through her body.

Summer sighed, and actually turned to face Hector one more time.

"If you're stuck with me, than you're going to go my my rules." She said with a pout as she pointed a finger at the young man.

"Huh? You mean that you want to be partners or something, right?" Taiyang asked as he turned his attention back on to her.

"U-uh, yeah! Sure, why not?" Summer stammered embarrassedly, half glaring at Hector while she kept most of her attention on Taiyang.

"If this is how the seed of Team STRQ was planted, I really am going to punch you Knolly." Hector said as the surrounding area faded away again, and began to transform as he disappeared from Summers sight.

"No need master, Team STRQ would have been organized with or without your help." Jinn pointed out.

At that, Hector breathed another sigh of relief. "Good. So why was I even there to begin with?" He asked as he realized that there was a bit of a hole in his already thin understanding of the way things were at the moment.

"You'll find out soon enough." Jinn said, and let a very long pause come into play. It took a good fifteen seconds of looking around the blue void for Hector to realize that he was supposed to say something in return.

"So, does that mean I'm going in for my next episode right now?" He asked hesitantly, and as if it should have been obvious.

"Correct." Jinn smiled. "Good luck in this next one."

"Oh great, that fills me with a whole lot of confidence." Hector said sarcastically. "This is going to be so hard to explain to the others when I'm done with this." He thought out loud, referring to those in Vale and Atlas at the moment.

"Quite." Jinn said as she brought Hector to the next part of his time traveling adventure.

/-/

This time, Hector found himself in a forest, and it didn't take long for him to realize which forest he was actually in. The vibrant red leaves in every which direction was more than a given. He was in the Forest of Forever Fall, the first time he has actually visited the place, even though he is _technically_ not really there.

"Ugh, stupid sap getting on my white hood." He heard an unmistakable voice not too far away from him. "Why did they have to make us skydive into a forest with red sap? Awe, this is the worst." The same voice whined.

After looking around for a few more seconds, the vibrant white hood in a field of red was easily spotted. Once again, he was behind the girl, and he didn't feel like scaring her again. This forest was supposedly crawling with Grimm after all. Startling her in a place like this didn't seem like the smartest idea in the world.

Hector slowly made his way in front of the girl, making sure to keep his distance as he stepped into her vision. As soon as he became visible to the woman, their eyes locked again.

Her shoulders visibly sagged as she instantly recognized who he was. "Don't tell me we have to be partners now because I looked you in the eyes…"

"Did you forget that you're the only one who can see me right now?" Hector asked, ignoring the fact that the girls are probably screaming and yelling at him right now.

Summer's shoulders sagged even further. "Right… I nearly forgot that I was going crazy for a few hours."

"You're not going crazy, I'm just stuck with you until whatever I need to do is complete okay? Then you'll never have to see me again." Hector paused to think. "For at least two decades."

"How long are you going to be stuck with me then!?" Summer asked, frustrated. "Forever?"

"For as long as you need me apparently."

"I don't _need_ anyone."

"I know, which makes me wonder what exactly I am supposed to be doing with you."

Summer narrowed her eyes at him again.

Hector held his ground, it wasn't like she could actually hurt him anyway. Though on the inside he was a bit frightened by the very Ruby like glare.

"What's your name?" Summer managed to make such an innocent question sound so daunting.

"Err…" Hector thought about answering the question for a good couple of seconds. He couldn't exactly tell her his real name, because that might lead to some problems interdimensionally, and he already had enough problems to deal with as it is without trying to repair time itself.

"Rios," Hector made up a name for himself by simply translating his last name into a different language. "I go by Rios, call me that."

"Rios…" Try as Summer did, Hector had a lot of lying training under his belt. Mostly because of sharing experience with Ozma, he was a master at a lot of things. Lying just happened to be one of the things Ozma did a lot in his lifetime of reincarnations and endless life. She just couldn't detect the lie in his perfectly straight face.

Hesitantly, she tried to raise one hand up as to touch Hector, to see if he was actually real despite earlier attempts to do so. He allowed it to happen, and as expected, her hand passed right through his chest.

She took her hand back and looked down at it, she didn't feel any pain, but she did feel some kind of… warmth. A comfortable one. The complete opposite of what Summer originally thought she was going to feel.

"I think I know what you are now." She said slowly, her voice sounding much more mature than it did before.

Hector felt his heart skip a beat, if she somehow found out who and what he was, what did that mean for him in the future?

"You're… my guardian angel!"

...What?

"I-I mean yeah! Let's go with that." Hector said with a nervous laugh. He joked about that being the case earlier, and don't actually think that was the case, but if Summer wanted to call him that, then he had no problems with it whatsoever. He didn't even know if he could actually protect her if it came down to it because of him being in a spectral form and not able to touch anything besides the ground.

"It makes sense! I mean, I am in constant danger right now, and the other times you showed up I was stressed out. Totally makes a _ton_ of sense." Summer said with a smile on her face, which sort of made Hector concerned for her mental health. But then pushed such thoughts back as he remembered that a lot of the Huntsman he knew were acted similarly like this.

"Suuuure." Hector made sure to make a friendly thumbs up gesture and make it look like he thinks she figured it out. And by the looks of Summer jumping up and down happily, she seemed to be just as optimistic, and idealistic as her future daughter was going to be.

"So," Summer stopped, and looked up at Hector with a giddy expression.

"What do you wanna do now?"

Hector didn't know how to respond to that, which was why he was very thankful to see a familiar woman with black hair, and red eyes land on a branch not too far away from where he, and Summer were speaking. Raven, he instantly recognized the woman as.

The sound of Raven Branwen's feet making contact with the ground startled Summer yet again. For some reason, she thought hiding behind her _guardian angel_ was a good idea when no one else was able to see him.

Silver eyes met bloody red, and the rest of the story wrote itself from there. They stared at each other in the eyes for about a minute, until finally the Branwen had enough of it.

"Don't hold me back." Raven said simply with a huff as she walked up to Summer and past her. Making sure to not so gently brush her shoulder against hers as she did so.

"Uhh… oh! We're partners now!" Summer suddenly realized, and sped up to catch up with the scary lady. "Wait up!"

"Catch up." Raven called back.

"Ergh…" Summer growled lightly as she followed the other girl in black and red. She paused for a moment to look back at _Rios_ , who simply gave her a two finger wave to bid her farewell. She looked like she wanted to say more to him, but with her actual _physical_ partner waiting for her, she reluctantly turned back around to chase after her. Mentally noting to have a longer conversation with what she thought was her guardian angel in the near future.

/-/

Hector sighed as the surrounding area once again shifted and changed into something new. However, this time there was no intermission with Jinn. Now, he was suddenly thrown into a hallway with Summer sitting on the floor against the wall with her arms wrapped around her legs, and her face in her knees. It looked like she was crying, but he couldn't tell because of the white hood she had around her head.

He tilted his head in confusion as he looked around. It was definitely a hallway, so he assumed that he was back in Beacon. Whatever for, he didn't know. But his objective seemed to be clear when he saw Summer raise her head out of her knees, and he saw the tear marks on her face.

"You okay?" He asked automatically, his instincts taking hold of him as he thought of Ruby.

Summer jumped slightly, but recognized the voice instantly. She then snapped her head toward him, and for the first time, she smiled when she saw him.

"Rios! Thank goodness you're here, I need some advice from you." She said as she wiped the tears from her face.

"Why were you crying?" Hector asked instead of asking what advice she needed. It was his priority.

"I…" Summer hesitated, looking left and right. "I think my partner hates me… that scary girl we saw in initiation. Raven Branwen."

Hector already knew where this was going. He had experience with dealing with Raven, and she was _never_ easy to deal with. Every time they met, there was something that she needed from him, and the one time she didn't is when she was dying. But even through all that, she was his friend, and right now besides Qrow, he might actually know her the best at this point in time he's in.

"Ah, sounds like an argument already." He said as he sat down next to her, slumping his back against the wall. "What happened?"

"We got into an argument… The Headmaster chose me to be the leader of Team STRQ, but apparently she wanted to be the leader. Her brother Qrow is cool, but even he can't get through to his sister. Tai tries to help, but flirting with her is never a good idea." Summer sighed and slumped her head back into her knees. "I don't know what caused this… she volunteered to fight a Grimm in class, and I was trying to shout her advice because I thought that was what partners were good for, but she shouted and cursed at me in front of the whole class… then," She gestured to herself as she picked her head back up to look at him. "This all happened."

 _That sounds strikingly similar to a problem another team that I know of had…_ Hector thought to himself, using more of Ozma's memories then his own this time to remember Team RWBY.

"I see." Hector replied maturely, wrapping his fingers around his chin as he thought on what he should say to her. Raven was no Weiss by any means, they were only similar in attitudes at times.

It was no secret that Raven valued strength over almost anything. So maybe he could use that to help Summer out here?

"The way I see it, you need to prove yourself to this Raven if you want her approval." Hector said carefully, making good use of Ozma's intelligence combined with his own personal experience.

"Prove myself to her?" Summer considered the idea. "How do I do that?"

"It sounds like this girl thinks she is stronger than you, so she thinks she should be leader. That would mean that she values strength over a lot of things, so when I saw prove her wrong…"

He let Summer figure out what she needed to do.

"You want me to fight her!?" She blurted out suddenly, making her indignance known. "Are you crazy!? I can't beat her, she's the best in our year!"

"So you would rather her constantly trying to undermine you and making your team's life Hell?" Hector countered, and he knew he won the argument right then and there when Summer's eyes widened, and she stammered out words that didn't make any sense. This lasted for about ten seconds before once again, Summer sighed exasperatedly and slumped her head back into her knees. Groaning loudly as she did so.

"Fine…"

"Hm?" Hector didn't quite hear her.

"I said _fine_ , I'll challenge ger in the next combat class we have together. Happy?"

"I'm actually pretty amused not going to lie."

"Rios!" Summer hissed, trying to throw a fist into his shoulder playfully and scowling when her hand went right through his body. "Argh, that's going to get annoying."

"You're telling me." Hector said with a snort. "I wish you luck in your next fight, tell me how it goes the next time you see me."

"Wait! I have something I want to ask… you." Summer trailed off when Hector faded away from her vision. "Damn… I wanted to ask him how he knew what to say…"

/-/

True to his word, Hector reappeared sometime later in the week. This time Summer had her hood down, revealing a head of black and red hair. Though her pale face had some noticeable bruises on it, and not too far away from her, so did Raven's.

They were in a dorm room this time, he could see Qrow and Taiyang also passed out asleep on their own beds, and it didn't take long to take in what those three must have done because of the many bottles of alcohol that were scattered around the room.

It also didn't take long for Summer to realize that he was there, he did sort of appear in front of her out of thin air. She rose her head and smiled at him, and he winced when he saw the one of her back teeth was missing.

"Hey Rios, I did the thing you told me to do." She said happily.

"I noticed… How did that go?" Hector asked carefully, just in case he was being caught in some kind of trap.

"Oh, I lost. I _definitely_ lost." Summer said in a happy tone, which confused Hector greatly. "But you know what else happened?"

"Sure…"

"It was a hard fight, I got a few good hits in, but after I lost. Raven _actually_ said that she respects me, and gave me her approval to lead her!" Summer cheered, and it was a wonder how no one woke up from their slumber because of her high pitched voice. "I've claimed victory! But after that, my team sorta of drank themselves to passing out."

"Oh, that's great actually." Hector said with a small smile. "Is that why those three are knocked out?"

"Oh, yeah. Qrow is Qrow, so he just snuck in a thirty six pack through the window soon after the fight."

"... A thirty six pack? Those exist?"

Summer shrugged. "Apparently, I didn't question it. Raven said she needed one after the fight, Qrow drank just 'cause, and Tai tried to keep up with Raven to impress her or something. After that, they all went to sleep, and I waited for you to come by."

Hector blinked his eyes. "You _waited_ for me?"

She shrugged again. "Yeah, I knew you were going to come by again, and I didn't want to be rude and fall asleep."

"Huh," Hector nodded his head in understanding. Summer was really like Ruby in a lot of ways. "Okay, but just letting you know, you shouldn't go out of your way for me. I'm sure you'd be fine without me anyway."

"Eh, you've been helpful so far, I don't see why I shouldn't go to you for advice sometimes." Summer beamed up at him. "Actually, that reminds me. Since we're going to be stuck together like this for who knows how long, how much advice do you think you'd be able to give?"

Hector closed his eyes, and hummed. On the outside, it looked like he was thinking, but on the inside, he was cursing at his own luck for being put in this position.

To him, it has only been a few dozen short minutes, but to Summer, it must have been a few days already, and she was already getting used to his company. He didn't know how long he actually had to stick with her, but if what Jinn said was true, than he would have to stay with her for many many hours.

"Sure, why not." Hector said with a shrug.

So that was what he did. Everytime he popped up in Summers life, he offered what advice he could, or just had small talk with her. They ended becoming good friends in the meantime. The first year for Summer went without too much issue, and Hector didn't know when things were going to start to get serious, so he kept his mental guard up.

Soon enough, near the end of Team STRQ's second year, the current headmaster retired, and a new one was put in his place. Ozpin. The man with the unmistakable head of white hair and glasses. He looked almost the same as the version of Ozma that Hector has been seeing since he first took his soul into his body.

From there, Hector saw how serious things started to get.

In Summer's third year, Ozpin called all of Team STRQ into his office. Sometime before that, he was just calling up Qrow and Raven. Hector assumed that this was around the time that Ozpin first recruited the two Branwen twins.

He was there when the headmaster told them about Salem, and the tale of the maidens. The relics. The whole nine yards. He even spoke about the power of the silver eyes with the team.

After that, Summer confronted him on if he knew about Salem or not, and Hector told her the truth. He was still going by Rios, but since Summer now knew of the existence of actual magic, both types that is. She was beginning to get suspicious of him.

It took a whole hour for him to earn her trust back after that, and to Summer, it last months. He just kept appearing, and eventually, he was able to convince her that he was on _her_ side, and that she _shouldn't_ tell anyone of his existence. It took a long time for Summer to process the part that he was from decades in the future, but process she did. He still didn't tell her his real name, but he promised that he would tell her in the future, but only at the right time.

Soon after that happened, Taiyang's attempts to get with Raven finally happened in their senior year. Persistent was not a big enough of a word to describe how headstrong the blonde man was. Their relationship was a surprisingly sweet one.

After the team graduated, things took a hard turn for the worst.

Over the years for Summer, Hector could tell how stressed she must have been. Constantly going on missions with her teammates. Fighting the forces of Salem in every part of the world that she was needed in. Fighting off the assassination attempts on her life, one of them was even attempted by Marcus Black himself. Hector's heart broke as he watched the once happy and giddy girl turn into this stressed out girl. Once they graduated, everything changed.

She would occasionally tease him about not growing old along with her, since after she turned twenty and beyond. She started to notice that Hector wasn't ageing along with her. It was something the two laughed about every one in a while.

Then Yang was born, the girl was born with a lot of golden hair already, and it was amusing to see Taiyang struggle with the reality that he was a father now. Qrow was also struggling with the reality that his twin sister just had a child, and he was now an uncle. It all happened so fast for Hector, but Summer was with them every step of the way.

Then… Raven left. Just weeks after Yang was born. If Hector could guess, it was as soon as she recovered fully from the experience of birthing a child. She didn't even leave a note behind, didn't even speak to her partner about it. The only person she spoke a word of it too was to her brother, and he felt terrible for not being able to convince her to stay.

After helping Summer get through the pain of abandonment by her partner and best friend. He was actually able to _see_ how she fell in love with Taiyang. To see that love blossom into something beautiful made him think about Ruby, it was a beautiful feeling.

What wasn't so beautiful was seeing the birth of his girlfriend right before his very eyes… TWICE.

Jinn thought it was funny, that was her explanation for making him go through that twice.

Things started to speed up even more after that. A year later, Ruby was running around as the little baby toddler that she was. Summer was a great mother to both her and Yang, Hector was able to see that personally now. He did what he could to offer her advice when she needed it, but with how fast she was growing, she didn't really need him that much anymore.

But then… her last mission came…

Hector knew it was her last mission, because he watched as Ozma personally came to pick her up from her house. He watched as she kisses Taiyang and her daughters goodbye, and watched as Qrow was also recruited to go with them on this mission.

Hector felt an ominous feeling as time kept speeding by. His visits with Summer got increasingly shorter, and he found himself wanting to be there for her more as the minutes went by.

Stop Salem once and for all. That was Ozma's plan. But Hector _knew_ that he didn't really have a full plan. His _plan_ was to _hope_ that Summer had the power to take down Salem with her eyes. That was the damn plan that he had.

Ozma was able to speak to him as the moment he knew was coming was nearing. Telling him that at the time, he didn't have any other ideas, and he never tried having a silver eyed warrior fight Salem with his help.

The fight was a massacre, it couldn't even be considered a fight.

Now, Hector was panicking as he watched a defeated Qrow being dragged away by an injured Ozpin. Qrow didn't want to leave Summer behind, but she was buying them time for them to escape. Ozpin couldn't afford to die in the strong body he had, and Qrow didn't have another chance at life if he died.

Summer only had one arm after Salem used a devastating blast against her. But she still had both eyes, and she was going to use them one more time.

It actually hurt Salem, when she used her eyes at full strength. Salem was being pushed back, and Summer kept fighting like a madwoman, even with the one arm that she had.

Then… it happened.

Hector watched helplessly as Salem kicked up the stone ground, causing a rain of sharpstone shards to fly in Summer's direction. One of those shards stabbed straight into her left eye.

She screamed in agony as she fell to the ground. Writing in pain and clutching that rock that was stuck in her skull. She _ripped_ it out with a sickening crunch, and with only one silver eye. She could not use her powers anymore.

"You proved to be a much more difficult opponent then I expected you to be." Salem said as she spat out black blood from her mouth. "Know that I, Salem, the Queen of the Grimm, and Goddess of Darkness, respect you for your effort." She held a hand out, and a black ball of evil dark magic formed in the palm of her hand. "Now die."

Time went in slow motion as Hector watched the scene play out. Summer was on the ground, bleeding from her lost arm, and her left eye. She couldn't move, and he could see the horror she felt in her remaining eye.

He moved on instinct, if he didn't, he would have died.

"Kaioken time fifty!" Hector screamed as he jumped in the way of the blast, blocking it completely with his forearms.

He actually took a physical form for a few short seconds, and Summer widened her eye in shock as she watched Hector save her life.

"R-Rios?" She called to him out of disbelief, over the many decades she has known Hector, she has never seen him do anything like this before.

"Get out of here Summer!" Hector screamed as he held his ground, under extreme stress. "Live!"

"Who… are you?" Salem asked as she looked at him quizzically.

Hector smirked at the monster he is destined to defeat.

"I am Hector Rivers," He pointed to himself and looked back at Summer. "Her guardian angel."

Summer heard the name, and committed it to memory. She would never forget that name, and if what Hector told her was true, then she would meet him again in the future.

"Now get out of here Summer!" He yelled at her one more time, his blue aura flaming around his body. "I'll hold her off."

"Hmph, she'll die from her wounds. No mortal can survive being injured like that." Salem said with a huff. "However… I do not remember marking anyone in this era… have we met before?"

Hector's heart skipped a beat, he has never seen Salem in the flesh before. Only in visions and hallucinations of her did he see her. She was truly terrifying, even more so when she was in the flesh before him, just being near her terrified him to no end.

He stood his ground despite that, ignoring the incredible amount of pain he is being forced to endure because of his semblance.

"Not yet." Hector said, right before he charged at her.

Salem widened her black and red eyes as she blocked the first punch with just one hand. "You… have dark magic within you." She said as she let him fly by her. "I thought I was the last one was power such as that." She smiled at him hungrily, even licking her lips as she looked into his blue eyes.

"R-Rios!" Summer coughed, barely able to stand back up on her own two feet.

"Get out of here Summer!" Hector cried out, clutching his pained heart. He didn't have much time left before he was pulled out. "We'll meet again, that's a promise!"

Summer didn't agree with him, but once she started feeling the pain of the loss of her arm and eye. She turned and _ran_ for her life. Leaving nothing but white rose petals behind in her wake.

Hector smirked even as he fell down to one knee, even at Kaioken times fifty, which was less than his maximum was still taking so much out of him. He would lose more years of his life for this, but if it meant saving Summer's life, then it was worth it.

"Hm, sacrificing yourself for the life of another." Salem said with a sigh. "The hearts of men are easily swayed."

"You'd never understand what it's like to be human, and I don't expect you to." Hector said as he forced himself back onto his feet. "You lost whatever humanity you have left years ago, you're nothing but a monster."

"Wrong." Salem seethed as her red eyes glowed in the night. "I am a Goddess, and you will be mine."

With speed Hector didn't know was physically possible, Salem appeared in front of him. Grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him up off the ground. "This power of yours, is mine, and so it shall be."

"Fu- ack. You." Hector said as he glared at her angrily.

Salem smirked as she straightened one of her hands, and prepared to rips his heart right out of his chest.

When she jabbed her hand through him however, he ceased to exist, completely disappearing in her grip. The Queen looked around confused, trying to find the other wielder of dark magic. She even sensed a bit of light magic within him as well, and that made her want his power even more.

But try as she did, she could not even sense the strange man, he was just gone. Just like that.

"Hmm… something tells me that this isn't the last time we'll be seeing each other Hector Rivers." She said to herself as she looked into the horizon.

She won this day, that was indisputable, and she even killed off Ozma's last formidable warrior. It would be many decades before that man tried anything on her again.

Salem turned around, and headed back into her castle. Already planning for the future as she did so.

* * *

Hector appeared again besides Summer, panting heavily and clutching at his chest. The Kaioken at that level without any kind of warming up did a lot of damage to his body, and it felt like his heart was about to explode. But he did what he needed to do.

Summer was barely still conscious, her wounds haphazardly bandaged, her white hood in tatters, missing an eye and an arm. She was an absolute mess. The snow around her wasn't making anything better.

"Hector…" She still had to strength to speak. "You saved me…"

Hector looked to her, his form constantly flickering from transparent to not even being there.

"Yeah… but it looks like I am all out of time." He said as he crawled so that he was kneeling down beside her. "This is the last time you'll be seeing me for a while."

"I know…" She coughed out. "I know… it's just… you've been like a son to me, you know that?"

"A son?" Hector laughed, but it didn't have a lot of emotion behind it. "Heh, I guess so. It's been just hours for me you know."

"Yeah… but it's been most of my life to me." She said as she closed her eye. "My guardian angel… so you finally admitted it huh?"

Hector just shrugged. "I had to give you something to remember me by."

Summer reached out her hand, and for the first time in her life. She was actually able to touch him, despite him still being transparent. Her breath hitched as she felt his cheek, and the warmth coming out of it. "You've done so much for me already… this warmth is payment enough."

Hector knew that she was going to live through this, but that didn't make it any easier. A single tear flowed down his cheek, and he held the hand that Summer had on his cheek. "You'll live through this, I know that." Hector said as his body flickered again.

"Recover, regain your strength, and watch out for Hell. He may look like me, but he isn't me, he is evil." He took a deep breath. "If you can, find me. I might not be able to remember you when you see me, but you'll know what to do when that happens."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out, Hector." Summer said before she coughed hardly.

Hector saw a light in the woods, how she got to a snowy area like this and survived for this long. He would not find out anytime soon. Whoever that person was, they were going to be the ones taking care of Summer from now on.

"Take care of my daughters Hector, I have a feeling you are going to run into them in your time."

"Yeah… I'm sure I will." He nodded, wrapping both of his hands around her own. Unwilling to let her know just how close he was to her daughters when she was in this state. "This has been the weirdest eighteen hours of my life, and I don't think I am going to forget any of it."

Summer laughed along with him. "Neither am I… I'll see you again… soon…" She closed her eye, losing consciousness. "Hector Rivers…"

With those final words muttered, Summer passed out from the cold and the pain. Hector let out a choked cry as her hand fell through his. The blue void was returning, and he was disappearing from this point in time.

"Yeah," Hector said as Summer started to disappear before his very eyes. "See you soon."

" _Master? What are your next orders?"_ Jinn asked him within their shared mind.

Hector laughed as he realized what he had to say here. "Just allow me to wake up already." He said first.

" _Annnd?"_

He rolled his eyes.

"Don't let the past me find out about why he is there just yet, let him figure it out for himself."

He could feel the smirk that Jinn had on her face.

" _As you wish."_

* * *

His eyes finally opened back up in the Bullhead, and almost immediately he was wrapped up in the hugs of Ruby, Rhea, and Yang. They all saw him go through everything, they were with him every step of the way.

They know now that the reason that their mother was alive, was because of him. They owed him so much already, and now they owed him even more.

Hector let his emotions run wild finally as he hugged Ruby back, burying his face in her hair as he let himself cry. He knew that she was going to live, but knowing that he had such an impact on her life, and that she hasn't seen him for so many years hurt him.

"After we're done here… we're going back to Atlas." Hector said between breaths. "We'll find her, I promise."

"I know, Hex." Ruby comforted him with a smile. "It's okay."

* * *

 **Whew, that was a emotional roller coaster and a half. A chapter like this needed to happen after what happened last chapter. This explained a lot of things that went down, but I am sure that it opened up a lot of questions as well. I'll be happy to answer some of them if you have any.**

 **I haven't written a 10k word chapter in a while… damn. I forgot just how tired it makes me.**

 **Jesus guys, we are at 500,000+ words now, this story has blown out of proportions for me. It's really incredible.**

 **How many of you want a parody of this story that is just Hector helping out Summer with things? Like a little side story called: An Unlikely Hero: Guardian Angel.**

 **Sound like a good idea? Please, let me know what you think.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far!**

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	62. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 62

**Ho God, here we go again guys. My car had an accident so now that is pretty much destroyed. I had an 11 hour shift the other day, and I am going to be working even more than before. Which means that I am going to get even less time to write chapters for my stories. Sorry about that, life hits hard, and I need money.**

 **I am still going to write whenever I can, but be ready for shorter and less frequent chapters.**

 **For review responses, I am going to shorten down on those for the sake of time. Again, I am sorry for this, life is hitting hard right now and I barely have time to sit down and rest my legs.**

* * *

 **Oblivious IJ: A lot more is coming my dude, be ready for it.**

 **Boltricronic: I will take that as a compliment! Thanks!**

 **CinderFall201: I am going to be starting it soon, like Adams redemption, it is probably going to happen near the end of the story. I might even make it into Omakes.**

 **HunterMC: Here is more!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Of course, I said that I was going to find a way to make it work, and I did! Thanks for having faith. As for the second part of your review, I believe I sent you a PM explaining all that.**

 **Guest: Summer and the maiden age limit will be explained later on.**

 **Guest 2: Team HAMR has gone under a title change, it is now called Tale of Two Heroes. Right now, the story is under hiatus for a rewrite of the earlier chapters.**

 **Reconic32: Thank you!**

 **Thank you all for the reviews.**

* * *

 **Real quick before the chapter starts, Jinn is different then her canonical counterpart, she is capable of many more things, and is more powerful when it comes to knowledge and predictions. Old Hector cannot tell young Hector everything that is happening.**

 **Now let's get onto the story!**

* * *

Chapter 62- Getting Things Rolling

Hell wraps his arms around his body to try and keep the heat from flowing out of his body and into the cold freezing air of the snowstorm. Marcus Black may have been killed, and Tyrian may have taken a near dead Hazel and ran away, but he still needed to keep moving forward. Stopping now would only mean more punishment from Salem. He did not want that.

So he kept moving forward. Using his version of the Kaioken purely for warmth. His snow clothing were ripped up and patches of his skin was showing, and the frostbite was getting to him. The cold was so freezing that it felt like it burned, but he kept going anyway.

It has been days, maybe a week since his encounter with the Winter Maiden? It has most likely been less than a week, but he couldn't tell. The snowstorm is so thick and heavy and has gone on for so long that he couldn't see the sky or sun anymore. It was just pure black and grey, with hints of blue and white thrown into the mix.

The Winter Maiden created this snowstorm to hide herself, which was why she has been able to hide for so long. No explorer would be able to get through here, and not even other more experienced people with aura and abilities would have been able to get through here.

But he could, he was determined that he could. His body may be numb and his dark Kaioken may not be enough to warm his body, but he was still biologically immortal. Those cells of his must be able to do something about this cold.

"Hah," his breath came out as a thick black mist, contrast to the usual transparent white most would have when they exhaled in cold weather like this. Just another thing that differentiate himself from an average human.

He doesn't know how long he has been going at it, he just kept walking forward, running whenever the snow storm let up a decent amount. The snow was up to his knees, and climbing even higher. It didn't help anything that his Kaioken was melting the snow beneath his feet as well, it just made it harder for him to move.

"I have… to keep going…" He told himself as he kept marching forward, his black and red eyes shining in the darkness and acting as a flashlight for him. He doesn't usually let his eyes glow like that, but this time, he needed it.

 _Why?_ A voice, sounding much more human in his own head asked him. _Why do you need to keep going? What do you get from this?_

"I… will make Salem, my mother, happy. Proud of me." Hell answered the voice in his head, it felt like his own mind, but it also sounded so foreign. Gaining the ability to actually think rationally was very new to him, going from a mindless beast with limited intelligence to being able to think for himself and know what he was doing was a massive change that came on short notice.

 _Are you content with that idea?_ The voice asked him, almost as if it was taunting him.

Hell gritted his teeth. "Of course I am, she is my master. If she is happy, so will I."

The voice didn't speak for a few minutes, allowing Hell to focus completely on trekking through this snow. His feet sunk into the ground up to his crotch suddenly, causing him to yelp in surprise of having something so cold down _there_. He dragged himself out of the small hole he dug himself, and pushed himself back up to his feet. Slowly, but surely still making his way toward the direction the Maiden flew in.

 _Liar._ The voice in his head returned, much louder this time and much more clear to understand. It was so intense that Hell thought that there was someone there with him. He flared up his Kaioken even higher and prepared for a fight. He couldn't even feel his own fists clenching up, but if he had to he would fight anyway.

"What do you want!" Hell screamed, gripping his head and clawing at his scalp. His white hair blended with the snow, and his violet veins pulsed painfully as a headache grew in intensity.

 _For you to tell the truth to yourself._

"There is no more truth for me to understand! I am Hell, I am the perfect being, the second ever perfect balance between human and Grimm." He cackled to himself, allowing his dark magical power to flare up even more. "When Salem is done with this world, _I_ will take over for her."

 _No, you won't._ The voice spoke, this time sounding just like him, except a little higher pitched. He recognized it as Hector Rivers, that was _his_ name- No, that was the name of his counterpart… yes.

 _Look at yourself._ The voice continued. _You're defeated, freezing to death, chasing a Maiden you know you can't beat. You've lost._

"Shut up!" Hell screamed, flaring up to full power and blasting away the snow from around him. In the center of the blast, he stood in the middle of a crater in the middle of the snow so deep that his feet was actually touching the frozen dirt ground. "Get out of my head! How are you speaking to me like this!?"

 _You're speaking to yourself!_ The voice screamed back, making Hell grab his head again as he realized what was happening to him. _You're the one who wanted a soul, this is just one of the consequences that came with that decision you fool, you're thinking. Have been ever since you got what you wanted._

"No… I haven't…" Hell couldn't finish his own sentence, falling down to his knees and punching the ground in pointless rage.

 _Just admit it._ The voice taunted.

 _You don't want to be a monster anymore._

"No…"

 _You know you are a copy of Hector Rivers, those memories of his came along with your body._

"Shut up…"

 _In a sense, you are also Hector Rivers, only corrupted with power you don't want._

"SHUT UP!" Hell screamed to the skies, powering up even further. "I _am_ Hell, I am a perfect creation. I wanted this soul within me to get even more potential to grow stronger, nothing more! You are just nothing, you are just a voice in my head trying to hold me down. Well guess what? It _won't_ work."

Hell laughed to himself, claiming victory for what it was. But it was very short lived, the voice may has stopped. But he still just used stamina for no reason other than to yell at himself. He cursed and fell to his knees again, cursing over and over again to every God that was watching over him right now. To fate itself. Even to Salem.

"I know what I am… I know what I want." He repeated to himself, almost as if he was in a trance. "I am Hell… I am a being of destruction, servant to Salem… and these memories in my head do not all belong to me."

"Yes… yes. I am a monster… but that was what I was created to be… right? No, there is no question about it, of course I was. I was made to defeat Hector Rivers, end his life and the lives of his friends so that Salem didn't have to dirty her Godly hands with the task herself." Hell said with a grin as he sat down on his legs, looking straight up into the sky, his Grimm eyes flickering on and off with red flashes.

He convinced himself that he was what he was. Hell was a monster, a Grimm, the God of Darkness created them all those millenia ago purely to destroy, everyone important knew that, and he was called as such by many, even Salem. He already accepted that he was a copy of another person, Arthur already gave him the rundown of what he was going to go through now that he had a soul, and that most of his memories are not even his. He was meant to be emotionless.

So why was he crying?

* * *

Mercury snapped himself awake when he felt a drop of ice cold water land on his forehead. He immediately regretted his decision and winced when all the wounds on his body flared up with pain. He could feel a warmth beside him to his right, and saw that Winter was there as well, sleeping beside him. Not with him, thankfully. He felt like the media would have a field day with that one.

Running a hand down his face, he tried to jog his memories for anything that might tell him how and why he got where he was now. He came up with blanks mostly, but once he locked on to a memory he would never forget. He remembered.

He killed his father, for the second time he felt. The guy apparently had a Grimm parasite in him, much like Cinder did when she was still alive. It made him more aggressive, and probably easier to control by Salem. He didn't want to think about that though, emotions weren't his thing. Right now, he was more concerned about Qrow and Winter, and how their injuries were healing up.

He turned back to his side, and inspected Winter without being violating. Checking for any serious injuries. Out of all three of them, she took the hardest hits and got take out of the fight early. Only recovering enough thanks to the Winter Maiden to help finish off Marcus Black. Qrow on the other hand was probably the most injured, having been injected by Tyrians stinger for a second time must have been excruciating. Mercury was amazed how the guy was still able to move after that, he must have had more willpower than even Hazel did at the time.

He sighed sadly when he thought of the burly man. He had nothing to lose anymore, and for some reason he was still on _her_ side. He was forced to use that grenade at such close range in order to defeat him. He hardened his aura harder than he ever did before so he didn't blow off his own hand. The Dust crystals inside of Hazel's arms reacted to the explosion, and blew up one of his arms right off his body, and made the other hanging off just by a string of flesh. He didn't have the best memory of what he looked like, but he wouldn't be surprised if he died before Tyrian got him back to the main base back in the Grimmlands. Not even he should be able to come back from that, but Arthur Watts as unfortunately a very smart man, he would find a way to get him back into shape. In a sad morbid way, Mercury actually hoped that he died before Arthur could work on him. He heard about the Tyrian clones, no one deserved that fate of all things.

He was surprised when he found that all of his wounds were bandaged already, and the cut above his eye was stitched up. His aura was almost completely full again as well, if he had his scroll he would guess that it would be between the green and the yellow with the way he felt at the moment.

So he was healing, that was good.

Qrow wasn't with him though, that wasn't good.

"Hello?" He called out to the icy cave around him, hearing his own voice echo throughout almost the entire cavern.

Nothing but his own voice replied back to him, making him huff and shake his head. Of course he would find himself in some crazy magical labyrinth, it wouldn't be life if he didn't wake up to this.

"Alright snow angel, just keep sleeping here while I go investigate the sound of my own voice." Mercury quipped as he brought the blanket Winter had further up on her body, and by the small smile she grew on her face, she appreciated the gesture.

With Winter taken care of, he stood up. Thanking the Gods silently for the fact that he was still able to stand in the first place. His legs must have taken quite the toll after being used so intensely in that battle against his fathers group. When he saw Ruby again, he might actually have to ask for her help to get them back to full power. Because right now, they were as useful as regular old fleshy legs, and that was boring.

It took a few minutes of searching around the icy cavern before he found any other sign of life, this one was in the form of a woman wearing a white cloak, only this time her hood was off, and she looked to be tending to a flame in the corner of the room. This one had a window in it, so he guessed that was how the smoke traveled.

"I know you're there Mercury." The Maiden said as she pulled up her hood, hiding her black and red hair from sight, even though Mercury already had a full view of the hair that was strikingly similar to Ruby's.

"Oh… well hi." Mercury said, not knowing what else he could say to this evidently powerful woman that beat someone almost as strong as Hector easily.

The woman looked amused as she turned to face him, this time her eyes were visible. Mercury looked surprised to see that the one eye that she did have was silver, and the other was covered by a black cloth that covered most of that side of her face.

"Hi." The Maiden replied. "I have food here, if you are willing to eat with me."

"I… sure. I could go for some grub right about now." Mercury said as he cautiously took a step into the room. He didn't know if he could fully trust the silver eyed Winter Maiden, but figured that if she wanted him dead. She would have done so already, and not take care of him and his friends.

"Where's Qrow?" He asked as he pulled a chair made of ice out from under a table made of again, ice. Everything was made of ice in here, it was a wonder how the Maiden even got the fire going in the first place because of this.

"Qrow is… processing some information at the moment." The Maiden said, hanging her head slightly as she pushed over a bowl made of ice toward him. Mercury hesitantly reached forward, and grabbed the bowl. Then used a spoon made of ice to start scooping it into his mouth. It tasted… not bad, but for living out here in the asshole of Atlas it must have been a cuisine, and he was happy to take it over eating anything else made of ice. He had enough of that when he couldn't find his water that one time.

"Okay… what kind of information?" Mercury asked after he swallowed his first mouthful of food.

The Winter Maiden looked at him with a flat expression on her face, a few bangs of her black and red hair was hanging in front of her forehead, and the wrinkles on her face suggested that she was getting up there in the years. Mercury swallowed again, but this time there was no food in his mouth. He grew nervous as the Maiden simply stared at him, observing his movements almost, just to see how he reacted.

"You know," The Maiden finally spoke up. "Your father tried to assassinate me once, back in my earlier years. I did get warned that something like that may happen because of the color of my eyes, but I didn't listen to him. I only survived because someone close to me saved me."

Mercury looked down at the table, ashamed of his family name. He didn't look it, but Marcus was in fact pretty old. Much like a lot of the people he knew. It didn't surprise him that with what he knew now, that Marcus would have been hired to hunt down some silver eyed people, he probably even killed a few of them himself now that he thought about it.

"Yeah… sorry about that. He was kinda… aggressive." He said in a quiet tone.

"So I've noticed." The Maiden replied, not showing any sign of what she felt about meeting her almost murderers son. "Do you like the food?" She asked next, in a lighter tone this time.

Mercury swallowed another piece of food as she asked that, nodding his head eagerly. After rations and snow, this really was a cuisine the more he ate it. Maybe the asshole of Atlas wasn't so bad after all.

"I am glad, my cookings skills have diminished over the years, but I have tried to keep up the practice. I've been too focused on stopping Salem and… finding an old friend of mine."

"Yeah? I figured the first part of that already, who is this old friend you're look for?" Mercury asked through another mouthful, amusing the Winter Maiden with his childish antics.

"Hector Rivers." The Maiden answered almost right away.

"Oh, of course you and him are old pals." Mercury said with a chuckle. "Is there anyone that guy doesn't already know?"

"Many, I would presume."

"Yeah? And what would your name be?" Mercury asked curiously, he would allow her a modicum of his trust. "Not a lot of silver eyed people out there left, I figured there was just a friend of mine and maybe one just other person left with silver eyes."

The Maiden smiled to herself, and leaned back in her chair.

"My name is Summer Rose."

Mercury spat his food out of one side of his mouth, and coughed violently for a few seconds before even starting to recover.

"Summer Rose?" He asked between coughs, hacking and wiping his mouth of the leftover food. "The Summer Rose? The one that Salem didn't stop bitching about when Watts brought her up one time?"

Summer chuckled. "That would be me."

Everything suddenly clicked into place for Mercury, he leaned his head on the table as he realized what processing information was meant for when she told him that Qrow was doing just that. He must have been shocked, angry, and a few other emotions that Mercury didn't care for listing.

"I assume you would want to know how I made it this far?" The Maiden asked him with an amuse raise of an eyebrow.

Mercury couldn't say anything in response, but he did nod his head and lean further back in his chair. Motioning her to explain how she is alive, well, and also the Winter Maiden.

"Well, you better strap up. This is going to be a _long_ story, and once I start I am not going to stop. Not like you have anything else to do anyway." Summer said as she leaned back in her own chair.

"Back when I was seventeen, I met what I refer to as my guardian angel…"

* * *

After Hector retold what he witnessed to the only one who didn't know, being Neo. He leaned back in his seat and slumped his head up against a pillow that was politely placed there by Ruby. True to Jinn's word, his eighteen hours of storytelling lasted about an hour or less in the real physical world. Ruby, Yang, and Rhea being on the sidelines the whole time, witnessing every decision he made as he followed Summer throughout most of her life, all the way up until he actually broke the limits of time himself and saved her from Salem.

That was the hardest thing to process, he tried using his Kaioken to break free from his constraints to join the physical world Summer resided in the past. But any and all attempts was met with negative results. Then suddenly, he just saves her life and fights Salem for a bit. What scared him the most about his encounter with Salem was that he was completely overpowered. It could hardly be considered a fight, even with him being in Kaioken times _fifty_. He might have been able to go up to sixty again, but he doubted that would work, and he didn't want to knock himself out for a month again.

Everyone saw that too, he was one of the strongest people that they had, and even he wasn't able to touch Salem.

"So, what do we do now?" Yang asked. "We are nearly in Vacuo, just got a handful of hours left, but what happens after that? Assuming you defeat the Summer Maiden, and we get the Relic of Destruction, what next?"

"Then we could either go back to Beacon, or go find Summer." Hector answered right away, those were the two things he was trying to decide between. Either meet back up with Summer after almost twenty years to her, or go back and kill of that dragon and save Beacon. Possibly even get the Beacon relic at the same time. "Either way, we have to go to Beacon, so even if we do go find Summer first, we're just going to have to turn back around."

"Yeah… that sounds like a tough decision to make." Yang said with a huff.

"We still have time to think about it," Ruby pointed out helpfully, lifting some of the weight off of Hector's shoulders. "I don't think the Summer Maiden is going to be easy to beat, she's even stronger than Raven was when she was a Maiden, and Hector was barely able to beat her back."

"Which is why I have the help of Ozma in my head, acting as an extra set of eyes and ears." Hector said with a grin, getting more kick in his step as he stood up and got a decent bit happier.

" _Oh how excited I am to be reduced to a mere spotter."_ Ozma said, and Hector could tell that he was rolling his eyes.

"Oh don't be a baby, at least you'll be able to see what happens."

" _To be fair, I always was."_

"Yeah? Well shut up."

"Back on topic, please." Rhea pleaded, pulling at his ear for his attention.

"Right, right." Hector reached up and rubbed his ear, glaring playfully at his stepdaughter. He was able to get over the sudden revelation of his relationship with Summer because of the constant support he had from Yang, Rhea, and of course Ruby. There was a brief couple of minutes of sorrow, but they quickly pulled him out of it. Knowing that he has left Summer unwilling for nearly two decades hurt, but he was going to see her again, it was a promise he made to her. One that he would not dare to dishonor.

"Do I have to go over the plan again?" Something prodded at his shoulder, making him turn his head to see what it was. What he saw was Neo with a pouty face, jabbing him with the tip of her parasol.

"What?"

She prodded him again.

"Don't you know the plan?" Neo shook her head. " _How_ do you not know the plan? We've only gone over it more than a few times." Neo just shrugged her shoulders.

Begrudgingly, not letting himself get irritated more than he already was, Hector went over the plan one more time. How Neo forgot or for some reason didn't pay attention to him explaining the plan he didn't want to think about. Neo did Neo things, and that was the end of that, he didn't want to think about what she was busy doing in Vale while the others. What Neo did was none of his business, and even if it was he didn't know if he actually wanted to know what she was doing with her free time. Probably torture a cat or something like that.

After wasting another few breaths of air explaining that in a way that is easy to understand for Neo. Only after she nodded her head after he asked her if she understood did he stop drilling it into her head, she looked annoyed when he did it. But at the moment Hector ran out of fucks to give. Also it wasn't like she could do anything about it, she was kinda surrounded by people she used to be against a few short years ago.

"Okay, so that's all set and stone. What else do you guys want to know?" Hector asked the group before him.

"Uh, yeah... Was I supposed to hear all of that?" The pilot asked, looking back at them as he flew the Bullhead. "Because I have a feeling that I wasn't."

They all blinked once at him, in all honesty they forgot that there was actually someone flying the ship for a few hours there. They just spoke about all of their plans in front of this guy, including the information about the relics, Salem, Ozma, and even the time traveling adventure that Hector just went on. He just stared at them blankly, looking back to what was ahead of the Bullhead every now and again, making it clear what he would rather be doing right now.

"Neo." Hector turned to the multicolored girl, who perked up at his calling her. "If he tells anyone about what we just said, kill him in your favorite way."

Neo grinned happily at him, and then turned to the pilot while slowly unsheathing her sword. Her eyes shining and switching colors to a scary red color.

"I-I won't say anything!" The pilot stammered, slamming the door to the cockpit and locking it behind him. Not like it would stop Neo from getting to him if she really wanted to, but it was a good effort at least.

"That was mean." Ruby scolded, but couldn't lie about her own amusement at seeing the way the pilot reacted to the threat.

"It got the message across though, so I think it was worth it." Hector said as he leaned back in his seat.

Neo sheathed her sword again with a pout, realizing that she wasn't actually given the okay to kill the man. Now however, she really wanted to do something other then stay cooped up in the ship. They had to at least be over the desert, she could just jump out and straight into the soft sand. She isn't unfamiliar with the area after all, she could use the nice warm heat of the Vacuon desert on her body right about now, Mistral and Vale are nowhere near as hot as this kingdom was, if only the beach wasn't so far away…

"How long until we make it to Shade?" Rhea asked curiously.

"Huh… I don't really know, it's been a few days but it feels like weeks." Hector turned to the still locked cockpit. "How long until we make it to Shade pilot?" He asked him.

"Eh, a few minutes. Give or take."

It took a few moments for them all to process that information.

"Would you kindly please run that by me again?" Hector asked, just for the need of confirmation purposes.

' _He said that we are just a few minutes away.'_ Knolly helpfully provided.

"Just a few minutes away, should be there by the afternoon." The pilot repeated, not sounding nearly as terrified as he once was before.

"Wow, shit okay." Hector started to panic, he didn't even know it was morning. Those eighteen hours must have been crazy long hours. He still didn't know if he could beat the Summer Maiden. He had Jinn give him a rating of what she thought his chances were, and apparently he had a thirty percent chance of winning. Not very good odds in his eyes, yet the relic looked very happy about them.

"Okay, calm down Hex. I-I'm sure you can do this." Yang said in an attempt to call him down.

"Wanna sound less sure about that?" Hector snapped. "Please, go ahead and try, I wanna see if you can one up yourself."

"I think you can do it!" Rhea, and Ruby cheered at the same time.

Hector's heart melted, together. There was nothing that could stand in the way of their cuteness, it was just too pure. "Awe, thanks girls."

"Oh come on." Yang whined, she was definitely cute enough to pull off a pout like that. Totally. "But seriously, I think you'll do fine. When was the last time you fought a Maiden? A year ago? You've gotten like a bajillion times stronger since the battle of Haven, and you can push you Kaio- thingie even further than before."

"Huh… yeah." Hector nodded his head, feeling more confident of himself.

"Yeah! And you're super strong, and fast!" Rhea cheered him on next, faunus ears standing upright as she grew excited. She has never really seen Hector fight before, bits and pieces here and there with the Grimm dragon, and in the army of Grimm that surrounded them when they first made it. But when it came to _serious_ fighting, she was never able to see him with her own eyes. It must have been incredible, she was strong as well, being the Fall Maiden and all, and so was Yang being the Spring Maiden. But if Hector went all out from the very start of the match, even Yang had a great chance of being defeated.

"Y-yeah!" Ruby exclaimed, and when eyes were traced on her she grew nervous. She wanted to say something like what Rhea and Yang said, but then she felt it would have grown redundant if she did. "A-a-and." She racked her mind, the precious seconds she had left ticking by as Hector waited for her to speak with a hopeful look on his face.

Wait… his face!

"You're handsome!" She blurted out the first thing she thought about his face, and blushed madly straight after. She hid her face with her hood as she saw the blush appear on Hector's cheeks as well, he clearly was not expecting that coming from her.

Meanwhile, Yang was laughing her ass off. Rhea joined her in that, and even Neo held up a sign with a _XD_ symbol of amusement on it. It was only when Hector started laughing as well did she start to finally join them, letting Hector pull her into a tight hug that she couldn't help but reciprocate immediately. It has been a while since they were able to be more intimate with each other, so the close contact was a more than welcome sensation.

"Thanks guys, I think I needed that." Hector said as he rubbed Ruby's back and turned to the others, keeping one hand around her waist.

"Eh, that's what we're here for." Yang said with a shrug.

"You're all here for more than that, and you all know it." Hector replied, gesturing to everyone. "This would all be impossible without your help, so thank you for that to."

"Oh shucks, I mean, sure, but yeah." Ruby stammered, embarassed of the praise she got.

"Keep doing that to her, and we'll be in laws before you know it." Yang commented, enjoying the yelp of embarrassment that came from Ruby.

"Yang!"

"Fair enough, I'll keep it up as much as I can." Hector replied, earning a betrayed look from his girlfriend.

"Hector!"

"Does this mean that she is going to be my mom now?" Rhea asked innocently.

"Rhea!?"

The poor red reaper nearly passed out because of the amount of blood that rushed to her head, she was only held up because she was leaning on Hector, and after seeing the stars that were floating around her head Hector thought that was enough for now.

"I think she is at her limit, let's stop teasing her for now." Hector said as he handed off Ruby to her sister, and stood in the center of the Bullhead. "I may have just a few minutes until we land, but I can still get some training in mentally. I can't get much more power, but I can see if I can get a bit more skilled."

"Good luck Dad!" Rhea exclaimed happily, causing Hector's heart to melt once more.

It hardened back up when he thought about what happened to her mother, and what he did to her. After he defeats the Summer Maiden, he promised himself to tell her about Cinder. The news will no doubt be hard for her, hearing that her mother killed her biological father and went on to become one of the most hated people in the world was going to be a tough pill to swallow. Even more so with the incoming conflict of Hector being the one who killed her. She wasn't a good person, not in the slightest, but she was still her biological mother, and the fact that Cinder was thinking about _her_ when she died suggested that she didn't just stop thinking about her at all.

He closed his eyes and nodded to himself, that would be a talk to have with her later.

He had a Maiden to train to defeat.

* * *

Natsuki, the Summer Maiden, sat at her desk working on some papers she was bored of doing. It was just some stupid tests she had to grade. Being a professor and all. But being a professor in Vacuo had its perks. She was able to skip out on work, and not get in trouble for it. And it totally wasn't because she was one of the strongest beings on the planet and was relied on for electricity in the entire kingdom.

Being the poorest kingdom meant they had the poorest electric generators. She was more than happy to help, because that meant that it kept her coffee machine going.

"Miss Kerria! I have a message for you!" One of her students shouted as he ran up to her, a scroll in hand and covered in sand. Like herself, he was a reptilian faunus, which put him on the level of squire to her.

"Really? It better not be another request to power a house or something. Those are the worst." Natsuki said as she stretched her body over her chair. "C'mon kid, spit it out for me."

"Uh…" The boy hummed as he looked down at the scroll. "It just says 'He's here'. From the headmaster."

Natsuki stopped stretching over her chair and stared at the ceiling, a grin formed on her face as she thought _finally_ to herself.

"Uh… Miss Kerria?"

"Glad you're here Tom, 'cause I got a deal to show up for." Natsuki said as she prepared to use her powers. "You get to teach classes today."

Before 'Tom' could reply, the Summer Maiden flew out of the ceiling, flying through a hole in the roof that she created many days prior, it has been broken so frequently that the headmaster stopped ordering for it to be fixed.

"But… my name isn't even Tom."

Eh, that didn't really matter. What did matter was that the Summer Maiden was finally going to be getting the fight that she has wanted for so long.

* * *

 **This was a short chapter, and I am sorry about that. As I said earlier, I have gotten a full time job, and that takes away from a lot of my writing time. I will keep going of course, but just know that shorter more fast paced chapters are going to be the norm for a while. My car had a little accident and is ruined, so I need a new one of those too.**

 **This chapter is mostly unedited, I didn't get the time to focus on it and CrowSkull has college to worry about as well. A lot of adult things happening all at the same time.**

 **Anyways, if you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you think!**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**


	63. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 63

**Ah, here we are folks, chapter 63 of this crazy ride. You know, we are almost at 100k views! I mean, what the fuck, that's a lot of clicks. Thank you all for clicking so many times on this story! When we do hit a 100k, I might make another UH: Following the Path short, just to tease you guys a bit more. See how you guys react and such.**

 **Moving on, let us get to the reviews, we got a lot to go through this time.**

 **Dracus7: Right now, I will not be focusing on writing any more stories until this one is finished, but thank you for the idea.**

 **Themasterguest: Truly, you are the master guest. Thank you for enjoying this story as much as you have. Thank you for the idea, and I have thought about that happening at one point. But I do have an idea for the crossover already actually, it's going to be another worldbuilding one, I'll remember yours though.**

 **Oblivious IJ: What happened to Oblivious Ninja? And yeah, Summer Maiden fight begins this chapter… I wonder what's going to happen?**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Hell is having troubles, yes. But as far as getting redeemed though? That is still up in the air, obviously I cannot confirm nor deny because spoilers, but soon it will be revealed. I understand where you're coming from, and it was for comedy purposes, of course Hector wasn't** _ **really**_ **going to let Neo kill the pilot, it was just a threat to keep him quiet, and even if he did somehow tell the world what they were doing, would it even matter? You'll see what I mean soon.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Thank you for looking for those, I am glad I was able to type flawlessly like that, it took a lot out of me, but hey. I managed it.**

 **The secret Shinigami: Wow man, you read this whole thing in less than a day? I applaud you, I didn't think this story was good enough to be read like that. Thank you for enjoying, and I hope to keep making you happy!**

* * *

 **With all those out of the way, let's get right back into the story!**

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

* * *

Chapter 63- Speed Vs Strength

It was morning now at Beacon, and Adam Taurus- Er… _Politan Rose_ was already up. Early, as well as his current team that he is working with. It was a little nostalgic for him. Overnight missions were not uncommon for him during his time as a White Fang Lieutenant, they were actually quite frequent.

Waking up with a face full of green eyes and ginger hair however, was not something that was nostalgic for him.

Apparently, and he wished that _someone_ warned him about this. Being friends with Nora Valkyrie for the first few days was a sort of _initiation_ , as she put it. She wouldn't stop leaving him alone, and apparently everyone found it hilarious. When he asked Blake why he had to deal with something like this, she said to take it as punishment for all his evil deeds.

Yeah, no one was ever going to let that one down, that was the one thing they could always hold over his head.

So now he has to deal with the hyperactive hammer wielding maiden for the next few days. The first few went alright, but his patience was not that of Lie Ren's, he was beginning to lose it.

"Something wrong Horny?" Nora asked him, sitting on top of the fountain that they just managed to recapture an hour before.

"Don't call me that. Ever. Just stop being near me in general." Adam replied as he sharpened his bright pink blade. They just captured the area around the fountain earlier that day, it took a lot more effort then the dorm building, but with the help of Adam and his silver eyes, along with the other experienced Huntsman that he had with him, plus his prodigidic leadership skills, the next building was captured. And soon, they would capture another, and keep inching their way to the dragon itself.

"Awe, but I like Horny! Or would you rather Mister Rose?" Nora asked teasingly, leaning her head in her hands as she lied down on the foundation of the fountain, kicking her legs up like a little girl would excitedly.

"Erk… I'd rather you just call me Polly, or something." Adam gagged, not liking either of those names. While he was happy to call Ruby Rose a friend, taking her name as a disguise did not appeal to him, and neither did Horny for obvious reasons.

The pun wasn't clever.

But if he had to choose between the two… He would never tell Nora of all people what he would choose.

"Polly? That's _boring_ , you need an exciting name!" Nora exclaimed happily.

"How is _Horny_ an exciting name?!" Adam asked, actually turning his head so that he was looking at her. When she looked straight into his eyes and fluttered her eyebrows, he already knew what was coming next, and he already wasn't liking it.

Nora narrowed her eyes, and her smile grew wider. "I know a few ways~"

"Ugh..." Adam groaned, and rubbed his face. He got used to being without his mask, it wasn't like he had anything to hide anyway, and since his silver eyes was out and shown to the world already, there was no reason to hide them. Not that he knew of their significance before, he only just learned when Hector and Blake found him in the town he had been taking refuge in ever since the Battle of Haven. Even though he had a chance to redeem himself now for being partly responsible for the Fall of Beacon, now that he had to go through _this_ with Nora, he would have liked to be left alone.

"She'll be like this for a day or two more I presume." Ren told him, sitting on his other side. Between everyone there, the black haired young man was the second most person he spoke to, the first being of course, the ginger, and mostly just because he was that wenches boyfriend. He already thought it was bad, he couldn't even imagine what it would be like to date a girl like Nora. That poor boy…

"How do you deal with this on a daily basis?" Adam asked exasperatedly. He was already tired, killing Grimm for hours without end with only a few moments of rest in between in comparison proved to be taxing on his mind and body. But still, that somehow had no effect on Nora Valkyrie, because why would it? Her blood must be at least eighty percent sugar with the amount of energy she _always_ had within her.

"Practice." Was all Ren had to say, and honestly that was all Adam needed to hear. It explained a lot actually.

"Heeey, you're acting like I am a lot of baggage!" Nora whined with a pout, glaring at Ren.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he said yes." Adam commented.

"Hey!"

"She is." Ren admitted, it didn't matter if Nora was his childhood friend at this point. He was tired.

"HEY!"

"Okay, guys, let's not make Nora angry now." Jaune said, running in to join the conversation as soon as he heard Nora's exclamation of offense. "I've see her angry, and trust me. She _will_ make you feel bad for it and beg for her forgiveness."

"I am aware." Adam and Ren said at the same time.

"Jauney! They're being mean to me…" Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Use kill."

"Nora, for the last time I am not one of the Pocket Monsters from your scroll game." Jaune said with a sigh, not at all amused with being compared to a fictional character from a video game. That was something that Hector could be compared to, since he's actually from a different world.

"So? Go forth my minion!" Nora said, ignoring his point entirely.

"Did you forget that I am the leader here?" Jaune asked, slouching over to emphasize his tiredness.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she did." Adam said, smirking his amusement when Nora made a loud exaggerated gasp of betrayal and jumped up to her feet.

"That's it, come here!" She yelled as she lunged at him, only to be held back by a pair of strong arms.

"Yeah, how about you not hurt the guy who is supposed to kill the dragon." Nicholas Arc said with a sigh as he pulled the girl back, refraining from using his absorption semblance on the girl.

"Sir yes sir senior Jauney!" Nora said in response, letting him pull her away as she saluted at him.

"Mm." He's gotten used to the name, he gave up on getting her to call him anything else.

"Dad? Are we going again already?" Jaune asked.

"No, but you guys have to get off your asses." The Huntsman said as he looked to Adam and Ren. "We're the ones being attacked this time, that girl, Blake is already making her way to the front lines, didn't even give me time to think about it."

Adam sheathed his sword with a loud click, and suddenly the demeanor of everything got very serious.

"Lead us." Adam said more as a demand than a request as he stood up, Ren with him and Nora jumping to his side. Jaune rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, prepared to unleash it at any moment.

"It's just like her, to rush in alone into something." Jaune berated himself as he rushed on with his team, father, and Adam along with many others toward the front line of the assault. "I was with her, she said she would cover the shift so I could get some more rest. If anything happens to her…"

"Don't worry about it." To everyone's surprise, it was Adam who said those words. He also just kept running along, not even turning his head to look at them as he kept on speaking. "Blake has always been like this, rushing on ahead, getting herself into trouble and getting saved by friends. I was that friend many times, most of the time. It was what started us getting close in the first place. Though, at those times the threat was much more minimal, these Grimm are hardly a threat to her even in great numbers."

"Huh, so you do have a heart in there somewhere." Nora said, nudging him in the side as she ran beside him. "Here I thought I wasn't getting anywhere with you, Mister Bull head."

Adam chuckled, the first real chuckle that Nora was able to get out of him.

"You were doing something, I just chose not to react the whole time." Adam admitted as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. He was just able to see the black fur of the Grimm ahead of him, not that far away anymore. In a few more seconds, it was back to fighting for him.

Nora of course, gasped again. "I knew it! I knew I was doing something-"

"Focus, please." Jaune said in his 'leader' voice, as Nora called it.

"Sorry."

Well, they weren't what Adam was used to, they were all different and unique in their own ways. Soft hearted, patient and impatient, overly energetic, mysterious, and one even held a silent grudge on him. But above all of that, they were his friends now. They forgave him, or at least gave him a chance to redeem himself. It meant everything to him, a man who once thought he had everything he wanted in life, only to become one of the most hated men in the history of Remnant. Now however, he had chance to change that, a chance to become a better person. A better man.

He made a promise to save this school, to correct his most horrific wrongdoing. And he'd be damned if he didn't get it done as soon as he could.

Now it was time to go kill some Grimm again.

* * *

After a few long days, hours, weeks, however long it was. He couldn't really tell. Hector along with the rest of the temporary Team HNRRY finally all made it to Vacuo, the kingdom itself, and in turn, Shade.

The Academy itself was a bit run down if Hector was going to be completely honest, but he came to expect that. Having Ozma in his head and being the owner of the Relic of Knowledge made things easier for him to understand. He asked about Vacuo before hand, and he was warned by both beings to watch out for his wallet. Problem was, he didn't even have one. The only thing of value he did have on him was Ozma's cane, and that was thoroughly strapped to his lower back for safe keeping, if someone tried to steal that. They would be in for a steep surprise when an alarm rang.

Ozma was the one who put that in his cane, Hector tried asking him why, but all he got as an answer was a hum before the topic was changed to something else.

Surprisingly, the headmaster was waiting for him already. He was an old man with gray hair and wrinkles, though his hair was tied up in a ponytail, giving him a younger look. The wrinkles on his face however, betrayed his efforts, forcing him onto the older look. All in all however, this headmaster looked like he meant business.

"Hector Rivers I presume?" The man asked the tallest member of HNRRY, who stood at the head of his group.

"Yeah, that's me." Hector responded, not at all surprised that he already knew him. After learning about Summer, nothing really surprised him anymore. "How'd you know I was coming? I don't think I sent out a message early." He couldn't help but ask anyway, contradicting his earlier thoughts.

"How could I not?" The old man asked with a gruff laugh. "That wench wouldn't stop talking about you, it's always 'I finally get to get a good fight!' Or, 'I can't wait to fight that Hector guy!' Over, and over again, and of course _I_ have to be the one to listen to that shit, because if not me, then who else? I'm surprised that Chameleon faunus stuck around as long as she did already, those poor boys with her must be made up of more alcohol than anything."

Hector blinked his eyes twice, utterly confused. Along with everyone else. The man started out sounding serious and looked imposing, but now he was acting like someone completely different to how the man looked.

"Uh… what?" Ruby pretty much summed up everyone's current thoughts.

"You brought two Maidens with you too? Huh, you might actually have a chance against her now. Smarter then you look."

"Why is that?" Hector asked, not taking any offense at all. He may be nearly twenty, but he had the intelligence and memories of something much more than anyone should ever have. He felt older than he was, but then again, everyone else around him probably does too. They did have the weight of the world on their shoulders after all.

"Because she is probably on her way now, I sent a student to go fetch her. She's going to want to fight you immediately after all." the headmaster pointed out, to which Hector rolled his eyes to.

"Damn… what _is_ it with Maidens and Hector? Every one of them ends up fighting him one way or another." Yang said with a laugh, she didn't even know the half of it. It was really getting old, he just hoped that the Winter Maiden didn't want a piece of him next. While that would complete the set of Maidens of this generation, he would much rather just stick with the trifecta he was about to have now.

"Don't even get me started on that Yang, it's already been four if you count yourself and Rhea." First Cinder, then Raven, then Rhea who became the next Fall Maiden, and then Yang who became the next Spring Maiden, and now here was the Summer Maiden about to make it five. After training with Yang for an uncountable amount of hours, Hector has just had enough, he hoped that this was the last time he had to fight one, because if the Winter Maiden suddenly wanted a piece of him next, he might actually go insane.

"At least it made you a ton stronger." Ruby said with a shrug, which Hector couldn't really deny. She was right most of the time she spoke, and when she wasn't Hector didn't have the heart to tell her that. The sad face she would make would be too much for him, too cute, like she was begging for him to take it back.

He made that mistake one too many times, because now she knew that was a weakness she could exploit.

"Oh ho, if you think that fighting the other maidens will be the same as this one, then you are in for quite the surprise." The headmaster pointed out, somehow sounding serious and amused at the same time. There was a crowd that began to form, so it was assumed that news got around that the Hero of Two Kingdoms was in Shade. Some students were staring in awe, and others were taking pictures. Hector wasn't quite used to the fame yet, so he just awkwardly waved back at them while he could.

He stopped when the headmaster _screamed_ at them to get back to class, in which they all did the second he opened his mouth. A second later, and his attention was brought back on him.

"Well, I trained all I could. I would like to think that I stand a pretty good chance against her. I can beat a Maiden on my own after all." Hector said, filling himself with confidence as he started stretching, starting with rolling his shoulders.

"Hmph, if you say so." The headmaster shrugged, and turned around. "Enjoy Vacuo while you can, and all that shit. Welcome to Shade."

"Well he was a nice guy." Hector said offhandedly as the man walked away.

"If you need help, we'll jump in. You know that, right?" Yang asked as Hector warmed himself up, the hot Vacuo sun was already getting to work on him, but it was better he be hot on the inside to.

"I know you will, but I have to ask you to please not. We agreed that I would have to beat her by myself in order to get her to our side, and like Knolly said before, we need _all_ of the maidens on our side. If not, we might as well give Salem the rest of the relics." Hector explained, turning to the girls.

Neo was already gone, where she went, Hector didn't know. Maybe it was too hot for her to and she stayed in the Bullhead, but Hector wasn't about to go looking for her so close to his battle.

"Will you be okay though?" Rhea asked him, looking up at him.

Hector sighed internally as he looked down at her. "Yeah… but hey, listen to this." He kneeled down to her level, looking her in the eyes. "Once I win this, I uh… I have something I need to tell you, something important."

Rhea tilted her head in confusion, raising one eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"It's…" Hector sighed. "It's about your mother."

His heart almost broke when Rhea's expression changed from confused to terrified, he just wanted to hug her right then and there, but if he did he wouldn't be able to let her go again. Yang and Ruby were filled in on what Ashlynn Anani did to her husband, but did not know that she was Cinder, and he intended to keep that a secret until after his battle. After that, he would have no immediate worries beside that revelation to tell everyone.

"It's something you need to know, okay? You understand?"

Rhea looked like she wanted to know, but nodded her head anyway.

"Y-yeah, I trust you." She said, swallowing her nervousness down and looking him in the eyes. Her orange eyes looked just like Cinders, but Hector wasn't thinking about that at the moment, to him, those were the eyes of his daughter.

Hector smiled at her, and patted her head.

"Thatta girl, now watch as I- AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa…"

His voice and screams faded away as a figure flew into his side at speeds so fast Rhea didn't even register the fact that he was no longer in front of her for a good second before looking around for him. Yang and Ruby were able to track the person, which looked to be a complete mass of blue lightning as it barreled into his body.

They all looked out to the distance to see something resembling a shooting star moving away from them, and a red light which was Hector trying to fight back against the lightning, but other then that. The projectile was so far that it traveled over the Kingdoms walls and out into the desert, where Hector's red light was seen falling from the sky, having break free from whatever kidnapped him.

"Was that her?" Rhea asked in her shock.

"Wow, that was fast." Ruby said, even with her highly enhanced semblance, she could barely keep up with that.

Luckily Neo came back at that exact moment, holding a bowl of ice cream and raising an eyebrow as she saw two red and blue shooting stars falling from the sky and into the desert ahead of them.

 _What was that?_ Was the kind of look that Neo gave them.

Ruby could only sigh as Yang and Rhea held on to her, expecting her to use her semblance to catch up with the Summer Maiden and Hector.

"Let's go catch up."

/-/

"Hey!" A face yelled into Hector's face as she carried him while flying at great speeds. "You're that guy, right!?" The unfamiliar woman asked, raising her voice so it could be heard past the screeching sounds of the wind pressure rushing past their faces.

"Who are you!?" Hector screamed in between his bouts of screaming. He didn't mind flying, as long as he was in a Bullhead safe and strapped in. But as he was now, he was just being hugged to a body while his legs flapped helplessly beneath him. He wasn't even able to get a face view of the woman who suddenly kidnapped him out of nowhere, he wasn't even able to see or sense it coming. He was talking to Rhea one second, and then he was a hundred feet off the ground the next.

"Awe, you forgot me already?" The Summer Maiden asked sarcastically as her black and yellow dyed hair blew along with the wind. Hector could vaguely see the ends of a red cut sleeved jacket flapping along behind the woman, but couldn't see much else of the maiden who challenged him, only able to see just the beginnings of her white shirt snugly tight to her body from just beyond the red leather as well as the snake like scaled tail she had waving behind her. "We only agreed to meet up with each other… a few days ago? I know it was recently."

Hector suddenly realized who he was talking to, there was only one person he really came to Vacuo for. He managed to push himself away enough to be able to look into the maidens eyes, seeing the slitted pupils within bright blue eyes, which also matched with the blue flames she had coming from her eyes. Adding onto that, she had an aura of pure lightning, he's never seen anything like it.

Just when he thought he's seen it all.

Jinn would be no help here, as much as he hoped for her to be. "You're the Summer Maiden!?" He asked, needing the extra confirmation just in case. He was already preparing to use his semblance if she said yes.

"Yup, names Natuski Kerria, forgot if I told you that or not." Natsuki said with a chuckle, laughing happily as she flew high above the ground with Hector tightly gripped in her arms. "You ready to go at it man? I've been waiting for so long! You know it's rude to keep a girl waiting right?" She asked with a giggle as they flew even _higher_ in the sky.

Hector actually started holding on to her at that point, because the one thing… the _one_ thing that has never left him, was his fear of heights. He got used to it in a Bullhead, but _another_ thing he has never been able to accomplish was the ability to fly, with all the power he could have behind his strikes, he could only jump high and land as safely as he could.

"I uh… sure, just let me down." Hector said with a shaky voice, not liking the way he was beginning to see the insides of clouds.

"Down?" Natsuki asked for clarification.

"Down."

The Summer Maiden shrugged.

"Down it is."

She let go of the grip she had around Hector's midriff. As soon as he felt himself falling, he instinctively reached up behind her and grabbed her around the back. Using Kaioken just to make it easier to hang on to her tighter. His legs was flapping beneath him, but his shoulders and the side of his face was pressed against the maidens chest.

"Hey! Hands off, we're fighting now." Natsuki shouted as she beat on his shoulders, trying to get him to let go.

"Fuck off! Land and then we'll fight." Hector shouted back, holding on even tighter even as his left shoulder began to sting.

"Where's the fun in that!?"

"The part where I _survive_!"

Natsuki huffed, still trying to get the strong man off of her. After a few more moments of struggling, she got an idea. Her main power as the Summer Maiden was lightning after all, and this guy was basically hugging her as tight as he could.

Just one little lightning strike and…

"FUUUUUUUuuuuuuuccc…" Hector screamed as a bolt of lightning hit his chest, being shot out from the maidens bosom since he was hugging her so tightly. His grip loosened instantly, and he was shoved off of the maiden.

Natsuki chuckled as she watched Hector's body get smaller and smaller as it got closer to the ground, a red highlight of flames around him to signify where he was, and the shadows underneath him to show how close he was to the sandy ground.

"Heh, I love doing that." Natsuki said to herself as she shot herself like a literal bolt of lightning down toward Hector. This was the fight she was waiting for, and damn everything else if she wasn't going to have fun with it.

"Ah! Ozma, landing strategy, please!" Hector screamed as he fell through the air, flipping over himself backwards along with the momentum of the lightning strike that struck him hard.

" _Compose yourself! How have you not discovered your own landing strategy yet!?"_ Ozma shouted back at him frantically, he shared a body, so he could also feel just how _happy_ Hector was at the moment.

"Not important! Strategy now please!" Hector yelled back as he managed to stop flipping through the air, only staring at the ground now as he fell down to meet it personally.

" _If I may, you could always just land on your feet while using your power enhancement ability."_ Jinn suggested.

" _Hector, I know what you are thinking, but a fall from this height would not do well for your legs-"_

"Great, good job Knolly!" Hector exclaimed as he flipped through the air right now so that his feet was pointed toward the ground.

"Okay… how much power should I use in able to land without dying?" Hector asked himself as the ground grew larger, and larger. Any second now, and he would land.

"You know what, fuck it. Kaioken times twenty!" Hector screamed through the air as a blast of red flames surrounded his body suddenly.

"Agh!" Natsuki cried out from above him, she intended to catch him just in case he was actually going to die, but the flames engulfed her and pushed her away, burning against her aura and forcing her to redirect herself.

Hector landed on the desert sand with an almighty crash, the shockwave of dust and sand spanded for a few hundred feet the moment the bottoms of his boots made contact with the ground. From up above, Natsuki started with wide eyes as the dust cloud faded away, revealing the hero with his legs halfway stuck in the sand, but otherwise completely unscathed.

"Oh God…" Well, mostly unscathed. "My knees… holy shit." Hector groaned as he pulled one leg out of the sand, and then pushed up with his hands to get the other out. He wanted to just fall flat on his back, but he sorta had a maiden he was supposed to beat in a fight.

"Ozma, status report."

Ozma sighed. " _You're fine, for the most part. The Kaioken gave you the durability needed to survive the landing."_

"Great… Now where is she." Hector said to himself more than anything else as he looked around through the sky.

The sounds of clapping is what lead him to find the Summer Maiden, or Natuski, as she probably prefers to be called. She looked down at him from her position high off the ground, her hands clapping together as she smiled down at the young man. Her eyes were flaming, and her blue lightning crackled around her body, just waiting to be used as a weapon.

"Impressive! I thought I was going to have to save you for a second there." Natsuki said as she stopped clapping, and crossed her arms over themselves.

"Yeah… figures." Hector said as he shook his legs, trying to rid them of the pain he felt. Hie aura was flaming still, in its usual red color. He was ready to go now, if he wasn't warmed up now, he would have to be soon. He also ignored the fact that if he just did nothing, he would have not had to sacrifice his knees for the cause.

"So, you ready now? I would go on a monologue on how badly I wanted to fight you, but I've never been one for being wordy. Get what I mean?"

"Kinda…?" Hector asked, getting into a fighting stance that would benefit him from fighting an opponent who could fly. He could thank Ozma for that experience.

"Heh… good." Natuski's eyes flamed even hotter, and her lighting practically overflowed with power as she charged up her power.

There was no warming up this time, she was going to go all out from the very start. Hector gulped nervously, he has fought Yang while she was at full power before, and only just barely managed to _draw_ with her. If this maiden was stronger than her? He was in trouble.

 _I can't afford to hold back… not this time_. Hector thought to himself as his flames grew to a dark purple, before turning to a bright purple. Natuski raised an eyebrow at the change of colors, not really all that impressed with it.

"Kaioken times forty!" Hector shouted. This was close to the maximum he could get, he may lose a few months of his life, but at the end of the day, it was going to be worth it.

"Ooo, you can go blue too?" Natsuki asked with a laugh. "Nice, that means we match. Wanna go get a drink after we're done here?"

"Sure."

 _Knolly, what can I expect here?_ He asked in his head, directing the question toward the relic.

" _Natsuki Kerria, The Summer Maiden."_ Jinn started without hesitation, thought Hector could still tell that she wanted to tease him for technically cheating already. " _She is very fast, be careful with her. You are a much stronger than her physically, and more durable, but she far surpasses you in speed and nearly all other categories except for experience in fighting human opponents, and stamina. Though, if she becomes confident in herself, she would become more hesitant. Use that to your advantage as soon as you can."_

 _That's all you got?_ Hector asked with a physical shake of his head. _Don't answer that._

It looked like he was on his own here, the Relic of Knowledge could be of no help here. Jinn wasn't a fighter, and Ozma while sharing a body, could only provide his shield as a means of defence.

"No more standing around!" Natuski yelled as she cocked her fist, making Hector strengthen his stance to tank a powerful blow. If he could just grab her, he might be able to pin her down and win that way.

When he got struck in the side suddenly, he coughed up spit and felt the sand hit his body as he tumbled across the sand. He quickly stood back up, his blue flames melting the sand around his body and turning it into glass. All he was able to see was a blur of blue before another lightning infused punch struck him in the stomach at least a dozen times.

Hector winced and threw a punch forward, only for the blur to disappear and appear again behind him. This time, he was able to feel a foot slam into his back, launching him into a sand dune creating a sandy explosion of dust and melted glass. Hector thought he could have a moment to breathe, but a lightning strike came down to strike him from above, one he was forced to block with his arms.

The lightning coursed through his body and stung him all over, but he couldn't focus on that. He defused the lighting through his body by allowing it to discharge through his legs. When he composed himself, he spun around and swung his fist wildly behind him. Only to hit nothing but air.

"What's wrong? Am I too fast for ya?" Natsuki taunted him as she flew literal circles around him.

Hector stared in awe, this was speed he has never experienced fighting against before, not even against Ruby. He could barely track the blue blur that was her lightning, and he could already feel himself getting tired from the times forty Kaioken.

"Just how fast are you!?" Hector asked loudly as he tried to track her nonetheless. Trying to see if he could see _anything_ to keep an eye on.

" _So… the Summer Maiden may be capable of traveling at Light speed."_ Ozma hesitantly revealed.

"LIGHT SPEED!?" Hector screamed in indignation after he was hit in the face three more times, being forced on the defensive ever since the beginning of the fight. "Since when were you going to tell me she was capable of _light speed_!?"

"Huh? You never asked." Natsuki said, stopping for a moment.

"Not you!" Hector shouted at her, arms still stinging from defending himself.

" _To be fair, I had a lot of things on my mind."_

"Damn it Ozma, how the hell can I even hope to touch her then?" Hector asked, wincing and coughing up a speckle of blood when the Summer Maiden kicked him in the side again, disappearing before Hector could even think to counter.

" _Hope?"_

"Shut up Ozma." Hector said as he growled, not at all happy with the situation he has now found himself in.

How _was_ he supposed to catch her? Light speed was _way_ out of his league, and the only other person that he _thought_ could keep up with Natsuki here was probably Salem, or _maybe_ another Maiden. Now however, it was just him against her.

"C'mon, try to hit me!" Natsuki taunted, though her voice was strained, which gave Hector a flicker of hope. "Why won't you just go down already!?" She asked as she kicked Hector in the back, flew up to where Hector was launched into the sky, and punched him in his forearms which he raised to block just in the knick of time. But couldn't stop the follow up attack which was another kick straight into his stomach. He landed hard on the sandy ground, which was also able to cushion his fall. He flipped over himself to get back on his feet however, and relied on his defense and durability to keep himself in this fight.

Hector started to try to predict her patterns, it was mostly random, so he had to rely on pure luck in order to properly defend or counter her attacks. First he spun around, actually managing to block a kick that came fraction slower. He tried to protect his side, but the maiden flew to his other side again, striking lightning into him before blasting him away with her magical power.

"Hah…" Natuski exhaled, her breath coming out as little more than a pant.

 _That_ , was what gave Hector an idea. So far, he was purely on the defense, not even able to do anything against the maiden, but he noticed that as every second that went by, every minute that passed. Natsuki was getting slower by very small fractions of amounts.

She was getting tired, and who wouldn't? Fighting at light speed consistently was bound to make someone tired, even a maiden would. That was his chance, that was his window to win! All he had to do was outlast her.

That was much more easier said than done.

He was getting tired as well, constantly thinking and reacting in defence to attempt to more effectively and efficiently defend himself was taxing. His mind was thinking faster than it ever has before, and Kaioken times forty was being strained to be kept up. He was getting tired too, and he hasn't even been able to land a single hit on the maiden just yet.

If he couldn't hit her… wait a second.

He got an idea.

Natsuki was sweating as she kicked Hector in the side of the head twice before changing her way of attacking, and flying around so that she was beneath him. Uppercutting him into the air, then slamming him back down with a bolt of lighting which came straight from the sky. Then sent another one down at him for good measure.

The bastard was _still_ standing. How much could this fucker take? Natsuki gritted her teeth in frustration, she was getting tired, moving this fast constantly was her special move that won her pretty much every fight when she needed to use it. Grimm didn't stand a chance against it, and she has never had to use weapons because of her powers. If she got tired and slowed down… would she lose?

No, she didn't want to think about it. Sure, the guy was fighting against Salem of all things, but that didn't mean she had to as well. She was happy with letting time to the work for her.

She roared her frustration as she launched herself like a bolt of lighting toward Hector, traveling at light speeds, and aiming to shatter his aura with this last bolt and call it a day. She knew a good bar where they could hang out afterwards, it would be pretty chill.

"Now!" Hector shouted in front of her, and she was going too fast to slow herself down or even redirect herself.

She widened her eyes when a bubble of green magic completely blocked and absorbed every drop of power she put into that last strike, and to her horror, she was left completely wide open.

Her lightning aura was gone, being forced to charge up after attempting a full power attack like that, and Hector could finally _see her_.

"Got you." He said with a growl, more than satisfied with himself for finally getting an opening on the light speed maiden. "Kaioken times fifty!" He screamed, and Natsuki could _feel_ the heat of his aura crashing against hers. She groaned as she was forced to shut her eyes, and try to protect herself blindly.

"Take this!" Hector screamed and roared as his blue flaming fist flew through the air and _crashed_ straight into the mid section of the Summer Maiden. His blue eyes were glowing with an almost golden color as he finally landed a hit on her, but was snuffed out just as quickly as it came.

Natsuki's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull as she spit up spittle and blood as the most powerful hit she has even taken cracked a few of her ribs, her aura doing little to protect her against something so powerful. Around the two of them, a shockwave kicked up all the sand, and Hector roared even louder as he pushed her with all his might. His blue flames flared high into the sky, and Natuski found herself for the first time being the one flying into the sand, and being buried underneath it as she stumbled and fumbled over herself. Getting a facefull of sand as she finally skidded to a stop.

Hector fell down to one knee straight after, his Kaioken being forced down to deactivation. The beating he got caught up to him quickly, and using his semblance at that intensity did nothing to help his situation.

Natsuki pushed herself up to her hands and knees, but kept one of her arms wrapped around her chest. Her aura was still up, it was just the attack that was so strong that it by passed her aura for the most part. She was healing, but she was injured for sure. At least two or three broken ribs.

Yet she stood back up anyway, eyes still flaming, and lightning still crackling.

Hector stood up next, he couldn't use a high power of Kaioken, but he could at least go up to a times ten multiplier. All he had to do now, was end the fight, and she saw that to.

"That… was the first time I've been hit that hard." Natsuki said between coughs. "Good job, but this fight ain't over yet."

"Oh I know, though I wonder if you can keep up the speed now." Hector said with a grin, all too satisfied with himself for coming up with such a plan on the spot.

When Natuski hit the bubble, it not only blocked it, but absorbed most of it. Depowering her momentarily and long enough for Hector to take advantage of it. She was still faster than him, but there was no way she was going to fight at light speed anymore in the state that she was in now.

"Something tells me that I won't need to." Natsuki said with a wide smile, which did not make Hector any more confident in himself.

"It was a short fight, but it was the most intense one I have ever taken part in." Natuski said as she stretched both arms out to her sides, blue lighting and pure magical energy pooling up in both arms. "I won't kill you with this, but there's no way it's not going to hurt."

"Oh shit." Hector knew what a maiden blast attack looked like, and this one did not look pretty.

Quickly, he started trying to summon up the power that he had when he fought against Hell, to use that blast he used against him again here. That would be his only chance. Ozma's bubble could not be relied on here, it could and would break. That much was proven in his fight against Cinder during the Fall of Beacon.

He dug his left back foot in the sand, and strengthened his stance with his front right leg. He pulled his left arm back, just like he did against Hell. He tried to summon up the magic he was supposed to have with him, but he wasn't able to draw it out like he was able to before.

"Better figure that shit out! 'Cause I'm almost done charging." Natsuki said, precious seconds passed by, and the power she had in her hands was getting bigger and more threatening.

He had no time to charge at her now, he would love to. But he simply had no time to even get to her in time. There was a good few dozen meters between them, and to cover that in less than a few seconds was something that Hector just could not do in his current state.

He saw something from behind the Maidens shoulders, a cyclone of red, yellow, black, and pink all swirling together and heading straight toward the maiden. Hector immediately figured out that it was actually Ruby, Yang, Rhea, and Neo all coming to help and save him, but if that happened then they might have to force the maiden into working with them and give them the relic. That did not feel like a good idea in his mind, they needed the Summer Maiden as an ally, not an enemy.

He needed to win this _now_ , in order to get the outcome he desired. So he grit his teeth, tightened his core, and _pulled_ the magic he _knew_ he had within him, and finally. A dark ball swirling with red and blue power formed in the palm of his left hand. He was prepared to go as far as he needed to in order to defeat the Maiden, and he was prepared to risk it all.

Which was why when Natsuki suddenly powered down, and stared over his shoulder was a _horrified_ expression on her face, did he grow confused. Losing his will to fire his attack, his power bubbled away in his hand.

"What the fuck is _that_!?" Natsuki asked loudly after blinking her eyes several times, staring at _something_ behind Hector.

Even Ruby and the others all stopped in their tracks, weapons in hand, and faces set in shock as they stared at the same thing Natsuki was staring at. Even with weapons at the ready, they just couldn't believe what they were seeing, and was standing still paralyzed with fear.

With nothing else to day, Hector turned around.

He wished he didn't.

There she was, the same face he saw in the vision when he went back in time to save Summer.

It was Salem, adorning her battle armour. Her black and dark purple aura humming around her body as she stood not even a few feet away from him. She was staring down at him, her hair wasn't up in it's usual hairstyle, instead it was let down. The white locks was brushed to the side, and she stared down at Hector with a smile on her purple veined face.

"You lead me straight here with that fight of yours, made it much easier to track down not only the Summer Maiden…" She narrowed her Grimm eyes straight into Hector's. "But the same man that interfered with me all those years ago… Oh how things have finally come full circle."

Her powerful aura bustered with an evil dark power, it was something that Hector has _never_ felt before. He found himself falling backward on himself, terrified to the point where he couldn't even throw a punch at her like the first time he did. It was so much different in this point in time. She was the embodiment of darkness and destruction. Everything about her spewed evil, and murder. Ozma was screaming for him to get away, but he couldn't even hear him.

All he could hear was the sound of his own breath, and Salems bubbling magical aura as she stared down at him.

"As I told you all those years ago…" Salem said as she reached a hand out toward him. "Your power _will_ be mine."

* * *

 **And that's the chapter, I already can tell the reactions of a few select reviewers Lol. You guys think you hated cliffhangers before? Well, just take this one in for a week.**

 **I couldn't make the Summer Maiden fight any longer, for as you all now, I am very short on time. In order to keep up with my schedule I** _ **have**_ **to cut some things out. But I hope that you all enjoyed the fight anyway, I was planning it for a** _ **very**_ **long time. Just like the part you're going to see next chapter :).**

 **Please review and let me know what you think!**

 **If you would like to keep up with me and the progress of the chapters of all my stories, as well as drawings of my characters from each story, you can check me out on twitter!**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**


	64. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 64

**Hah… here we are. I am crazy busy this week, so hopefully I'll be able to get this out as soon as I can. Full time work really fills up my time huh, no pun intended. But yeah, here is the 64th chapter of Unlikely Hero! Now let's get to the reviews!**

* * *

 **Oblivious IJ: Yeah, I recently read Naruto again, and I have realized by fun little similarity. Salem is similar to Kaguya in a few ways. I am never going to be allowed to forget that Lol.**

 **Themasterguest: Don't worry, everything will be fine… hopefully.**

 **TigerVolcano5000: I wish I could have made the fight longer, and more drawn out. I had plans for it and light speed maiden has been in the words for a long time. I was just short on time, and had to shorten the fight down. One day though I might go back and extend the fight to what the original plan was going to be. And yeah, cliffhangers are my specialty, you should know that by now. ;)**

 **Zeldawolffang: Things are going to happen, don't worry about Hector… everything will be fine… hopefully.**

 **Guest: Team HAMR has been renamed to Tale of Two Heroes. It is being rewritten, and is on Hiatus right now.**

 **Guest 2: I am aware that Adam has light blue eyes in the show, but as you can see, we are way past going back on track to the cannon, this is it's own story now.**

 **Fpinheiro96: Here it is! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Whew, that was a lot of responses. With those over with, let us get back to the story!**

 **I see that there has been a little meme going around with Salem in this story being similar to Kaguya from Naruto. I didn't really intend for those similarities to be a thing, but hey, it's funny to laugh about now.**

 **So yeah, Salem = Kaguya confirmed.**

 **Lets play a fun little game called 'Spot the Jojos reference!'**

* * *

Chapter 64- Destiny

" _Hector, run!"_

He barely heard the other soul in his body, and acted purely out of instinct to dodge a grab attack and jump further away from the evil witch that was Salem. She narrowed her eyes at him, then sighed when Ruby and Yang quickly caught up to him and stood in front of him in defensive stances. Hector was tired at the moment, he was just in the middle of a battle with the Summer Maiden after all, and he could barely keep a low power Kaioken active for more than a few seconds as he was now. Salem came at the worst possible time, and she planned for this.

"Neither of you will be able to stop me, you know this." Salem stated as she flicked some of her snow white hair of her shoulder, looking bored of all things in front of them.

"We'll stop you anyway." Ruby declared, stepping forward despite Hector's attempt to pull her back. "You're evil, and good _always_ triumphs when it comes to us." She shouted, aiming Crescent Rose at Salem and firing off three rounds at her.

Each of them were caught, and crushed into a dusty pulp. Salem had no trouble keeping track of the bullets, and stared at the silver eyed warrior the entire time. She almost recognized, she looked very similar to another silver eyed warrior almost two decades back.

"Ah, so I finally get to meet little Ruby Rose," Salem chuckled, saying her last name with more emphasis as she remembered her mother, Summer Rose. "You've been a thorn in my side for quite some time now, I thank you for providing me this opportunity to stomp you down myself." Her voice suddenly got darker, her red eyes glowing and a dark Grimm black aura surrounding her body.

Yang stood in front of her sister, pushing her back protectively as her red eyes flamed with the power of the Spring Maiden. "You're not going to touch her," She glowered at the immortal witch. "You're getting beat down here, and now."

"Amusing, but your light magical power pales in comparison to my dark." Salem pointed out, grinning maniacally as she slowly started making her way toward them.

"We'll see about that!" Yang shouted, and was just about to charge at Salem, but a hand with a strong grip pulled her back by the shoulder. She turned her head to see who it was, only to see the stern and visibly scared face of Hector. "Hector? What are you doing?"

"What am _I_ doing? What the _fuck_ are you doing?" Hector snarled at her as he pulled her back, his strength overpowering hers for a moment as he yanked her backward and farther away from the now chuckling Salem. "You were going to lose more than an arm if you charged at her like that, did you forget what Knolly told us all yesterday already!?"

Yang looked shocked when he spoke of her lost arm like that, but at the same time she realized that he was right. Salem is unlike any opponent they have ever faced, if she really charged in like that… she would have to thank him later for that. Luckily, Ruby decided to fall back as well, keeping pace with them as they make their way through the sand and back toward Rhea and the injured Summer Maiden.

"What do we do then?" Yang asked as she tore her wrist away, and started running on her own. The gesture went ignored, and only now did she realize just how injured Hector actually was at the moment.

His red shirt was torn up, his pants were in slightly better shape, he was bleeding, and was riddled with bruises, and that was just the damage she was able to see. He was in bad shape, and it dawned on her again that if she charged in, Hector most likely would have followed, and both would have been severely punished for it.

Hector glanced back at her, and then to Salem. Who was still ever so calmly walking towards them, a dark haze following her. As she grew closer, a group of black storm clouds grouped up above her, raining sickly black goo which puddled in the sand and began to spawn Grimm. The latter was not really a problem, but the fact that Salem kept that damn smile on her face was what truly terrified them, along with the horrific aura that she gave off.

"We run." He said, his voice flat and quiet, and yet was so chilling to hear. "I have Ozma's memories… he was stronger than a maiden once upon a time, _much_ stronger. I've seen what Salem can do to a person, and trust me, you don't want to know."

Yang and Ruby paled at the thought of it, _that_ was the thing that they needed to take down in order to truly assure the worlds safety? They wanted to respond, say something optimistic and at least put up a fight against the witch. But if anyone knew what Salem was capable of, it was Hector. He has Ozma's memories, and even fought her briefly once before in his time spent with Summer. Salem was dangerous, and they were not ready for her yet.

Rhea and the Summer Maiden met them in the middle. They were going to keep running, but the area ahead of them was also being covered in black goo that spawned more Grimm, cutting them off. They could cut through them without much of a problem as they were now. Three Maidens and a man as strong as one, the Grimm stood no chance.

But they couldn't afford to waste time on them, the Grimm were weak but could slow them down. And at any moment, Salem could actually start trying to catch them and no doubt would.

Their options were getting smaller in quantity, only getting more scarce as every passing second went by.

"C-can we beat her?" Natsuki asked hesitantly, she kept an arm wrapped around her chest, and her breathing was ragged and scratchy. Her ribs were still broken, and even a Maiden couldn't heal that fast. What Jinn told him also came back to him, she was only confident until she started losing, and right now they were surrounded by Grimm, with a foe stronger than any Maiden was gaining on them.

"..." Hector didn't have the heart to tell her how screwed they were, he was the one who hurt her like that. It was his fault she couldn't get away right now. His eyes ran down her body, then down to the figure next to her. Rhea, the Fall Maiden.

He had an idea, and she wasn't going to like it.

"Rhea, listen to me." Hector said as he knelt down on one knee and placed his hands on the faunus' shoulders, the sounds of Yang and Ruby fighting Grimm already filling the area around them. "You need to take the Summer Maiden, and fly out of here. It's too dangerous to keep either of you around."

"What!? I'm not going to leave you!" Rhea predictably shouted back at him, eyes already frantic.

Hector's heart dropped at the sight, but he couldn't back down this time. He _had_ to make sure they were going to be safe.

"This isn't a request Rhea. Take the Summer Maiden, fly out of here, and heal her." Hector hissed back, using a voice he never knew he even had. Rhea's eyes widened with shock at his tone for he has never spoken to her that way. He was always so kind… and now he looked so angry.

It reminded her of a memory that didn't belong to hers.

"Do I get a say in this at all?" Natuski asked, wincing as she stepped closer to them while throwing off bolts of lighting with her free arm. She was drained after powering up all that magical energy only to disperse it.

"Are you confident that you'll be able to fight with broken ribs?" Hector asked her, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I… don't know." Natsuki replied honestly.

"Then shut up." He hissed at her, doing what he felt was the right thing to do. He looked back to Rhea with a sigh. "Please… Rhea, just do this for me. If either of you die… that's it, we lose. There is no coming back from that, it'll take years to find the next Fall and Summer Maidens, and that's assuming we're able to get away from Salem at all."

"Didn't you find me in a few months though?" Rhea asked frantically.

"That's different, we got incredibly lucky when Raven decided to help us out. We won't get lucky a second time, the power would go to a random girl somewhere in the world, and this is literally the last chance we have, and we do not have the luxury of time being on our side any longer." Hector explained, his eyes growing darker the more he went on just how impossible things would get if _any_ of the Maidens died in this generation.

"B-but… what about you? Ruby? Yang? What's going to happen if I just leave?" Rhea askd through choked sobs, she wasn't crying, but she was close to. The fear she felt combined with the pain of being forced to leave her stepfather was pushing her far, but she was being brave. She had to. She may be young, but so was everyone else around her. There was no more time to hesitate.

"We'll have to hold her off…" Hector hugged her, holding her tight for a few short seconds before letting her go and standing up. "I'm sorry for making you do this, but there's no other way."

"I… I understand." Rhea said as she placed her hands on his chest, a second passed and her body glowed an amber colored aura, and some of Hector's wounds healed and bruises faded away. He marveled at the pain he no longer felt, but quickly realized that he was still tired.

"I had to do something… I healed your body, but you are still going to be tired." Rhea said as she hooked her head underneath the Summer Maidens right arm. Natsuki allowed this, more than happy to let someone else take the weight of her body.

Hector smiled softly at her, and stepped back as to give her room to take off, it may be hard for her to maneuver her way through the thick storm of Grimm, but she was a Maiden. She could and would be able to handle it.

"Please, stay safe." She said to him as she started to float into the air, her feet dangling along with Natsuki's, who gave a two finger wave down to those below her.

"Hey, I got that thing I need to tell you. No way I'm falling here after all the shit we've been through." He replied as he watched them fly higher into the air.

When Hector waved back, and turned back around. Salem was already closing the distance, and _fast_. He had to think quickly for she gave no warning as to her intentions, for all he knew she was gunning straight for Rhea and the injured Summer Maiden. He powered up without thinking, not even paying attention to how much he powered up, and met her halfway.

When they met in the middle, Salem pushed him back. She was strong, incredibly so. Assumingly she was enhancing her bodies strength with her dark magic, almost like his Kaioken, but with _none_ of the drawbacks. His already tired muscles easily gave way under her force, and he was blasted back.

"You really think I am just going to _let_ them get away?" Salem asked with a soft growl as she pointed one palm up to the sky, a red and black ball of pure dark power growing as the seconds flew by.

Hector couldn't even stand back up by the time the ball was charged up and fired at the two fleeing Maidens. He feared the worst immediately, but when a blonde blur of red lighting and flames intercepted the attack, his relief was immeasurable. Yang hovered in the smoke left behind from the magical attack, her robotic arm sparking with power and aura still flaming after blocking the entire blast.

Salem narrowed her eyes at her, or rather behind her. She scolded herself for not using more of her power, if she had she might have been able to injure or if she was lucky, kill the Spring Maiden. But alas, she held herself back.

Perhaps it was for a reason, perhaps not. She has been cooped up in her castle for the past century or so, just biding her time for Ozma to give up on trying to defeat her. So perhaps that was the reason for her coming out here herself to dirty her own hands with work that _should_ have been able to be done by her henchmen.

First it was Cinder, at both Haven _and_ Beacon. She succeeded in gaining the power of the Fall Maiden, only to be defeated by the hands of a novice silver eyed warrior. Then she went on to attack Haven, and got herself killed by Ozma's most recent vessel even after defeating him once. After that, she sent the first of Tyrian's clones to go find and kill him, only for that creature to be killed in the process whilst only taking an eye, and then the actual Tyrian almost got himself killed as well. Then there was Marcus Black, who _failed_ in capturing the next Fall Maiden, and then got himself killed by his own son who was far weaker than he was. Of course there was Hazel, who often succeeded the most, reduced to a mere pile of flesh and bone barely still alive. If that wasn't enough, the second strongest Grimm creature on the planet wasn't able to defeat the one he was _made_ to defeat, Hell. Whatever he was doing right now, was clearly something he prioritized over her wishes. He would have to be punished for that.

Failures are one thing, repeated failure is another, and the one thing that nearly all of these failures have in common… is the interference of Hector Rivers.

She should have seen it coming in all honesty, she met the young man two decades ago face to face. She sensed the magic within him, both the light and the dark kinds. She knew that he was a possible threat, and yet still pushed him aside as a later concern for many years to come.

That was her fault, there was no one else to blame but herself for that one.

But is was one she could rectify right now.

Salem spread her arms to her sides, and the Grimm that surrounded Ruby started to burn away into thick black ash. The heroes were all shocked to see Salem kill all of the Grimm around them, only to be horrified by what happened next.

The ashes of the Grimm were absorbed into her aura, and then went straight up into the once clear blue sky, filling it with a black muck that blocked out the sun. They stared on shocked as the sky seemed to get closer to the ground, only to realize that the sky was actually enclosing around the entire area.

In mere moments, the black goo of pure darkness formed a dome, easily a square mile in diameter, probably more. Locking Hector, Ruby, and Yang in with Salem.

They had no way out.

"Shit… SHIT!" Yang screamed as she punched the wall, only for it to completely absorb the force of her attack. "That bitch trapped us in here!"

"I've noticed!" Hector yelled back as he to punched the barrier, only to yield the same result. "Damn it, Ruby, can you use your eyes to burn through?"

Ruby nodded at him, and gestured for them to back away from the slime. When they did, she tried to use her power. Only for her eyes to flicker white and little else, she tried three, then four more times before looking down at her hands.

"I… I can't use them." She turned back around, eyes rim with red after exerting her eyes too much. "I can't use my eyes!"

" _This dome is counteracting the magic Miss Rose has in her eyes, they are all but useless in here… The only way to undo this is effect is to leave the dome."_ Ozma reported sorrowfully, quickly confirmed by the voice of the Relic of Knowledge.

"No…" Hector ran a hand down his face, eyes shaking as he realized there truly was no other option.

They had to fight, or they would die.

"Okay, don't panic." He said next, more to himself than anyone else around him. "Yang, you and I are going full power, we can't afford to hold back against something like her." As he said this his aura grew, and changed color to blue. His body could barely handle a times forty multiplier as he was now, but had no choice. He would have to live a few less years, but that mattered little when the lives of himself, Ruby's, Yang's, Rhea's, and practically the entire damn world was at stake.

Yang took the spot to his right, nodding her head and surrounding herself in a bright yellow flaming aura surrounded by red crackling lightning. With the blue and yellow mixing together as they were so close to each other, it appeared green from an angle. She would fight with him to the end, as they promised each other.

"Ruby, you have to be support. You're fast, but you can't take a hit from her." Hector said next, using the knowledge he had on them all from Ozma. The man spent some of his time making personal files on the team, their counters, their strengths, weaknesses, so on and so forth. It was a bit violating, but it came it handy now. "Take shots when you can, and make some space if we get too close. But whatever you do, do _not_ stay still for more than a few seconds."

Ruby nodded her head, Hector couldn't see it, but he knew she was listening. She couldn't afford not too.

"Done running and planning?" Salem asked as she appeared barely twenty feet away from them. She was tall and imposing, easily about six foot eight in height. The armour didn't make her look and more mundane. Her eyes were glowing, and the area seemed to get darker as she got closer to them.

When she got no answer, she spoke again, "Very well, I shall play with you for a bit. It has been so long since I left the castle. You have done well to force me into doing something myself." She even applauded them after she said this, taunting them the whole time.

Hector and Yang looked to each other one last time, and bumped fist's together. A silent message being passed between the two. After a glance back at Ruby, it was time to make a move.

When Salem clapped for the last time, Hector and Yang bursted off of their back feet. Kicking up sand behind them as they pushed full speed ahead straight toward Salem. Switching places every few seconds in an attempt to confuse the witch.

"Oh? Are you approaching me?" Salem asked with an amused snicker.

"We have in order to kick your ass!" Yang and Hector shouted back at the same time.

She tracked them easily, and got into a combat stance herself. In her right hand formed a magically summoned sword, while in the other formed a spear. Hector split off to the left, and Yang right, roaring as they slammed their fists into her sides at the same time.

Salem blocked each of them with one of her weapons, the flat of her sword pushing back against Hector's fist, while the staff of her spear parried and redirected Yang's. After that, Salem used her superior speed to push her spear underneath Yang's stomach, and lift her up into the air. Hector only had time to widen his eyes as he was forced to block and catch Yang's body which was slammed straight into his.

He landed on his back foot and slid against the sand for a few dozen feet, forced to redirect Yang's body in a random direction as to defend against a hailstorm of magical arrows. His forearms burned as it was cut and bruised against the projectiles, and his shirt got torn up even further. But he couldn't afford and breaks now.

He kicked off to his left and sprinted across the sand. Not stopping even when the arrows started moving in mid air to catch him. Some still hit him, while others dug themselves into the sand, but for now this was part of his plan.

Salem blinked in surprise as a bullet hit her in the hand, bouncing off her own aura and ricocheting into the dome itself. She turned to face the red hooded silver eyed warrior who attacked her, but a pile of rose petals was left where the girl once perched up in.

Then she actually winced when a kick landed straight into the back of her knee, forcing her to stagger over herself as her weight was shifted. She recovered quickly and twirled her spear as to stave off any follow up attacks. Which worked in her favor as Yang was caught up in the wind pressure and was blown away, and Hector was forced to dig his hands into the ground lest he be blown away as well.

Salem then reached her sword into the air, and slashed downwards. A wide vertical arc of dark red energy sliced through the sand toward both Yang and Hector. Each were only barely able to dodge it in time as to not get themselves cut in half. Though now they were separated.

Expecting it this time, Salem spun around and tanked a bullet to her chest, and fired off a magical orb toward the flash of the barrel. A blur of red dove out of the way just in time, but she still nearly got her.

She almost got another one off before Hector jumped up and grabbed that arm, forcing the orb to go off into the ground as he tried to wrestle her down to the ground. She actually had to put a decent bit of effort in as to not get wrestled down to the ground in a disadvantageous position. Salem slammed her foot down, and wrenched her arm out of Hector's grip. Wrapping her free hand around his neck and lifting him up into the air.

"Ack!" Hector choked as he tried to pry off her hand from cutting off his breathing.

Salem prepared to stab her hand into his chest, but a flaming yellow fist slammed into her chin. Staggering her enough to drop Hector and step back to catch herself

Hector landed on his feet, and followed up with a fist aimed to her core. Salem's armour protected her body, so it did little to no damage. Hector realized this when he heard one of his knuckles crack against her armour, and cry out in pain as he shook his hand and backed off.

"I can't do any damage to her." Hector said with a wince as he set his knuckles back into their sockets. "Her aura, and armour are too strong."

"Damn… so physical attacks aren't going to work huh?" Yang said as the two of them formed up beside each other again. "I have some blasts up my sleeve, what about you?"

"I might have some as well… but I'd could go further." Hector said, thinking about the one time he went Kaioken times sixty. It gave him immense power, enough to defeat Hell with a massive blast stronger than any Maiden magic attack he has ever seen.

"I'd say no… but I don't think we have much choice right now." Yang said with a shake of her head. "Damn it, I need to take more hits. I'll tank, you do the damage, then we'll switch when the time is right."

Hector nodded to her, the choice being made for them.

Yang charged forward as Hector threw his arms to the side and _screamed_. His blue aura growing even larger, and brighter as he pushes himself even further past his limits. _Screw stamina, I am going to do this!_ Hector thought to himself as he rose higher, and higher in power.

Salem deflected Yang's fist with ease and struck her hard in the stomach with her knee. It was hard enough for Yang to cough up blood, but she grabbed Salem's leg as it was pressed into her. The witch coked an eyebrow at this action, but soon realized what the Spring Maiden was attempting.

Yang immolated herself in fire and lighting, and while holding onto Salem's leg, was burning away at her armour. Salem made a ticking sound with her mouth as she felt her armour heat up immensely. She pried off Yang's arms, and with a snarl stuck her hand across her belly, summoning a orb of destruction directly making contact with her body.

She screamed in pain as Salem allowed the orb to blow up in her hand, blasting Yang away with enough force to level a large building. However, even through her pain, Yang only grew stronger.

Hector felt like his heart was about to explode as he pushed himself past fifty, his muscles burning and his skin turning red as his body heated up beyond its usual limits. He forgot what it felt to go this far, he was most certainly going to be unconscious again after this, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment. Yang was buying him the time he needed, and he'd be damned before he would squander that effort.

Yet he knew that even if he used the same power he used against Hell, it wouldn't be enough…

He would have to go further.

When his body surpassed that of a Kaioken multiplier of sixty, the pain changed into something much colder, a foreign feeling as he felt his very _soul_ be used as a fuel source for his power, his blue aura grew darker, and his eyes began to change color once again.

Stealing her power was out of the question, even if he succeeded he would become corrupted. The only option was to do this the old fashioned way.

At the same time, Yang's aura exploded into a mirage of colors, red, yellow, and mixing into orange. Her eyes were flaming even hotter as she to grew stronger with every attack landed on her. Once she was done powering up her semblance, she flew into the air, arms crackling with red lightning as her hair caught flame.

Salem crossed her arms over her head as a bolt of dark red lightning came down from the clouds still inside the dome. She felt the electric light magic course through her body, before being conducted and snuffed out with the overwhelming amount of dark magic she had within her.

"Ah, that pesky semblance of yours." Salem said as her left arm bracer shattered into three pieces. "Too bad it eats away at your aura like no tomorrow. That ability is only useful against those of equal or weaker than you. Against me… let's see just how much power your body can handle."

Yang widened her eyes in surprise and fear as Salem jumped up from the ground flying straight at her. Black aura trailing behind her as she closed the distance in less than a second. Yang's jacket melted away as Salem caught her on the side of her sword, sending her up higher into the air. The witch disappeared and appeared again behind her, slamming her back into the ground with the tip of her spear.

"Yang!" Ruby cried out in terror as a dust cloud formed around where Yang was stabbed into the ground.

As the dust and sand settled, Yang was thankfully still alive. Only because she was just barely stopping the tip of Salem's summoned spear from stabbing into her heart. Her yellow aura was flickering around her arms, and her muscles bulged as she tried to push Salem's one arm back.

The witch grinned down at her as she blocked Ruby's bullets with her sword, not even looking at the red reaper as she slowly got closer and closer to ending the Spring Maidens life.

Yang looked back up at her with such hatred, pushing back as hard as she could in defiance. She was getting stronger slowly as time went on, but it didn't matter because of Salem's much superior strength.

Then she stopped, Salem's eyes widened slightly as she sensed something. Yang was more than happy to use this moment of distraction to twist her body to the side, redirecting the spear into the ground and jumped back a good hundred feet or where Ruby was quick to check up on her.

Salem had the chance to kill them both with one shot, but for the first time in a long time, she sensed an immense amount of dark magical power coming from a single person.

"AAAAAGGGH!" Hector screamed and screamed as he went up and beyond his previous limits. His human eye showed no pupil, and instead of a blue iris, it turned a dark red.

Just like hers.

"Haha, yes!" Salem cheered. "Keep rising in power, you'll become just like me!" She said as Hector stared at her with a desire to murder.

He wanted to scream something back at her, to declare that he was going to kill her in the most brutal way he could imagine. But no words were able to escape from the base of his throat. His vocal cords were burned out again, and his healing was nowhere near fast enough to keep up with his self destructing power.

But there was one thing he was able to get out, even through all that.

"Kaioken times SEVENTY!" Hector screamed, his voice sounding much darker than it was previously. His aura was a mixture of red and blue, turning it a bluish purple as the sand around him burned up and melted into glass.

Salem smiled at him the whole time, his eyes haven't turned red since he killed dear Cinder. Those were the eyes of a monster, just like the Grimm.

She attacked first, summoning up her sword again and swinging it over her head and down at Hector.

The clash felt earth shattering, Hector caught the blade with both his hands, catching the blade in between them. His bones were already breaking, but were still in one piece for now. His training was what was keeping him alive right now. Salem smirked at the amount of power he displayed in order to block her first attack in such a manner.

His lips peeled back to reveal his teeth as he pushed her sword to the side and headbutted her. Salem reeled back in surprise, that was not one of the dozens of attack patterns she predicted him to use on her.

Hector reeled back and held his now bleeding forehead, Salem's head was very hard. Go figure, but he had the sense to know that he couldn't stop there. His fist slammed against the side of her armour again, and for the first time, Salem actually felt pain.

She grunted as Hector pulled his fist back, the armour he couldn't break before now cracked and dented. Salem sucked in a deep breath, and stabbed her sword in his direction with even greater speeds than before, Hector was not going to be able to dodge it.

Another bullet hit her on the hand, this time it was elementally infused with the element of wind. Her sword missed by a wide margin, giving Hector the opening to attack her again.

She didn't allow it. Her dark aura exploded and blasted him away and into the distance. Salem glared at Ruby with a red eyed glow, striking fear into her heart. Though Yang stepped in her defense as she fired off a much stronger orb of destruction at her. This one was much more powerful than the ones she created before.

"Get back!" Yang screamed as she pushed Ruby with more strength than what was intended, but it still did the job that needed to be done. Ruby flew off in some direction, keeping her safe.

But at the cost of making Yang vulnerable.

She crossed her arms and powered her semblance up to the maximum as to deflect or block the blast at the very least. But she was being pushed back, and her legs were barely holding her up as it was. All she could do was desperately hold off the attack as she was pushed closer and closer to the black wall of darkness that was Salem's magic.

Hector saw that his friend was in trouble, and broke off from his battle with Salem to go save her. But as soon as he looked away from the witch, she grabbed his arms and pinned them to his back. Lifting him up above the ground and keeping him still. Where this strength suddenly came from, Hector didn't know, but as hard as he struggled, he couldn't break free from Salem's grip on his body.

"No, you are going to watch." Salem said into his ear, her breath deathly cold as it danced across his skin. "This is what happens, when you stand against me."

"AAGH!" Hector shouted at her as he kicked his legs, and slammed the back of his head into Salem's face. It did nothing to hurt her, but it felt mildly satisfying. If anything, it only made her grip on his arms more painful as she tightened it around him.

His eyes finally broke away, dimming down back to blue as his senses came back to him, and his body failed him. He couldn't do anything but watch.

Yang's back slammed against the curved wall hard, the shockwave climbed all the way up the wall, and kicked up all the sand around her. Her yellow flaming aura were burning hotter than it ever has before, and the red lightning also crackled around her arms, but even with all the added strength over the many years of training and getting stronger. This orb was just too powerful.

Her cheek was squished against the orb as her arms fully entered the blast. It felt cold, much too cold, and it ate away at her aura and power. She was getting weaker and weaker.

Ruby and Hector were screaming, trying to think of a way to help her. But Hector was pinned by Salem, and Ruby was too weak to do anything about it.

Yang saw her life flash before her eyes as the orb grew brighter. Turning from red and black to a purple color. Before it condensed suddenly, and then exploded.

That entire corner of the dome shattered with the explosion, and Hector and Ruby felt their hearts drop, and tears sting the corners of their eyes as they feared the worst for their loved one.

Hector didn't want to feel the way Salem's lips curved up as she rested her chin on his shoulder, whispering, "I warned you." Into his ear.

When the plume of purple smoke faded away, Yang was spotted face down in the sand, robotic arm completely destroyed, aura barely hanging in there, and bleeding from over a hundred wounds on her simmering body. She was alive, but just barely. If she didn't get help, she would die.

"NOOO!" Ruby screamed as she dropped Crescent Rose and used her semblance to run up to her sisters side, rolling her over and resting her sisters head in her lap. "Yang, Yang please, say something!"

Her red eyes were still open, but they looked empty and stared at nothing. Ruby's tears fell on her face as she looked down at her bleeding face.

Hector never felt more broken before. He knew they had a very slim chance of winning, and even that was still being optimistic. But for something like _this_ to happen?

His aura died out, and his eyes turned back into their usual dark blue as he lost his will to fight. Yang's broken body was all he had on his mind, and he just couldn't take it.

"You…" Ruby growled through her tears as she held her sister, the dome around the destroyed desert area they fought in slowly falling apart to reveal sunlight. "You did this…" The light from the sun shone over her body, highlighting the fact that her eyes were glowing. "You did this!"

Ruby screamed as she felt the powers of her silver eyes come back to life. Hector fell to the ground with a dull thump as Salem hissed in pain and blocked the light from getting to her face. Within the pure white light, a silver aura grew. Ruby clicked her mouth shut as she widened her eyes even further, the silver light coming out even brighter.

Salem actually fell down to one knee as her skin burned and sizzled, she was getting weaker as her dark power was being eaten away. Hector, amidst in all this light, was also in pain. Not that he was showing it at all, the dark power he had in him was forced to retreat back into his body, leaving him vulnerable.

Ruby didn't even notice, though if she did she was too angry to consider stopping. This was the strongest her eyes have ever shined, and she was going to make it even stronger.

Salem stood up in the light, it looked like tall all black figure standing in a bright white light. She slowly made her way closer and closer to Ruby, and then began to _run_.

Hector sprung into action, coming back into reality as he dove after Salem. He jumped on her back and wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled in tightly as to try and choke the life out of her.

Salem ripped his grip off from around her, and threw him to the side.

Ruby's light snapped shut when Salem grabbed her face, and lifted her up off the ground by her head. The witch's body was simmering with black steam, and her breathing were coming out as pants. But a golden hue was what caught Hector's attention the most.

Of course… she was immortal.

They stood no chance from the start.

"You pesky little _bitch_." Salem hissed as she shook Ruby. "Ever a thorn in my side, how typical of you Rose's."

"Let her go!" Hector screamed, his was barely still able to stand at the moment, but did so anyway. He staggered toward her, fists clenched at his sides as he _still_ stood defiant even in the face of defeat and death.

"Oh no, Hector Rivers." Salem said as she straightened her hand into an chopping posture, creating a blade that stretched out of her hand. Hector stopped on the spot, not daring to move any closer as she threatened to cut Ruby's throat open.

"I believe I said I would give you an ultimatum…" Salem said with an evil grin as Hector fell down to one knee, almost passing out on the spot.

"No…" Hector said to no one in particular, already knowing what was coming.

"Yes," Salem countered, just able to hear him. "I believe you already know the choices you have here." She dangled Ruby in front of her, ignoring the cried of pain as Ruby latched onto her arm as to not break her neck with her own weight.

"Give me your power, and the Relic of Knowledge, or watch as I butcher these two in front of you." Salem offered grimly. "An easy choice for one such as yourself to make I'd assume."

It felt like time was going slow as Hector stared at the witch, forcing his eyes away to the one he loved whom she held above the ground by her head, and then to the dying Spring Maiden Yang to his left. He was on a time limit, and had to make a choice that was bad either way.

Damned if he did, and damned if he didn't, there was no getting out of this.

' _Do it master, she will not be able to use me, for she is no longer human, and not a God.'_ Jinn said to him in his mind, and that was another thing he feared. The Relic of Knowledge was sentient, had feelings, emotions. Jinn wasn't just Knolly to him, she was one of his best friends, and she shared a mind with him. Giving her up felt like giving up a part of himself.

" _I… this is your choice… I will support you either way."_ Ozma said, not having anything else to say. He was defeated as well, there was nothing else to it.

"Don't do it…" Ruby choked out to him. "Not… worth it."

If it meant saving her, it did. Besides, if he said no to Salem, she would kill her and Yang, making the Spring Maiden reset again, killing off one of the last silver eyed warriors, and then she would steal his power, and the relic anyway. But if he said yes…

Then she had a chance to live… both of them did.

But he would be next to useless.

To him, that was worth it.

"I love you, Ruby." Hector whispered to himself, and apologize quietly enough to her.

He slipped the Relic ring off of his finger, and tossed it at Salem.

"Just take it… take it, and leave them alone… and my power is yours." Hector said as hung his head, and kneeled down before her.

Salem grinned, and threw Ruby to the side. She landed on her head and writhed in pain. Her neck was in pain, and she could barely keep her eyes open because of the sand that Salem secretly dug into her face.

"As I expected." Salem said as she went down on one knee in front of Hector, pulling his chin so that he was forced to look her in the eyes with his own tear stained face.

"The hearts of men are easily swayed."

Salem stabbed her hand into Hector's stomach, ignoring his screams of pain as she sucked whatever dark magic he had within him, and ignoring the tiny amount of light he had in his body. She laughed as the red and blue magic from within Hector was pulled out, and turned into a sickly black as it entered her body.

After a few agonizing seconds, Salem tore her hand out and wiped it of any blood. Taking a deep breath as she felt herself grow even stronger than she was before.

Hector's wound bled, but was not nearly as big as was expected. She simply magically reached into his soul, and took something from him. Physically, Hector was going to live, but he felt like he was just a Remnant of what he once was.

Hector choked out a gasp, looked up at Salem, and then fell to his side, barely conscious and in pain. His body was twitching, and a trail of saliva drooled out of his mouth as he felt his body relax. His muscles even lost some of its size and definition.

He was powerless.

"Now, was that so hard?" Salem asked as she clenched her hand into a fist. "You all even get to keep your lives, I'm not without mercy after all." She said as she turned around, her armour melting away and turning back into the dress she usually wore. Her hair flowed with an invisible wind and tied itself up into her usual hairstyle.

Without even looking back, she slowly descended into the ground, not saying another word as she left them where they were. Uncaring of what happened to them after this.

Ruby crawled toward Hector and Yang, who were right next to each other. Holding half of her face in pain as one bloodshot silver eye sought to see any signs of life. She whimpered when Yang's breathing was slow, and Hector's was just as bad and bleeding from a whole in his chest.

She ignored the blood sand as she pushed herself up to her knees, and grabbed both of their hands. Tears flowing out of her eyes as she feared the worst for them.

"I wasn't strong enough…" She cried as she tightened her grip around their hands. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."

Ruby knelt beside her dying loved ones, too weak as she was now to lift them and get them back to Shade, and too tired to even move.

The only thing she could do was hold on to whatever hope she had left, and tell Hector and Yang both how much she loved them. It might just well be the last time they could hear her voice.

* * *

 **Wow… this was a chapter huh? Yeah, I already know some of you are going to hate me for this, but i promise, this is not where the story ends. This needed to be an entire chapter of Salem vs our heroes after last chapter, and as you just saw. They still have a long way to go before they can even hope to put up a fight against her.**

 **Is Hector dead? Well, unless you guys want this story to end right now, no.**

 **Is Yang dead? Well, again, unless you guys want this story to end right now, no.**

 **Does it seem hopeless to them now? Oh absolutely, Hector lost his power, Yang lost her arm again, and Ruby is depressed.**

 **When I say that Hector lost his power…** _ **he lost his power**_ **. There is no Kaioken for him anymore, and I feel like I need to confirm that right now to all you guys. His 'semblance' (Kaioken) was a dark magical ability, and Salem just stole** _ **all**_ **of his dark magic. That was what made him so strong, so powerful. What made him relevant to Maidens and the like. Without it… what can he do?**

 **Of course I know the answer to that, but I'm curious as to what you guys think is going to happen, make your predictions in the reviews.**

 **Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter, I was going to make another short this chapter, but I have work shortly and won't be able to write tomorrow. I also have Blind Huntsman to worry about next. But next chapter** _ **hopefully**_ **, I'll be able to write another short for you all.**

 **The next short is going to be for another one of my upcoming side stories. An Unlikely Hero: Guardian Angel, for now I shall refer to it as UHGA.**

 **If you want to keep up with the progress of all chapters of all stories, you can keep up with me on twitter!**

 **T witter . com (slash) genatools**

 **And if you would like to support me directly, I hav treon.**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**

 **See ya next time folks.**


	65. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 65

**Ah… the reactions after what happened last chapter, is it bad to say that enjoyed them? Anyway, I was impressed by some of the predictions some of you made, some were close, some were not, and most of them were wrong. Sorry, that is just how it is when you read one of my stories.**

* * *

 **Oblivious IJ: You know, I was actually happily surprised with the serious review, you should write those more. Not that the non serious ones are bad or anything, they always make me crack a smile here and there. You wanna see what happens next? Well, here you go, this is what happens left, followed up by probably another cliffhanger.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: I tried to imply that Salem was this powerful, key word there is try. Kaioken was Hector's semblance, yes, but it was stated multiple times that it used up dark magic. At least I think so. I forget things sometimes. He does still have light magic, but a very small amount of it. Polendina discovered the 'G-cells' in his body, and Ozma was the one who suggested that Hector was actually part God. Salem did go back to her castle, yes. As for the Relic of Destruction, just wait for what I am going to go for there, you'll see.**

 **CinderFall201: y'know, I never did think about what Light magic Kaioken would be like for Hector, give me some time to think about it, and I'll tell ya later.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Perhaps, I have a plan for this, don't worry.**

 **Guest: I see what you did there, and I applaud you.**

 **Soul109: Glad you're back man! I see what you did there, and I applaud you a little less. Welcome back though, we missed you.**

 **Guest 2: Nice! Now here is chapter 65 for ya!**

 **Guest 3: We shall see my friend, you have some interesting theories. It makes me happy to know that someone is willing to think all these things up because of my story. Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Whew, what previous chapter to follow up on. It would be nice of me to just not have Hector or the others in this chapter right? Maybe this will be purely all Mercury and Summer, maybe this will be all Zwei, who knows? We'll see.**

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

 **Now let's get back to the show!**

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Chapter 65- Not Over Yet

Everything hurt, so much. Hector didn't know if he was dead or alive, all he knew was that he felt pain, heard muffled voices screaming their concerns about him and… who was the other person? Yang… of course it was Yang, they had just fought Salem and lost miserably, he remembered that.

He couldn't move his body, nor could he see, but he could hear. Ruby was worried for him, so very worried. As was Rhea, Rhea Rivers… his legal stepdaughter. Hector wanted to wake up, but he couldn't. The pain in his chest was just too much, and on top of that he felt so… empty inside, despite very much feeling alive at the moment with the amount of excruciating pain he felt all over his body.

" _It's okay Dad… I'll make the pain go away…"_

After what felt like hours later, and it probably was, he finally started feeling the pain begin to subside. He didn't know what caused it, but the warm sensation was very welcomed to numb the pain. However, he still couldn't muster up the power to wake his own body up from its slumber.

" _It's my fault… I wasn't strong enough… I'm so sorry..."_

That voice sounded like Ruby, and it drove him into a near full panic. It wasn't her fault, if anything it was his. He was the one who agreed to something so reckless like going to Vacuo to fight the Summer Maiden in the first place, and what should have been a short and quick fight leading to his hard fought victory, turned into a nightmare. Hector desperately wanted to squeeze her hand back, as well as the hand that held his other hand. But all he could do was grimace as even that took more strength than he could muster up on his own.

" _C'mon Hex… I woke up, why won't you? Don't tell me you're tired of us already…"_

That one was undoubtedly Yang, only she could find a way to make a joke out of a shitty situation. He wanted to wake up and laugh at it, and tell them that he was okay. But it was quickly overshadowed by the memory of the blonde Maiden losing her arm for a second time. If only he was stronger… if only he could have broken free from Salem's bind.

" _Fuck… I can't believe this shit. You cracked three of my ribs and then you literally give up a part of your soul just to save your little girlfriend? You're going to owe me more than a few drinks when you wake up pal, warning you right now."_

Was that…? yes, it was. The Summer Maiden, why she was visiting him on her own, he couldn't figure out. It might have been a few days, or at least he hoped it was. The pain in his chest still hasn't gone away, and he doubted it ever would. He could feel that his body in general was getting better, being healed by the best doctors in Vacuo and the power of the Fall Maiden in Rhea.

He still couldn't wake up, he knew he was getting better. So why wasn't he waking up? Almost every night, he had to lay there still in yet _another fucking coma_ listening to either Ruby, Rhea, or even Yang cry at his bedside. Sometimes it was all three, sometime it was Neo tapping impatiently at his forehead. He half expected her to just ditch them after what happened, but it was a pleasant surprise to learn that she was still around, doing whatever it was she was doing. She only visited in the mornings, sat around for an hour or so, and then wandered off again. At least now he could tell that Neo could be trusted, he was always skeptical at first.

' _It's okay Mister Rivers, I have you.'_

Now, the black void mixed with red turned white. His eyes snapped open only to see another void, but this time he had control over his body. Finally, for the first time since what happened, he could actually move.

But there was one major difference… he felt so much weaker than before, he could barely even stand up as it was and that was just in his mind. He couldn't imagine how hard it would be if he was actually in the physical realm.

"Agh…" He whimpered as he forced himself to stand anyway.

For the first time in a long while, he reached behind his back and took out Ozma's cane, the cane that has been through the better half of Ozma's very long life. Though, instead of using it as a weapon. He had to use it as the cane that it was just so that he would be able to walk. The muscles in his legs burned as they held him up, but with time it would get better.

"Finally, you've awakened." Ozma said in greeting as he appeared. He looked very different this time around however. Instead of the usual white haired man that Hector was always used to seeing, this version of Ozma had dark brown hair, along with darker skin, a shade darker than his own by a good margin. He still had dark brown eyes, but his attire was also very different, it was armour, and not just any armour. It was armour befitting of a king.

"Is this…" Hector's voice trailed off, even his throat was sore, though that was to be expected. He did scream off the top of his lungs for a very long while during his fight with Salem, it was a wonder how they were even able to heal enough for him to speak in the first place.

"My original form, yes. I thought it unnecessary to keep my headmaster form active." Ozma explained quickly, to which Hector nodded his head in understanding.

"It's good… to see…" Hector coughed and hacked up, and growled as he realized he couldn't speak that well at the moment.

"Take it easy Mister Rivers, it has been some time since Salem stole your power. You must allow your body to heal the old way i'm afraid. Rhea did what she could already." Ozma said, making Hector perk up at the mention of how long it could have been. He didn't feel any older, so it couldn't have been too long. But what worried him was how the last time he went Kaioken to that high a level, he was out for a month, now going even higher than that, plus all the damage to his body _and_ getting his power stolen. He was afraid of what the answer to his next question was going to be.

"How… long…?" Hector asked, being careful as to not strain his voice.

"Only a few days." A heavy sigh of relief. "But that is just in the physical realm, you are conscious now, but your body isn't able to move without assistance."

"Wake… me…" Hector told him, practically begging the old king.

"I… wish that I could." Ozma closed his eyes and shook his head sorrowfully. "I cannot wake you, I do not have the sufficient power to wake you, for my magic is scarce enough as it is."

Hector shook his head in denial, it couldn't end like this. It couldn't _be_ like this now, not after everything. Not after all the things he has done to get this far, retrieving Jinn, finding Rhea, befriending Ruby and all of her friends, fights after fights after fights… all the bloodshed. He couldn't take it, if what Ozma was feeling and thinking right now was true, then he was going to be out for a _long_ time unless he did something. But what could he do? Was there _anything_ he could do?

"How can I…?" He left the question unfinished, Ozma would understand what he meant to ask, they shared a mind after all.

"That isn't a question I am confident in myself enough to answer I'm afraid. I'm sorry." He added when he saw Hector's face contort with sadness and hopelessness.

"Perhaps _I_ can be of assistance?" The voice of the thought lost Relic of Knowledge asked, she wasn't present in his mind like she usually was, but her voice sounded like she was right next to them.

"Knolly…! How?" Hector asked, his mind finishing the rest of the question for him.

" _How are you still here?"_

"As I told you before, I will still be able to speak to you, if only for a time. I am afraid that Salem is attempting to break the mental link I have with you even as we speak, she will never be able to claim me as her own, but in time she _will_ succeed.." Jinn explained, making Hector hang his head in shame as he believes it to be his own fault for the deity's capture.

" _It's my fault… I'm sorry."_ He thought to the Relic.

"Do not think such things." Jinn scolded him, able to tell what he was thinking thanks to her power. "You really only had one viable option, once Salem trapped you all, that was the only possible positive outcome. Even if it was one distasteful in nature."

"Still… I'm sorry." Hector choked out, trying to use his voice again only to regret it immediately, rubbing his neck as the uncomfortable pain once again made him cough.

If Jinn was with them, her brow would have curled up with emotion, such a being as herself showed emotion very rarely. But with the bond the two had, he was able to bring it out of her. Never before as she had an owner so kind, and treated her not as a tool, but as another person. Or as Hector put it one time, 'A person who knows pretty much everything there is to know.'

"You do not need to, but you have my forgiveness…" Jinn said with a small smile, not that Hector could see it. "Now, one of the last things I'd like to do for you is provide a way for you to wake yourself." Hector nodded his head, and thought something positive for the Relic to take as a signal to keep going.

"This is something I have developed in my own time, waiting for a good opportunity to use it. After centuries, I finally found a good reason." The white void slowly turned into a mixture of gold and blue, and Hector felt himself begin to lift off the transparent floor, and Ozma slowly fade away into the back of his mind. He didn't feel any stronger, nor did his wounds get any better, but he did feel himself grow less and less tired at a slow rate.

"I cannot provide you with the knowledge to escape this state of comatose, but what I can do is provide the sacrifice needed to heal the part of your soul that you lost."

Hector perked up, and tried to resist, but the Relic had a surprising amount of power to force him in place, suspended in the air.

"I may be the Relic of Knowledge, but I am bound to whomever I claim as my owner for life, and you Master, are not dead just yet. I will do what I must to ensure that you have the chance to continue your journey, no matter the cost." The gold and blue light grew brighter, and Hector was in awe at the display of power he had no idea that Jinn had within her. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was just… divine. Beyond his limitations of understanding.

"Did you actually think the only thing I could do was answer questions?" The relic laughed as she began a ritual.

Jinn groaned in pain as she tore a piece of her own soul out, modified it, and gave it to Hector. His body shone a golden light momentarily, and in the physical realm, his body twitched.

"Huh?" Ruby hummed as she felt something enclose around her hand, her groggy red rimmed silver eyes opening up widely as she saw Hector's hand around her own. "Hector?!"

" _Knolly… please don't do this, there has to be another way."_ Hector begged in his mind, even as his own soul was forced into being repaired about three quarters of the way, it was still damaged nearly beyond repair, but he felt a light flicker up from within him.

It was no power, and he did not feel any stronger, but instead he felt happier. Even though he felt like crying again.

" _Don't be stupid Master, it's either this, or you wake up in a year to a world destroyed by Salem, and your friends dead. Even if you managed to defeat Salem after that, you would be a broken man with no living friends in a world infested by Grimm. That is not the life I want for you… Hector Rivers."_ Knolly thought back to him.

A flash of Jinn's face was seen in front of Hector's eyes, she was smiling, not a single blemish on her blue face. Not even any tears, though this was the closest he has seen the deity get to such an action.

With no words, she pointed a finger at him, and gently pressed it against his forehead.

" _I, Jinn, Knolly, and the Relic of Knowledge, willingly sacrifice my own life force to you, Hector Rivers, current and final owner."_ She winked at him, smiling the whole time. " _Use it well, Master_."

His eyes shone a golden color mixed in with blue from his own eyes. He saw a flash of white light, and then it went black again. For a fraction of a second, he thought that her sacrifice meant nothing. But then he heard his own name being called out to him.

"Hector!? Wake up! Yang, he's waking up early, get everyone and get over here!" It was Ruby, she must have been on the scroll as she placed a hand on his face.

His eyes twitched, and his body hurt, but he gripped Ruby's hand even tighter as he stirred awake. He nearly tore the stitches in his chest when he did wake up, eyes snapping open with a small flash of gold as he gasped for air. He was engulfed in a hug straight away, barely able to respond to her in time as arms wrapped themselves around his neck.

He hugged her back, finally, he could. It was a miracle, truly, he was only out for a few days, and yet he still felt like he could sleep for another couple of days straight.

"I can't believe this." Ruby cried into his shoulder happily, pulling back just enough so that her forehead pressed against his own inside of his shoulder. "How? You pushed yourself even further then last time."

"I… had help." Hector told her with a raspy scratchy voice. His own eyes were rimmed with red, he was almost about to cry again, but he held himself back. No more tears should be shed, enough were in the past couple of days already. "Knolly… she… sacrificed…" He couldn't finish explaining it, he just hugged Ruby a little tighter and planted a desperate and needy kiss on her lips, one which she happily reciprocated.

She understood what he meant, she wasn't dead. She couldn't be, she was technically a Goddess, if only not as strong as most of her peers and creators. And God's could not be killed, no matter what. She told him as such when Hector asked out of curiosity. She would just have to be alone and deal with things for a time. But her sacrifice would _never_ be considered in vain, Hector was going to make sure that it wasn't.

Rhea bursted in through the _window_ just seconds later, with Yang quickly following. Having powers like they do, walking would have just been a waste of time, and they could care less about the energy it took to get them there, they would regenerate it quickly.

Right after Ruby broke away reluctantly, Rhea jumped into his arms, nearly knocking him off the bed entirely in the process. Yang sat on the side of his bed, and with the one arm she still had, and also covered in bandages nearly all over her entire body, gave him the biggest one armed hug she could manage. They fought Salem together, and even though they nearly died in the process, it only made them grow ever closer with one another.

Natsuki stumbled into the room next, obviously drunk but lightening up the mood with her slurred curses at Hector for making her actually worry about him. Then Sun, his team, and even Ilia came in next. Hector had no idea they were even in Vacuo, and welcomed yet another happy surprise upon seeing them. Neo even teleported into the room, saw Hector awake, nodded her head with a smile on her face, and then disappeared just as quickly as she came. It was the most he was going to get, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Even through all the happiness however, there was still a dark pit he felt within his stomach.

His Kaioken, his semblance, or whatever the hell it could really be called. The thing that made him able to become so powerful in the first place.

He didn't feel any trace of it left.

* * *

Mercury scooped up some of the freezing water from the corner of the icey room, and splashed it across his face. He didn't know why exactly he felt the need to do that since it was already colder than the asshole of a Schnee, or at least close to it. But after finally processing what Summer Rose just told him, the woman he thought was dead for the longest time of course. He thought it was time to do a little reflecting.

Winter woke up the other day, finally. Though she was still very tired and sore. Not to mention hungry, so Qrow was helping in taking care of her. Though Mercury couldn't help but notice that Qrow made an effort to try and avoid talking to Summer. He didn't know what happened between the two before he woke up, but it had to be something serious.

Now here he was, Mercury Bla-... Just Mercury, stared at his own reflection in the icecy blue wall of a random chamber he stumbled into. His dark grey eyes staring back at him in an almost taunting manner. Trained to be a killer, an assassin. Became one of the most wanted criminals in the world after destroying most of Beacon and assisted in the invasion of Vale, lost his one friend that he had through all of that shit, and then decided to become a good guy. Getting his redemption through hard work, forgiveness from the ones he once sought to hurt, a swirl of emotions he never thought he was capable of feeling, and through killing a _lot_ of Grimm. Like seriously, he is surprised that his old legs held up for him for so long, no wonder Ruby kept whining for him to let her work on it.

Then his world just _had_ to be flipped upside down for him _again_. Because apparently, Hector is a motherfucking time traveler now. He was already intimidated by the guy before because of the fact that he killed Cinder before he became friends with him, but this was just getting plain ridiculous now. First it was some bullshit semblance that seemed way too powerful for any one guy to have, then found out it was magical, then found out the guy had more than one kind of magic with him, and so on and so forth.

Summer was surprisingly talkative, he found out a lot of things he would have rather been ignorant about. But most of what she told him was… enlightening, to put it kindly. It really sounded like the woman was talking about a child of hers, even though technically Hector was older than her at one point, but after becoming friends with Team RWBY, and then Nora, he didn't really find many things weird anymore. Besides, apparently more than half of Summer's life was perceived as eighteen hours to Hector in the end of all of it, which once again didn't make any sense to him, but at the same time it was magic, was any of it _really_ supposed to make sense? It _was_ magic.

Now he was getting a headache again, great.

"Mercury."

"And the sleeping beauty has come to speak." Mercury sighed as he wiped his face of the cold water and swiped it aside. "Sup Ice Queen? Come to thank me for taking care of you while you were knocked out?"

Winter scowled at him, but she didn't deny what he called her out on for. Out of the three of them, Winter was the most injured after the battle with Tyrian, Hazel, and Marcus. And with Qrow being a little shit, and Summer not really being good at healing people, it came down on Mercury to take care of her. Changing her sheets and bandages. It was ironic in many ways, a trained assassin taking care of a life instead of taking it.

But he wasn't an assassin anymore, he had to keep reminding himself.

"I've heard you've been calling yourself a Huntsman now." The Schnee said to him as she tightened fur cat she had around her body, presumably gifted to her by Summer. The Winter Maiden was able to literally control freezing weather, so it went without saying that she was probably pretty resilient against the cold temperatures of pretty much anything.

"Yeup, thought it would be a nice promotion." Mercury grinned. "I mean, who would have guessed _Mercury_ to become one? I mean, I _am_ twenty, going through a school would just be boring and too much of a breeze for me."

"I am not against it… you have…" Winter looked like she wanted to choke. "You have proven yourself, there, I said it."

Mercury fluttered his eyebrows at her, egging her on.

"Don't push it." She warned.

Mercury laughed. "Stop being such a priss, I'm pulling' your chain. Though I gotta say, I'd definitely rather have you glaring at me than me being forced to clean up after you while you were enjoying your beauty sleep."

"What!? I had no such accidents!" Winter hissed, face a rare light pink as a tease actually got to her.

"Sure, whatever you say." Mercury whistled. She didn't really have any problems like that, she had nothing to get out anyway, but she didn't need to know that. He felt like he deserved a moment to have some fun while he could, Summer wasn't exactly easy to banter with, and again, Qrow was being a little bitch. So that meant Winter drew the short straw.

After some time of letting the moment pass, Winter spoke up again with a pale face as usual this time. "The Winter Maiden told me some… things."

Mercury's smile faltered a bit, but he recuperated quickly enough. He had a few days to process it, and he was a hell of a lot better than when he first was told about it.

"Yeah? Time traveling possible, go figure." Mercury sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "What she said explains some things, doesn't really make any sense, but hey, since when does anything make sense anymore?"

"True… but that is not what I came here to speak to you about." Winter said next, sighing as she leaned against the wall for support. She was still tired, that much was easily decipherable by the way the spots beneath her eyes were shady and dark.

"Yeah, thought as much." Mercury crossed his arms and raised one of his silver eyebrows. "Is this about tall, bitchy, and whiny?" He asked, not meaning anything behind it. Well, maybe a little bit.

"If you are referring to Qrow, then yes." Winter rolled her eyes, before assuming a much more serious demeanor. "To put it frankly, I am worried for him. He seems to be mad with Summer, but what is more concerning is the burden he places on himself."

"Yeah, I know." Mercury said, cutting in. "Guy feels like it's his fault that Summer lost an eye and an arm the day they tried to fight Salem, and like it's even more of his fault when he gave up on finding her once Ozpin pulled him away. It's what he does, I don't know how to pull him out of it."

Winter gave him an expecting look.

Mercury sighed. "Do I really have too?"

"You are the one he seems to like the most at the moment." Winter pointed out.

"Really? What about you? Aren't you two fucking or something."

Winter's face flashed with disgust, though at the same time she went red. "Of course not! We were partners on _one_ mission, and we have never even entertained the idea of a relationship."

Mercury rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Mercury, I am serious here." Winter said, composing herself. "As much as you or your friends may think, Qrow and I are not actually that close. Friends? Yes, but almost nothing compares to the relationship of a mentor and their apprentice, in a the better part of the sense, I mean." She quickly added as she remembered Mercury's first teacher.

"Yeah, I get what you're saying, but let me throw your own words back at you without actually saying them." Mercury proceeded to keep his mouth shut as Winter stared at him unamusingly. The two had a stare off, and only one had more patience than the other, mostly because she was already in recovery, and even though she was very tired, she could still manage her signature 'Get to it' kinds of glares.

Mercury sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Fine, I'll go talk to him. Was wondering when we were going to get back to training anyway." Mercury said as she moved around Winter, and gently brushed past her.

He could just _feel_ the smirk that creeped up Winter's face as she watched him walk by.

Seriously, how did an assassin get redeemed to the point that he has been reduced to making people happy?

Somehow, he blamed it on RWBY, specifically the first and last letters of that team name.

* * *

Adam cut a Grimm clean in two and let the two halves fade away into ash as they hit the ground with a thud. It was a Boarbatusk, but this one made the mistake of assuming that Adam wasn't powerful enough to cleave straight through it's armour and into flesh and bone. His sword was more than sharp enough for such a feat, it was able to cut through a tank after all, even with the power of Moonslice that was a very impressive feat.

It's been days since the group had to go after Blake for once again running off on her own to save the day. Once they caught up and turned the tide of the battle for the good, they tactically regrouped and retreated once all of the injured soldiers and Huntsman were brought back into safety.

When that happened, Blake got a _stern_ talk about her going off on her own like that. When the school was still infested with Grimm, it was dangerous to go _anywhere_ alone. Much less into an area of the school which was almost the most dangerous place to attack. Which was the CCT tower.

That was the very place of which the petrified dragon monster was still frozen, high above the ground at the top of the tower. Where the Grimm were spawning from the pools it had dropped on its way. Luckily, with the help of Adam and his semblance, they were able to destroy a few of them. But the endless tide of Grimm hasn't lessened up at all.

After Blake finally apologized to them, the stubborn girl that she was, pointed out the fact that back in Atlas, after that dragon was slain, all of the Grimm in the area was also killed off nearly instantly. So if the same rules applied here, than the one true way save Beacon, was to slay the dragon.

How exactly, was the problem. It seemed like the Beacon dragon was much more powerful than the one in Atlas, which was able to be killed by magic and blades. This one however, was fired at by artillery, handheld weapons, and even got blasted by silver eyes, and it was still alive.

They were running out of time, Adam realized as he looked to the top of the tower. The dragon was going to break free soon, and they weren't ready yet - _He_ wasn't ready yet, he has barely been able to make his eyes even flash, a league far below that of Ruby Rose.

"Well, I guess today is the day huh?" Nora asked him, he since gave up on trying to push her away. She wasn't having any of it. Honestly, it surprised him more that her friends and lover weren't worried about her being around him at all, and they actually considered him as more than just someone evil trying to do good for once in his life.

"Probably, more than half of the beasts body is out, and it's wings are nearly free." Adam left what would happen after that unsaid, because once that dragon's wings got free, was the turning point of either chaos, or victory.

"You think you can kill it Horny?"

"Don't call me that, and I might answer your question."

"Think you can kill it Adam?" Jaune asked him instead, standing on his other side beside Blake.

"Possibly, I'd have to store up as much power as I could for my semblance however." Adam answered easily, earning a hum out of Nicholas Arc.

"Hey! Why didn't you answer me when I asked?" Nora complained.

"You know exactly why."

"Hmph, you're mean today."

"Probably because the dragon is about to break free, Nora." Ren pointed out. "We are all very much on edge at the moment."

"I'm not." Nora pouted.

"Somehow, I am not surprised." Adam quipped, earning a whine of indignance from the ginger of the group.

"Politan Rose." A stern elegant voice called to him, the voice was instantly recognized for it could be no one else who could say his full fake name like that with such a hidden amount of disdain in her voice. "I see you are aware of the circumstances, as is your party."

"Miss Goodwitch," Adam acknowledged her with a nod of his head. "We are, it is expected that today is going to be a day to go down in history. The assault is starting soon, is it not?"

"It is." Glynda confirmed.

"Is everything gathered and ready to go?" Nicholas asked, stepping forward.

"Almost everything…" Glynda said, still looking to Adam.

He raised an eyebrow at her, expecting an explanation.

"The forces are ready, the soldiers have loaded their weapons, the Huntsman and Huntresses have sharpened their weapons, and everyone has been fed and well rested. The only thing we have to do now, is storm the CCT tower."

In the past couple of days, with a string of assaults and battles in which Adam was apart of nearly every single one of them. It all came down to the tower, it was damaged and barely standing. But once it was conquered and the dragon slain, Beacon would be safe. As well as Vale. The council have already given permission to use whatever means were necessary to get the school back up and running, and is offering whatever forces were available. Police Officers, trained soldiers, volunteers, even Huntsman in training. Dozens of teams who hailed from Beacon itself were also here, and all of their efforts combined lead to this final turning point.

"So what is it that we are missing? We should attack now while we have the chance, the dragon is still petrified in some places." Adam suggested, silver eyes staring straight into Glynda's green.

She sighed. "What we lack, is someone to lead them. I would do it myself, but I am expected to be on the front lines, and I admit that I am not a gifted leader. For something such as this, we need someone with experience in the field." It took a few slow seconds for what she said to dawn on him, and the realization slowly creeped up Adam's figure as his breath rasped for a second.

Leading… that was something he hasn't done in a long time.

"I assume you mean you want Ad- Politan, to lead the forces?" Blake asked, crossing her arms.

"To put it frankly, yes."

"I thought you didn't trust me." Adam said.

"I don't, but personal squabbles are nothing compared to what must be done." Glynda said. "Believe me, I already checked if there were anyone else available for the position. But the commanders we had before are either dead, injured, or abandoned their post. Unless I put they duty upon a student or Nicholas here," Nicholas gagged on air for a second, he was a Huntsman, and a famous one for that. Not because of his leading skills, but for how good he was at fighting alone. "Then I am afraid that you are the only viable option." Glynda looked left and right, making sure no one was able to hear what she was going to say next.

"You managed to lead the White Fang so well that a terrorist organization was able to nearly bring down an entire kingdom. You want to redeem yourself, correct?" Adam swallowed nervously, but nodded his head. "Lead not to cause pain to others, but lead to save those in need. Do that and succeed, and I will personally speak to the council of Vale to see if you can be pardoned for your crimes so that you may live peacefully."

Adam widened his eyes at that, as did most of the others with him. Blake was the second most shocked, and almost felt the need to argue that condition, but was rational enough to see that her old combat professor truly was desperate for results. Before they got there, people have been fighting to reclaim Beacon ever since it was lost two years ago, they are tired, and this could quite possibly be their last chance. For the sake of Vale and it's people, for Adam's sake as well, she kept quiet on the matter.

"I… don't know." Adam said hesitantly. "I haven't lead since Haven, and we all know how that turned out."

"Psh, have you been paying attention the past few days?" Nora asked him as she elbowed him in the side affectionately. Much to his confusion.

"What do you mean?" Adam asked.

"Have you really not realized that you have basically been leading this entire assault the whole time we have been here?" Nora asked with an amused giggle.

"I have?"

"Yeah man, we've been following you this whole time. Even my dad, surprisingly." Jaune said, pointing a thumb in his father direction.

"So we're doing this now?" Said father asked, but didn't deny anything of what he was accused of.

"The first day we came, you lead the assault to reclaim the first bit of territory anyone has been able to make in over a year." Ren pointed out. "Until we came along, or more specifically, you, Beacons reclamation was seen as something impossible. You haven't even realized it, but the men and women here already rally behind you, they speak praise of your skills and strength, and the lives you have already saved have spread your name around."

Adam felt surprised, more so then he truly thought he should be, more than he thought he deserved to be. He has simply been doing what he thought was right, what he needed to do to bring good to the world. Even now, his past sins still completely overshadowed his good deeds, which was why when Jaune and his team were looking to him as more than just some terrorist monster and actually considered him a friend surprised him. Blake was still a work in progress, but he has known her for long enough to know that when she stopped glaring at him, she stopped hating him.

"I see…" Adam said absentmindedly, bringing one hand up to scratch his chin as he thought about what he should do. He _was_ a lieutenant of the White Fang, and he _was_ a naturally gifted born leader, but that was during his life as Adam Taurus, the terrorist and fanatic who held most of the responsibility for the Fall of Beacon. Now? He was still Adam Taurus, or Midnight - he responded to both now - but he didn't feel confident enough to be the leader he once was before.

"I think this is the best course of action." To his major surprise, it wasn't Glynda who said those words. "Adam, you are the best person for this, and I _know_ from firsthand experience how good you are at rallying and giving orders." Blake said, stepping past Jaune and getting within arms reach to the one she once thought a monster and abuser.

Adam didn't reply quick enough, for his surprise was simply too much.

"If you don't lead us all, then who will? Jaune?" She gestured to the blonde knight, who happily denied the role. Ozpin's decision to make him a leader only stemmed so far, and a small army of Huntsman was way above his league.

"Do you really believe your own words?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow at the black haired woman.

"Yes." Blake said after a moment of thought, eyes narrowed and serious, expression unwavering.

Adam sighed, and ran a hand through his pink and brown hair. Decision having been made for him before he even realized it.

"Very well," He said as he turned to the blonde headmistress. "I will lead the men and women into battle, give me a moment to prepare, and I shall do what I need to do."

Glynda nodded her head in understanding, but could not hide the satisfaction she felt from appearing on her face in the form of a small smile. "I'll give you a few minutes." She said before turning back around, and heading in the direction of the amassed force.

"I suppose we should go as well," Ren suggested. "Coco will probably want us in their strike team, and I would rather not have her hunt has down when the assault is already started."

"Yeah, good idea Ren." Jaune said as he followed his best friend, Nicholas followed straight after. He was not going to leave his sons side for a second. If he did, he had eight women he would have to answer to if Jaune got himself hurt.

With a silent nod, Blake followed next, leaving her final words to him as it was. She was never one for `goodbye for now's`, and Adam doubted she was going to give him one. She expected him to survive this, and expected him to be the one to end this.

Nora of course gave him a big ol' hug from the side, not expecting nor receiving reciprocation from the bull faunus. "I'm gonna miss ya you big lug." She said as she let him go, orange hair flowing to the side of her face along with the wind.

"You're going to see me again in about two minutes." Adam pointed out as he shrugged off his coat, it would only get in his way this battle, and the bright pink color continued to annoy him. Though, the second it left his body, it returned to its jet black color.

"Eh, semantics." Nora shrugged, and spun around on one foot.

Even with all the days Adam had to get to know the ginger, he never grew any closer to understanding her. The way she acted was very… friendly was the nicest way he could put it. She wasn't like this when he first met her and her team at Haven, and then suddenly after the second battle up here in Beacon, she latched onto him and practically forced the title of `second best friend forever` on him. Whatever it was, he was secretly grateful for it. With all the stress piling up on being one of the only ones capable of slaying the dragon, as well as the building frustration of not being able to use the powers of his eyes it was slowly getting to him. She was able to take his mind off of it all, if only with how loud and touchy she could be at… no _most_ of the time.

He would never actually tell her this, but she was considered a good friend to him as well.

Now however, it was time to get serious. Adam took a deep breath, and double checked that all of his weapons were secured, and he was stocked up on dust and aura. He was full on aura, and he was out of dust. But he only really needed the former.

"You're next." Adam said as he looked up at the tower, and to the Grimm Dragon whose head was now free from the petrification.

No more words needed to be said, Adam turned around, and met with the people he was meant to lead.

It was now or never.

* * *

Salem sat in her throne was a chalice of win in her left hand, and Relic of Knowledge in her other. She was back in her old black dress, but her hair was still kept down. She did not see a reason to tie it back up in it's unique style. It took too much time, and she had something she needed to do.

"You are proving to be quite difficult Jinn, I was lead to believe you are forced to answer a question to anyone." She said to the ring, whose blue gemstone has dulled down significantly due to something happening, she didn't know what. "You were quite defiant before, what has happened to you now? Did your _master_ order you to stay quiet?" She asked, amused.

"Worry not, I did not take you for your question answering skills. I only needed you to make sure Hector Rivers and his party did not gather all the relics and summon the Gods. I do not know if that would truly be what happens if one was to gather the four relics, but it never hurts to be safe. Expect staying with me for the next few decades." Salem said as she flipped the ring onto one of her pale white fingers.

The relic didn't reply, not this time.

"Still nothing?" Salem sighed. "Very well, stick to your silent treatment game. I for one am going to enjoy this new power boost, his power was truly delicious. If only I decided to take things into my own hands sooner rather than later, I haven't battled anyone like that in centuries. Holding back was annoying, I'll admit, but it _was_ fun."

"You're going to die."

"Hm?" Salem raised an eyebrow, and looked down to the ring. "What did you just say?"

"You're going to die." Jinn repeated, flowing out of the ring in a dark blue mist, and not nearly looking as elegant and refined as she did before. Being tortured as she was, and with the life force she gave up for Hector made her appearance look more sickly. "I have seen your defeat Salem, you die with wide eyes, and in disbelief. Your greed and callousness will only carry you so far. The power you have stolen is not yours, nor will it ever be. Your allies will die, and everything you have ever lived for with be stomped out into the forgotten depths of history."

Salem narrowed her eyes at the wounded deity. "Is that so? Well, I hope they have a way to slay an immortal then. As long as this curse of immortality is upon me, I am afraid that even if they do somehow find a way to defeat me, they will _never_ be able to kill me. I'd just out last them, and after this generation, not even King Ozma will be able to stand in my way."

Jinn narrowed her eyes at the Grimm woman, not giving anything away with her expression as her black and blue eyes met black and red.

Then the relic smirked at the witch, amusement clear across her features.

"The most likely words you will hear, is this." She cleared her nonexisting throat.

"'Fuck your immortality.'"

Jinn flowed back into the ring before Salem could properly process what she had just heard. The ring glowing a dull blue before going out completely, leaving just the dark stone. Salem growled and took off the ring, throwing it out in front of her across the stone table.

"We'll see what happens, Jinn." Salem said as she stood up, battle armour once again forming across her body. Walking toward an opening in her throne room which hung over the entire Grimmlands.

"My Queen, if I may ask, where are you going?" Watts asked, present for the entire conversation but didn't dare risk interrupting any of it.

"Not far." Salem said as an evil dark aura flowed behind her with each step.

She looked back to the scientist, one Grimm eye was all he could see.

"I am going to go train."

* * *

 **Oooo, look at that. Training time. This was a chapter just full of plot stuff, and an apparent prediction from Jinn. By the way, who knew she could fire off some shots like that? I didn't know, and I write this version of Jinn/Knolly.**

 **Salem training? Oh my, what an interesting concept. What could she** _ **possibly**_ **be training for?**

 **Also, Jinn is not dead, she is simply weakened, so don't worry about her… yet. She sacrificed some of her life force in order to wake Hector up, and if she didn't do that, well, Hector's story would have ended there.**

 **We finally get an update for Mercury and his fun little group. He's becoming a therapist now, so that's fun. You may call him Doctor Black from now on, or maybe just Doctor Mercury. He's still having trouble with that by the way.**

 **What else did I miss here… oh yeah, one of the most important parts of this chapter. Adam freaking Taurus leading an assault to reclaim Beacon, what a guy man, and what a redemption arc. Next chapter is going to be a doozy, cuz I gotta write what's going on in Vacuo, Mistral,** _ **and**_ **Vale all in one chapter. I am speeding things up a bit for now, I have to if I intend to end this story in the Summer.**

 **Also… gotta say this now. It has been exactly one year since I started writing for the first time. Or the first time I posted a chapter of a story, this story was once described as** ' _ **A bunch of shit slapped together and somehow turning out to be really good',**_ **and honestly, I cannot even argue that statement. This story started out with almost no plan, and after that, I** _ **really**_ **had NO plan. Only around Rhea being found did I actually develop a plan for the future. There was the Atlas war arc, then after that the Red Rivers focus, and after that we got to where we are now, and let us not forget Adam of course.**

 **So here we are… 365 days later (Approximately), 350+ followers, almost 300 favorites, over 360 reviews, part of not 1, but 2 communities, 65 chapters, and over 500,000 words so far. Not to mention my writing has gotten exponentially better over the year. Who remembers when there used to be like 3-4 chapters a week for this story alone? Like, an update every 2-3 days, I don't know how I did it guys, I was a machine. Not like I'm not one now, I work full time and I manage 3 chapters a week almost every week still.**

 **I gotta say, if it wasn't for my very first review being so positive, I think I would have deleted this story on chapter 1. So thank you, WisdomDragon27, if you are still reading to this day, for being my first follow, favorite, and reviewer. And thank you to Empress Astra, Tigervolcano5000, zeldawolffang, Oblivious IJ, and many other reviewers I don't remember the names of. For reviewing nearly every single chapter of this story. If I didn't mention you, don't take it personally please. I love every single one of you.**

 **And now, for another short for you guys ;)**

* * *

 _Omake: An Unlikely Hero: Guardian Angel preview_

 _The Prank_

* * *

"Summer what the Hell are you doing now?" Hector asked as he floated about the dorm room.

"Rios, I don't need to hear this from you." Summer said as she screwed something into Raven's weapon, and stuffed _something_ where the dust crystals were supposed to go. "Unlike you, I am actually alive."

"Hey, I'm still alive." Hector complained as he patted his ghostly chest. "I'm just from the future, hanging around for now. Still trying to figure out why."

"Yeah yeah, save your crazy mumbo jumbo stories for another time." Summer said as she _ripped_ something out, and then widened her eyes in surprise. "Rios, I going to need that wrench now."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that with the hands I can totally use for picking things up with."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you're useless." Summer sniped back with a pleased grin on her face.

"Ouch, right in the feels." Hector said as he poked his head through a wall, an ability he didn't know he had until he accidently tripped over something and passed through a wall while walking beside Summer. How he managed to trip over something with ghostly feet, he stopped trying to figure out.

"Am I still safe?" Summer asked him.

"For now," Hector said as he spotted Raven down the hall, promptly ignoring the advances of Taiyang with Qrow sulking in the background with a disgusted look on his face. "They're down the hall, but Tai is doing his usual thing, so you still have like… ten seconds, probably."

"Probably!?" Summer whisper screamed in a panic, scampering around and putting away all of her tools. "You were supposed to tell me if they were coming back a lot sooner than that!"

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the insult you gave me earlier. You may try again later."

"Rios!"

Hector sighed, and poked his head through the wall again.

"They're unlocking the door now."

"Eep!"

A flurry of white rose petals later, the rest of the tools were put away under Qrows bed, because he had the fortune to be sleeping in the bed right beside Summer's. After all the evidence was thrown away, Summer _threw_ Raven's sword and sheath to her bed, and jumped face first into her own.

Raven was the first to enter the room, and immediately sensed that something was afoot, Qrow followed in next, then Tai. Then even after they were all settled and Summer kept the happiest grin on her face which nearly split her face in two, Raven stood there, sniffing the air.

"What did you do?" She asked calmly, but with authority.

"Whatever do you mean partner?" Summer asked with a nervous and forced laugh, wiping her brow of sweat. "I'm just _so_ happy to see my bestest friend ever."

"The fact that you just said that makes me trust you even less right now." Raven said as she crossed her arms.

"Well- I- Uh." Summer paused as she watched Hector walk up from behind Raven, and stick his ghostly hand through the back of her head, and out her mouth.

He then started mimicking someone talking with his hand.

"Oh Summer, what did you do this time? Caw caw!" Hector said in the best impression he could give of Raven, and it turning out horrible.

"Pfft!" Summer clamped her mouth shut, but her laughter could not be stifled.

"What's so funny?" Raven asked with a twitch.

"Yeah! What's so funny Summy? Caw caw!"

"Pfft hahaha!" Summer bursted out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer as she literally started rolling on the floor laughing when she fell off her bed.

Raven, running out of patience, growled and stomped her way back to her bed, where her beloved sword was resting. When she picked it up however…

 _ **BANG**_

Raven slowly turned around, confetti of all different colors stuck in her hair. Leaving her completely stunned, angry to the point of being frozen. She slowly turned around, and _glared_ at Summer.

"Doors open." Qrow pointed out as he preemptively covered his ears with his pillows, as did Taiyang.

Summer peeked over her bed with a face red from laughter, her silver eyes looking straight into red. For a moment, she was filled with immense fear, but then…

Hector's hand went straight through Raven's face again.

"You better run Sum Sum! Birdy's gonna get ya! Caw caw!"

Summer bursted out laughing and broke into a sprint at the same time, with Raven still hot on her tail.

Hector laughed to himself and followed after them.

This whole ghost from the future thing had its ups and downs, but he was never going to forget what happened on this day.

* * *

 **And there we go, the first ever short for Unlikely Hero: Guardian Angel, which is going to be another short little side story I am going to have fun with once UH itself is finished. It might share updates with UH FTP, which is going to feature Hector in the cannon world of RWBY, so basically starting off with Volume 6.**

 **So yeah, there's all that. Poor Summer, and writing Raven in this story again actually makes me sad when you consider her past in this story.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story!**

 **If you want to keep up with me, and the progress of all of my chapters, give me a follow on my twitter!**

 **T witter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**


	66. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 66

**Jesus guys, there were so many reviews after last chapter. If I went through all of them I would have to write about 8 hundred words just in response, and that is going to mislead me on how many words that chapter in terms of actual story it's going to be. So instead, I am going to summarize similar reviews and answer them all at once. So let's go!**

 **First off, I thank you for all the birthday wishes for Unlikely Hero. This story has been a crazy ride, and I am proud of the fanbase I have created for this story. This wouldn't be possible without you guys, if you go back to chapter 1 of this story, and then go to this chapter, you would see how much I've improved in this past year. One of the Guests asked me if I was going to do a timeline of all the events that took place in this story, and I really don't know when or even if I would do that, possibly after this story is over. There were many predictions on how this story is going to end, and right now I am afraid that I am going to have to shut down the Super Saiyan one, I am sorry, but Hector is not a saiyan, if he was he would be planet level by this time and no one would be able to touch him. The Guardian Angel side story will start once this one is over, and it's going to be a fun little side project whenever I get ideas, as I would the other side stories I have planned.**

 **With that settle for now, any questions should be asked in a PM, it's getting to the point where if I answer all the reviews, we'll be here all day. And we all want to get to the story.**

* * *

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

 **Now let's get right back into it!**

* * *

Chapter 66- Old Habits Die Hard

"I can't believe you're actually awake." Rhea said with tears in her eyes as she hugged her step father. "We expected you to be out for months… how?"

Hector hugged the Fall Maiden into his chest even tighter than before, feeling his own tears stinging the corners of his eyes. It got even worse when he remembered he what he had to tell her, and soon. He kissed her on the top of her head, and gently pushed her away so that he could look out to the crowd of his friends, all waiting for some sort of explanation. Ruby to his right, Yang to his left, Rhea in his arms, Natsuki leaning against the wall with a grimace on her face, and Hector did not fail to notice the bandages still wrapped around her ribcage. Sun and his team were in the congregation of chairs near the door to his room. Neo was somewhere, he knew she was probably around. Ilia was standing off somewhere in between his bed and the door in the open space. Her grey-blue eyes staring at him with worry. He hasn't seen her in months, but now there was admittedly more pressing matters to attend to sadly.

"Like I said before… Had help." Hector choked out, and coughed when he felt an intense burning sensation in his throat.

"Knolly, the Relic of Knowledge." Ruby repeated for everyone's sake. "She did something to bring him back, to wake him. Right?" She looked to Hector for confirmation.

He nodded at the silver eyed warrior as he rubbed his throat.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked, noticing the gesture.

"Hurts… to speak." Hector rasped out with another cough, more violently this time.

"Don't speak then, who knows what kind of damage your body has been dealt with after what happened." Natsuki said with a sigh, and shook her head. "Damn it, this is my fault."

"You didn't-" Hector cut himself off with another cough, this one forcing him to keel over the side as blood leaked out of his mouth. He spit to the side, and gestured to himself. Ruby, assuming this was for her leaned in and offered her ear for Hector to whisper into.

And whisper into her ear he did, Ruby nodded in understanding, and leaned back when he was finished.

"It's not your fault, he said. You couldn't have known that Salem was so close, we didn't either." Ruby said, adding that last part herself to share her own thoughts on the matter. "We don't blame you for what happened."

"I…" Natsuki shook her head, taking it for what it was. As she thought about it, she thought herself incredible immature for wanting to take the fight to the hero of two kingdoms just for her own fun and games. She knew how strong she was, how fast she was, and she wanted to test that against someone she thought was able to give her a good challenge. Looking back on it, that was a big mistake on her part. She was supposed to be a professor for pete's sake, not some adrenaline driven bimbo with a fighting fetish. If she could go back in time, she would tell herself not to make such a stupid decision. "Whatever, at least we're all still alive."

"I hate that this is how we see eachother again." Ilia said after a few moments of silence. "I've been in Vacuo this whole time, if any of you were wondering."

"Yeah, I was actually." Ruby said with a tilt of her head. "What have you been doing? You left right after the battle at Haven and we had to stop Blake from trying to go out and find you."

Ilia let out an exasperated sigh, and ran a hand up her face then down through her hair. She suddenly looked a little older for her age. "I've been trying to find Adam, or any of the remaining White Fang and take them in. But _apparently_ after the battle the White Fang dismantled themselves, and Ghira took back over. Now the White Fang is trying to find a new name for itself, and Adam is still a mystery to us all." Both times she said the name Adam, Yang and Ruby winced as the thought about how the bull faunus was technically their ally at the moment, and didn't want to see what Ilia's reaction to that would be. "Then _these_ assholes found me." Ilia said when she threw a hand in Sun's direction, and then to his whole team sitting around in a circle of chairs.

"To be fair, you weren't exactly hiding yourself well." Sun said with a goofy smile. "She was in a bar drinking and whining about how things weren't fair. She was actually the one who found the Summer Maiden by the way."

"I was not _that_ dramatic, I assure you." Ilia said with a huff.

They all shared a laugh after that, even though the situation was dark and not keen to lift up anyone's spirits. There was a moment of clarity and calm, almost as if Salem never attacked at all. Sadly however, that was just not the case.

"So… I hate to burst everyone's bubble." Neptune started, getting all eyes on him. "But what do we do now?" He asked, looking to Hector for the answer.

Hector looked down at his hands, which were resting on top of his lap. He thought hard on the answer, and shut his eyes as he thought about Jinn and her sacrifice. He couldn't stop fighting, not after everything that happened. That was the promise he silently made to not Knolly, but to himself and everyone else he has ever fought for. With a rejuvenated resolve, he looked back up, and saw that everyone was staring at him.

"Nothing changes." He forced out of his mouth the words he wanted to say, and he held back the urge to cough violently again. "We need… the relic."

"No offense man, but you lost your power. Or whatever that was able to make you as strong as you were, and even with it you still nearly lost to me and from what I heard even with you beyond your full strength you were still all manhandled by that Salem bitch." Natsuki pointed out. "It sucks, I know, I don't think we would have won even if the girl and I were there too."

"I knew you were going to say that." Yang said with a smiling sigh, looking toward Hector as she spoke. "I lost my arm again, but you lost all your power. If you say you wanna keep fighting, then I'm game." The blonde said with a wide grin.

"Did everyone just, ignore what I just said?" Natsuki asked loudly.

"We heard you," Rhea answered for everyone else. "It's just that we may as well be the last chance the world has, it may not end in our lifetime, but if not us, then who?"

"Someone who stands a friggin chance, that's who." Natsuki all but growled out.

"There's no one else who does." Rhea countered, making the older Maiden recoil slightly in realization. There really was no one else, who were even the options? An Army? Salem must have been fighting against armies for centuries already if her immortality rang true, and from Hector's memories Ozma has already tried an army once. It did not work, and he ended up having to reset again in another life. Even Maidens hardly stood a chance, Yang fought against Salem and nearly died, a silver eyed warrior nearly lost her eyes, and Hector lost all of his power and he was believed to be stronger than a Maiden at times. There hasn't been anyone that strong in a very long time, and it could be another thousand years before someone powerful enough pops up again, and that is time the world simply does not have.

"We are the only ones who can, and if my Dad says that we are going to keep fighting, we are going to keep fighting." Rhea declared, eyes flaming because of the powerful emotions she is feeling, putting the Summer Maiden on guard. It was well known that she was the most powerful maiden, but people made worse mistakes before. "You made a deal with him, didn't you?" She asked next.

Natsuki widened her eyes at the memory, she forgot about the whole deal of stakes that she made with Hector before the battle over the scroll.

"Yes, I think she did." Ilia followed up with, giving the Summer Maiden a coy smile as she turned around to look at her. "I was there when she did."

"Yup, same with us." Sun added.

Hector hummed his own confirmation as he too smiled at the Summer Maiden. Feeling caught in a bind, Natsuki looked around for any sign of support, but no matter where she looked, she was met with the same face. Expecting her to follow through on the deal she had made.

"I didn't lose." She pointed out, feeling a moment of relief.

"You didn't win either." Yang pointed out. "And I think it's good that neither of you won, because if we didn't make it in time you two would have fired those blasts, and I know how much damage we can do with those things. One of you would have died, that's for sure."

"So you didn't lose, sure, but you didn't win. Unless you feel like beating on Hector while he is really weak, I don't think there is going to be a second round to break the tie. So I count that as Hector's win by technicality." Ruby said with a triumphant smile which only grew when Natsuki didn't make to argue. Instead she looked down and huffed in air sharply.

"You assholes are going to be the end of me someday." Natsuki hissed. "Whatever, yes, I'll get you the Relic of Destruction whenever. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go take out my anger on my students before I go to the headmaster about that army."

The Summer Maiden threw her hands up in the air indignantly as she stormed out of the room, earning a chuckle out of Team SSSN, and a mutter out of Ilia about some kind of vengeance. Whatever happened between those two however, were not a major concern.

Hector smiled softly at the new brighter mood, it was much more welcome than after the horrors that he, Ruby, and Yang were all forced to be a part of. The encounter with Salem was something that would be a part of their minds for the rest of their lives. She just came so suddenly, and wreaked havoc so quickly, the fight could barely be called that, it was a beatdown spiced up with a bit of magic and could be described with little else.

His eyes strayed to Rhea, who surprisingly took up the lead of the group for a moment when she talked back to the Summer Maiden, whom everyone knows was most likely the strongest among them at that time. Hector was not one who took a lot of pride in most of the things he did, but in that moment, he was filled up in pride for someone else, and that person was Rhea Rivers, his daughter by law. She may be Cinder's daughter, but she was his daughter now.

She was Cinder's daughter… his mind latched onto that fact and it festered.

He tightened his hand around his daughter's hand as he thought about the terrible crime he commited. Rhea was Cinders daughter, and he killed Cinder in the battle of Haven. He may have not known about it at that time, but the fact still remained that Rhea's biological mother was Cinder Fall. Who's real name was originally Ashlyn Anani before Salem recruited her into her ranks. The worst thing about it was that he couldn't even be sorry about killing Cinder, she needed to die. She had the powers of the Fall Maiden, and would no doubt use them to bring more harm to the world then good. He doubted that she even knew that she _could_ heal with her powers, all she cared about was using it to lord over others as some sort of faux God.

As he thought about Cinder, he remembered how she was right after the battle of Beacon, from a show nearly forgotten to his mind. How she couldn't speak in a normal voice, and needed Emerald to transmit verbal messages to those she needed to communicate with others around her. Hector traced his free hand up to his neck, and could feel the scarring and damage through the skin on his throat. It felt like some sick twist of irony and fate, him being injured in the same way as one of his worst enemies from the past.

He needed to tell her, Hector quickly rebounded on himself and scolded himself for nearly forgetting about it. He had to, he told himself that he would after the battle with the Summer Maiden, and he even told Rhea that he had something to tell her about her parents right before the battle started anyway. She was probably expecting him to come to her about it soon, and who knows when would be the next time he would get a chance like this? When would be the next time they would get a chance to relax? Even if it was forced like this was, him barely able to move without help as it is.

"Rhea…" Hector called to the Fall Maiden.

"Hm?" She hummed, turning to him with an expecting look on her face, her wolf ears twisting along with her head with an eagerness that almost made him chuckle.

"We have to talk." Hector managed in a quiet voice, to which Rhea easily heard him with her faunus features. Suddenly, her smile faded away slightly, and she nodded her head. Assuming it a request for their talk to remain private, she relayed the message to everyone else in the room with them. Ilia and Team SSSN quickly filed out of the room in compliance, as did Yang, but when Ruby made to stand up, Hector grabbed her wrist.

"Please… stay." Hector asked in anguish, he was not looking forward to this talk, and he could use all the support he could get. Ruby easily forgave him for killing Cinder, which he was going to be relying on mostly here. She nodded her head and stayed by his side as he expected her to. Then once Yang looked back one final time and looked to everyone, she nodded once and stepped out. The message clear, this was supposed to be a private affair.

"So…" Rhea started, suddenly nervous. "You said you wanted to talk to me? Something about my parents?"

"About… your mother." Hector rasped out, making Rhea's wolf ears droop sadly in response. That alone almost made him call this whole thing off, but he couldn't put this off any longer. It's been too long as it is.

He didn't really know how to be subtle about revealing things, so he had to stick to what he was good with.

"Your mother… was not… good." Hector said slowly, only speaking in the intervals in which his throat actually wasn't feeling like it was going to burst out his neck and run away. That much was obvious after all, and he allowed a few seconds for Rhea to remember the scene of her own mothers shadowed face standing over her father's body, with her own infant form in her blood arms. From the hurt look on her face, Ruby felt the same.

"She let you live… though… so she had some…" A cough, but he forced himself to keep going. "Good… in her." Hector honestly didn't really know where that came from, but he had to start somewhere.

"I went back… to the vision." He continued, and kept rubbing his throat in an attempt to soothe the pain in his throat. Ruby and Rhea grew more nervous as they understood what he meant, going back to the vision after what they witnessed together? It was understandable, it was traumatizing for Rhea and probably Ruby as well. Hector himself even felt something dig into his heart when he witnessed that scene.

With a deep breath, Hector closed his eyes. Unable to look into Rhea's bright orange and expecting ones. They looked just like Cinder's, and he was reminded of the moment he tossed her off that cliff with a hole in her side during that fateful night.

He forced his eyes back open, and he forced himself to meet eyes with Rhea.

"Your mother… was Cinder."

That got the reaction that was t be expected. Ruby gasped, and held a hand in front of her mouth. Rhea stared wide eyed, and started breathing more heavily. Both girls knew who Cinder was, and what she did to innocent people and was mostly responsible for the fall of Beacon. She looked away for a few seconds, and then looked back to look into Hector's eyes, trying to find any sign of this being some kind of joke, or anything that would steer in the direction of falsehood. But she was met with a sad look, and she felt a pit in her stomach open up as she choked on air and began to cry.

"M-my m-m-mom is… C-Cinder?" She quivered, her eyes were flat against her scalp as she hugged herself.

"Yes…" Hector said sorrowfully.

"She was the maiden before you." Ruby continued for him, seeing where he was going with this. "And Hector… was forced to slay her." She half lied, which surprised Hector immensely. Ruby never implicitly said it, but lying was something she loathed more than almost anything else in the world. Yet here she was, partly lying for him. He didn't deserve, he didn't just slay Cinder, he murdered her when she couldn't fight back anymore. Now her body was at the bottom of the cavern rotting away, and here he was, adopting her daughter.

"I-I know…" Rhea stammered. "It's just that… how could my mother be so _evil_." Rhea rasped, and then looked down to her own hands. "Am I… Am I going to end up like her?"

Hector grabbed her by the shoulder, and forced her to look into his eyes. His own were now rimmed with red because of the stir of emotions he is feeling. But what Rhea implied was something that tipped him over the edge.

"No, you will not!" Hector shouted at her, ignoring the taste of blood he now had in his mouth.

"You are different then Cinder, far different... You are Rhea Rivers, and you are my daughter." Hector declared, his voice scratchy and face red with the amount of effort he was putting into his speech. Rhea looked at him with glassy eyes, tears threatening to spill from them as their hands joined together. "I can't say that I am sorry for killing Cinder… but I am sorry for making you cry." His grip on her hand tightened, tears being barely held back. "Forgive me… please."

Ruby placed her hands on both of theirs, and offered her silent support where she could. It turned out to be needed, because Hector leaned his head on her shoulder for a few seconds before he straightened himself up, and looked to Rhea for an answer.

Rhea was an emotional mess, and she was young. But with what she has heard about Ashlynn Anani, about Cinder Fall. She was not a good woman. She killed her father Coal, and even considered killing her own daughter. She was recruited by a literal Grimm Queen, and killed countless people. Her only redeeming factor was the love for her daughter which she clung on to until her death. But even that wasn't enough for her to halt in her irrational pursuit for power.

But Hector Rivers, the stranger who saved her from an assassin and Grimm attack on her village. He protected her, loved her, and even adopted her as his own daughter even though they were more than half a decade apart from each other in terms of age. He killed her mother, yes. And she was affected by that, how could she not? In any case, Cinder was still her mother, that was an irrefutable fact. But the fact of the matter which truly counted, was the name she chose to bear. Was she a Rivers, or an Anani?

She made up her mind before she even realized she had a choice.

"It's like you said…" Rhea trailed off, and lunged forward and wrapped her shoulders around Hector's shoulders, burying her face into the collar of his neck. "I am Rhea Rivers… and there is nothing for me to forgive."

* * *

"So, this is where you've been bitching about." Mercury said as he stumbled upon Qrow leaning against an icey wall, his empty flask hanging aimlessly from his hand.

Qrow regarded him with one red eye, and went back to staring out into the storming sky. He had a fur coat on, probably given to him by Summer. He must only be wearing it because of the cold because he certainly didn't look happy to wear it.

"Summer sent ya to talk to me eh?" The old Huntsman asked with a snicker. "Figures."

"Nope, it was actually sleeping beauty who bestowed this wonderful role onto me." Mercury corrected as he leaned against the ice across from his mentor. "And I gotta say, I'm disappointed."

"Heh, so I guess the Ice Queen herself could be a bit warm sometimes." Qrow said with an empty sigh. "And disappointed? You know, that's not any way to treat your mentor."

"I don't care about any of that crap, you should know that I am more of a… out of the box kind of character." Mercury said with his classic smirk.

"Good point." Qrow stuck his hand out of the hole in the ice, catching a few snowflakes before bringing it back in. "I'm guessing you know already."

"Yup, Ruby's mom is suddenly alive after all these years. Apparently she was your team leader back in the day, and my late father attempted to murder her once. You could imagine just how thrilled I was to hear that." Mercury said.

"I _did_ tell you that we were old rivals right?" Qrow asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I figured that since he kept bragging about it he first time we fought together against him."

"Yeah well, the more you know." Qrow turned himself to face Mercury finally. He could see that the older man had dark spots under his eyes, and it looked like his facial hair was growing more wildly. His usually well kempt hair was frayed out in places, and was still wet because of the weather. Probably because with how close he was to the damn window, but even then, he must have had to stand there for a while in order for his hair to get that messy.

"What's happening with you man?" Mercury asked directly. "I know this is probably about Summer, and all that shit she has with Hector and everything else. But this is going to affect you in the long run if you don't cut this shit down a good couple of notches."

"Mercury, I like you kid, but don't go busting into my business." Qrow said unenthusiastically. Mostly apathetic to the apprentice before him.

"It became my business when there was nothing else for me to do." Mercury said with a laugh. Sliding his back down the wall and sitting down before the old crow. Looking up at him with his black eyes the whole time. "So I am going to sit here and wait for myself to convince you to go and talk with Summer.

Qrow shook his head, and slid down his own wall near the window. When his bottom hit the floor, he put his flash in some pocket within the fur coat. Whatever the case it was, Qrow was making progress, slowly. Mercury thought so at least.

"Yeah, good luck with that kid." Qrow said.

Mercury grinned at him.

"I _literally_ have all day."

* * *

Adam stood on a large piece of rubble, his hair flowing with the wind to his side as he looked over the large crowd of armed men and women before him. Some Huntsman and Huntresses, other's police officers or volunteers, and surprisingly some ex-White Fang members who also shared in his change of heart, and started fighting the Grimm all as a unit even with humans on their side. It made him wonder if he would have made the same choice if he was captured at Beacon all that time ago.

Nora was in the front row of course, he could spot her unmistakeable ginger hair not too far down. Along with Blake's midnight black, two head of blonde hair, and more black. His human friends, and an old ally. Besides them were the members of Team CFVY, and Glynda Goodwitch. If he were as he was years ago, he probably would have tried to kill them on many occasions by now. Perhaps he would even be dead, he didn't know what would have happened, but now was not the time to think about it. He was just glad his disguise has held up as long as it has, Neo was certainly a talented person.

"You all named me you commander for this final assault." Adam started, his voice was loud as it was deep, and even those far in the back of the crowd were still able to hear his voice clearly.

"I didn't ask for it… and honestly, I didn't want it. But if my leadership is required in order to save this school, then that is a sacrifice we should all be willing to make."

A mixture of cheers and laughter at that, but was quickly silenced by the monstrous screech of the nearly free Grimm Wyvern at the top of the old CCT tower.

" _That_ , is what we need to kill." Adam continued, not even flinching from the noise. "That Grimm is what is keeping us all from reclaiming the school, if we kill that, the Grimm will follow. It is our only hope, and we need to do it quickly lest this all be for nothing." He gestured to the surrounding areas, the building of which they conquered on the way to where they are now.

"Some of us will die, perhaps even most of us will. I may die, you comrade beside you may die, your friends may die. If you are not willing to give your life, I will understand. Back out now, and no one will stop you." Adam snarled when no one made to move.

"I am _not_ kidding around! If you cannot see it within yourself to see this battle through, then all you will be doing is get in the way of the ones who do. If you do not believe yourself capable of going into this bloody battle, then I repeat; leave, and no one will stop your, nor judge you."

He allowed them a minute to think about it, and in that minute. Only one of the students turned his back with a sob, and shamefully retreated from the main army. From Adam's memory, that was the boy who lost his whole team during and after the Fall of Beacon. They all fell while trying to save the school, and he was supposed to be the weakest of them. If Adam was reverted to how he was two years ago, he would have called him a coward for his retreat, and maybe even kill him for it. But he was not that same Adam right now, he was Politan Rose, Adam Taurus, the silver eyed warrior in seek of redemption.

No one made to stop that one boy, just as he said they wouldn't. After another minute, no one else made to move. With a sigh, Adam straightened himself up, and tore his sword out from his sheath.

"Now, are you all willing to risk your life to save this school?" He asked loudly.

" _YES!"_ The crowd shouted back.

"Then charge with me!" Adam shouted back as he spun around, slammed his sword back into its scabbard, and charged straight to the thick line of black which was an ocean of Grimm.

Now was his moment of fate.

* * *

 **Ugh, I am sorry that this is such a short chapter coming from me, but after the whole Hector revealing Rhea's parentage to her, I couldn't bring myself to write more of this story while I am sick at the moment. Also my shoulder is a bit injured, not that it bothers me a whole lot while I am writing, but it's still something that bugs me from time to time.**

 **So yeah, Adam's chapter is going to be next, and it is most likely going to be the whole final battle to reclaim Beacon. That is going to be a long one to make up for this disappointment.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it anyway.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think! If you want to keep up with me and all the chapters that I write for every story, you can follow me on T witter!**

 **T witter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	67. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 67

**I have returned once again! Sorry that I've been getting slow with updates, a lot of stuff is catching up to me and I've been working almost everyday. I only just got a few hours off the other day and I started writing this. Hopefully, since this chapter is one big battle scene and a lot of Adam I should be able to get through it quickly.**

* * *

 **Cinderfall201: I am well for the most part now, thanks for you well wishes. Adam and his allies are all going to get a good time to shine, I only hope that you all enjoy it.**

 **Oblivious IJ: Usually when I get sick I just sleep a whole lot, but with this story to write along with my other ones, sleep is secondary Lol. But thank you for your concern, and I am sorry for killing your predictions almost every chapter I post. It just happens.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Thank you, and thank you again.**

 **TigerVolcano5000: Good to have you back again! I did consider killing Jinn off after last chapter, but she** _ **is**_ **a God, not as powerful as the God brothers of course, but it is said that Gods cannot be killed. So she is alive, just a little broken at the moment. Salem training is more a precaution than anything, she hasn't trained for a few decades up to a century, but there is a limit to everyone's capability. Even an immortal Grimm-human Witch with Dark Magic.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **I am going to** _ **try**_ **to get the entire battle this chapter, we'll see how that works. I really don't feel like dragging this arc out, I am currently sick at the moment, and I am planning to finish this story in this upcoming summer. I hope to at least, if not the Summer, then the Fall for sure. Then again, I said the same thing about this story last year, and look where we are now.**

 **Let's see how Adam fairs in the Second Battle of Beacon.**

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Chapter 67- Battle of Beacon II

Adam's sword cut through the Grimm with ease. He was the first to charge, and had to use the opportunity with no innocents around him for an immediate full power use of his semblance, Moonslice. His disguised body's hair, clothing, and sword glew a neon pink, and while he would have complained about that once upon a time now he could care less about the color. For a wide arc of black and pink flames came soaring out of his sword before him, cutting and destroying at least two dozen unsuspecting Grimm.

He huffed air into his lungs and maneuvered out of the way of his own men, charging past him and into the mass that was the Grimm forces. Immediately, it was chaos, bloodshed, and a thick black mist beginning to cover the area. Just as he worried, Adam couldn't afford to go all out because he might hit those around him, so he was forced to continuously absorb strength through his sword as he almost blindly kept fighting against the army of Grimm before him.

"Behind you!" A boys voice, Jaune he realized after recognizing it, called out to him and shoulder charged a Beowolf which nearly blind sided Adam.

Jaune roared as he stabbed Crocea Mors down into the monsters chest. He looked to Adam a moment later and they shared a nod, breaking off into different but nearby directions to assist the other Huntsman and Huntresses in need. While some of them were fully trained and knew exactly what they were doing, most were still simply just students, and most of them being first or second years when the first Battle of Beacon came around. Now they were older, but were still a far cry from the fully trained Huntsmen that slashed and smashed through the Grimm as if they were nothing but a nuisance. Which was not inaccurate, considering the strength of most of them.

From the corner of his eye he could see the same blonde knight from early ducking under the swipe of an Ursa Minor, and beheading it before it could have a chance to recover. Only to get caught in the side by a Creep that snuck up to his blind spot. Adam nearly broke off from his currently battle against one of the Alpha Beowolves to go help him, but Blake was already on it, suddenly appearing above and behind the Creep and using the gravity to increase the strength of her strike as she stabbed it into the spinal cord in the back of the creatures neck, killing it instantly.

He looked away and back to the Alpha, the battle has lasted all but thirty seconds, and already it felt like it has been countless minutes up to even an hour. But that was just what battles were like, he was a part of them on more than one occasion being a former White Fang Commander. The Alpha Beowolf attempted to use his moment of hesitation to strike, but the shine of neon pink as it clashed against it's claw showed that Adam not only reacted fast enough to block, but also absorbed the kinetic force behind it's strike to bolster his own semblance.

Not that the Grimm knew or cared about that anyway, all it wanted to do was rip Adam apart like the mindless beast it was. The rest of the pack converged on Adam, quickly surrounding him and attacking all at once.

Using a trick he hasn't used in a while, Adam created three different shadows of himself, and each parried and countered each of the smaller Beowolves. Black blood spilled out of each of the stumps of their necks as their heads rolled on the ground lifeless, and even more black mist was steaming up into the air as a result.

As Adam clicked his sword back into his sheath, he immediately turned on the Alpha again while it hesitated for a moment after seeing it's kin get killed in an instant. There was not time to celebrate his flashy kills, and after scoring a deep wound against the Alphas shoulder and chest with a quickly flick of his wrist, the Grimm snapped back into reality and made to grab at him.

With speed the Beowolf couldn't hope to keep up with, Adam slithered out of the Grimms arms before they could completely rope around his body, and the roared out in pain as a sword stabbed straight through it's right leg, forcing it down to one knee. It howled out in pain even more when Adam _twisted_ the blade and then _ripped_ it out. Now with just one leg, the Alpha Beowolf was no longer a threat to him. It's pained roars were silenced when Adam stabbed Wilt through its skull, and just in case he twisted it's neck until it snapped to confirm the kill of the elder Grimm.

"Nice job Politan!" The leader of one of Beacon's student teams exclaimed as a hellfire of Bullets rained around and over him. Coco, he assumed. Only one person came to mind who had a minigun in the disguise of a handbag.

 _No time to celebrate._ Adam thought to himself, and ignored the urge to tell Coco to watch her aim.

"Watch your aim!" Luckily, he didn't have to anyway, for the large quiet one shouted it across the battlefield himself as he smashed his bronze sword into three creeps at once, killing them all at the same time by cutting them in two.

Adam kept pushing forward, ignoring the ensuing argument of which one of them was the actual leader of Team CFVY. Instead, his sword glowed again as it deflected the claw of yet another Beowolf, this one being the more common kind and easily being disposed of as Adam cut its head in half with a quick vertical slash of his sword.

Adam took a second to stop and look around. There was battle everywhere, and they were easily outnumbered at least ten to one, probably even more, but for every Huntsman they each had to have a few dozen kills already like he did. In that second of rest he saw an Ursa get pulled up into the sky by a force of black and purple, and was then _thrown_ off the Beacon cliff. No one needed to see if it was going to die from the fall or not, they knew how high that clif was, and who exactly was the one to throw it off in the first place.

Glynda was on the left most flank as he directed her before his speech, and it looked like they were making decent progress. He decided to let her have more of the more experienced Huntsmen and Huntresses, while he took more of the students alongside him. The students weren't as powerful, but there were more plentiful in numbers, and quantity had a quality of its own when it came to battling the Grimm. You could have one veteran and perhaps even legendary Huntsmen, but even they wouldn't be able to stand against three hundred Grimm at once. But put thirty or so students against them, and victory would only be assured. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but he has seen the strongest of people fall to numbers.

On the right flank, he had Nicholas Arc lead the charge, and this time he had every single soldier who didn't have the blessing of aura with him. His skill was known to be legendary, and so he trusted him to be able to single handled hold off some of the Grimm on his own as the soldiers unloaded their firearms with roars of determination. Adam could already see the flashes of their barrels as they bore into the Grimm that tried to take down Nicholas to no avail.

The exact plan was to have all three fronts push and attack at the same time, which was already happening, and then converge all into one force once they pushed the Grimm back far enough and make a single desperate but powerful assault against the CCT tower. The dragon was very high up at the top of the tower after all, and once they did, Adam with a small team of elite Huntsman would climb the thousands of stairs all the way up there since the elevators are most likely disabled or destroyed, and even if they were active, there was a more than likely chance that there would be Grimm of some kind in the elevator shaft.

What wasn't part of the plan, but an expected adversary for this battle, was the three Goliaths that came charging through their own brethren, each going to the three fronts that were planned to meet in the middle at this point.

There was no choice, using anything less than full power wouldn't be able to slay the beast, and if their main line broke, this battle may as well be lossed.

"Scatter!" Adam screamed out over all the chaos and sounds of battle, his voice amplified by his aura so that those still alive could hear him.

Whoever was still close to him, he would apologize for their death.

Adam placed his sword back into its scabbard, and crouched down and prepared his attack. He could hear the moment Blake realized what he was going to do, and pulled back anyone and everyone that was still too close to him.

The world around him turned black and white, with him being the only one to hold color on his body. Time slowed and the decal of his body began to glow as he gripped the hilt of Wilt even harder, and with a loud _roar_ , lunged forward and used Moonslice.

The Goliath that went down the middle toward Adam suddenly came to a stagger, and stumbled around for a few seconds before it's upper half started to slide off of it's own body at an angle. It's blood appeared as rose petals as it bled out of its body, and once it was separated into two, the entire form itself began to fade away.

"Holy shit, Politan just one-shotted a Goliath!" One of the students exclaimed out of shock and disbelief.

Cheers of the same variety were heard over the fighting, and Adam looked around to see if he caught anyone with his attack.

He saw one body sliced nearly in half, and with a grimace, he looked away. He killed that person on accident, like he did in some battles when he was younger, and evil. Adam felt sick to his stomach, but managed to keep it down and mutter an apology to that person, whoever they were, he didn't bother to look any higher to their face once he saw that they were nearly in two pieces.

Pushing the morbid thoughts out of his mind, he looked over to Glynda's side. Frighteningly, their line broke, and the Goliath was on a rampage. But there was many elite Huntsman with a variety of weapons fighting it, and it was easy to see who was winning that when he saw the Goliath lose both of it's tusks to a hammer type weapon wielded by a very strong woman.

When he turned to his other side to see how Nicholas was doing, they were having a much harder time. Nicholas was just one man, and was a lesson of the second mistake of this battle when he saw Nicholas being forced to dodge the Goliath as it charged at him, only for it to change targets and continue going straight. Straight toward the soldiers.

It was a bloodbath, and was terrifying to see one of the soldiers impaled on one of its tusks as the other soldiers desperately unloaded their weapons into the Goliaths hard armour and hide.

Nicholas wanted to go help them, but since his cover fire was now focused elsewhere, he found himself stuck fighting against the Grimm who suddenly had a much bigger opening to attack him. He was just one man, and he was getting pushed back.

Adam felt a sharp pain his head as he realized what was about to happen to Nicholas' flank if he didn't do anything to help them. The pain extended to his eyes, he was forced to blind a few time, and rubbed at them as if something dirty got into them.

"Team CFVY!" He screamed out for the team and chopped a hand into Nicholas' direction. "Go to the rightmost flank, support them, and defend those soldiers!"

"You heard the Captain, get your asses moving!" Coco shouted to her own team as she redirected her own minigun toward horde of Grimm attacking Nicholas Arc while the rest of her team made their way to the Goliath masecreing the ones without aura.

It was a mistake leaving them on their own like that, but he couldn't risk them accidently shooting some of his own men in either of the other flanks. Their deaths were on his hands, as were gallons among gallons of others that have accumulated over his life. The pain in his head and eyes strangely got better as he thought about the pain he has caused over his life as a member of the White Fang.

"C'mon Horny," Nora called to him and smacked the back of his head with her hand. How she snuck on him like that with a grenade launcher of all things as a weapons was beyond him, but she snapped him back into reality. "We still have a battle to win! You can reflect on your mistakes later."

"Right…" Adam replied, unable to become angry at the ginger once he noticed that she was also covered in blood, black and red. It mixed into a disgusting brown color, and he took that second of thought to look down at his own, only to see the same results. This battle was deadly, and bloody and it was still in the early stages of the fight. Barely lasting a few minutes so far.

"Agh!" Jaune cried out as his shield arm cracked with a sickening crunch under the force of an Ursa Major, this one being much bigger and older than the one before. Ren and Blake was there helping him the next second, and after getting him back to where it was safer, as safe as the backline of this battle could be anyway, they eyed his left arm with concern in their eyes.

"I'm fine," Jaune said as he ran his healthy hand up and down that arm, using his semblance on himself for what seemed to be the first time ever. "Give me a minute, and I'll be good to go again."

"Ren, stay back and protect him as he recovers." Adam ordered, to which Ren nodded to right away. "Nora, Blake, you will stick with me, and we'll carve a path through the Grimm to the leftmost flank to merge our groups into one, after that we shall do the same with the right.

"Yessir!" Nora exclaimed, saluting him.

Blake nodded her head, she wasn't unused to taking orders from him again, but if she disliked this turn of events she hid it very well.

"Jaune," Adam looked down to the blonde, who looked up at him in response. "I am going to need you to amplify me with your semblance once we get closer to the Grimm Dragon, as powerful as I may be, I do not think I can hope to severely injure it without your assistance.

"Right." Jaune nodded his head in understanding. "Just one thing though, how would I be able to get to you with all this going on around us?" He asked.

Adam sighed, there was no other way to explain this. "Once you are finished fixing your arm, you and Ren are going to have to catch up with us as quickly as possible. I can't explain any more than that, we've already wasted precious seconds standing here talking." Adam finished as he popped his sword out of his holster with his thumb, and prepared to surge forward. "Blake, Nora, be ready."

He bolted off toward the left most flank of his own front, with Blake keeping up with him closely. Nora gave a two fingered wave to Jaune, and blew a kiss at Ren before rushing off to go join them, shifting her weapon back into it's great hammer form as she sprinted forward.

"How fast do you think they'll get to Miss Goodwitch?" Jaune asked as he focused on healing his nearly broken arm.

"Considering Adam and Blake's teamwork, and Nora's stamina. I'd say you have about a minute or two at most." Ren replied.

"Heh… figures." Jaune said as he stood up slowly, keeping his semblance active passively as he reached for Crocea Mors again. "Let's not make them wait too long."

/-/

Blake vaulted over Adam's shoulders, and weaved around the stinger of a medium sized young Deathstalker, leaving behind a fiery clone that exploded against the face of the creature. The force of the blast blew the creature back toward her when she landed, but she prepared for that. Stabbing both blades of Gambol shroud into the creatures soft underbelly as she slid underneath it, and cutting it open. Spilling blood all over the ground as she hopped back up onto her feet.

Nora smashed her hammer down on top of the Deathstalker for good measure, crushing it against its own organs and killing it before it could bleed out on it's own. "Ha! That's the second Deathstalker i've killed like that!" She boasted as she flourished her hammer, accidentally striking a pouncing Creep as she did so.

"Tell me about it later!" Adam shouted as he dashed past her, stabbing not one but two Beowolves on the end of his sword as he performed a piercing strike. He spun and tore his sword out of the bodies and kept pushing forward, ignoring Nora's question as if his earlier statement was a promise or not. Naturally, the next thing she did was smash the ground behind them all with her hammer, caving it up and launching some more Grimm into the air, and then striking them with her hammer again like it was a bat and she was playing baseball.

It was safe to assume that she would be alright on her own for a bit, the other students and huntsman seemed to catch on to Adam's plan, and some even started to push with them and make their way to Glynda.

Glynda noticed this going on, and ordered some of the Huntsmen on her own side to do the same thing and meet them in the middle.

Adam couldn't hide the smirk on his face as it all started coming together. With him and Blake fighting together, and Nora and a few other students covering their rear, not the mention the allied forces from Glynda's team also making their way to them. Their parts of the army were going to meet and merge into one. Creating a much larger front that would be able to cover more ground, and up it's strength many times.

Still, the CCT seemed so far away, but progress was being made.

After another fifteen long seconds, and with their muscles feeling like they were about to fall off. Adam, Blake, and the other allied Huntsman finally met in the middle. As soon as they nodded to each other, both sides of their flanks closed in to finish the bond. Without thinking any further on their small victory. Adam stepped over the body of a girl, and ignored the rest of the bodies that they were forced to fight and move around. Blake was with him as he expected her to be, and Nora broke off to join them as they started making their way toward Team CFVY, Nicholas, and the soldiers.

The Goliath was still alive amazingly. Yatsuhashi, Fox, and that Velvet girl were focusing everything they had on the beast. But they were just three students at the end of the day, and the Goliath was ancient, and very powerful in its own right. There wasn't going to be a combined forced to meet them in the middle, not with Coco and Nicholas still barely holding themselves as it was. Luckily, he didn't even need to order some of the other Huntsman from Glynda's group to follow him, they caught on to what he was trying to do, and moved with him.

"I don't know if we're going to make it…" Blake said tiredly as the two of them took a second to catch their breath. Most of the soldiers on Nicholas' front were already killed, and the ones that were alive were more injured than not, but despite that they were still fighting.

"We need to split up." Adam realized as he looked over the battlefield that was the main path in the school itself. "I'll go help with the Goliath, you go help Nicholas and Coco." He suggested, looking into Blake's tired amber colored eyes for any sign of understanding.

"Do you have enough stamina for another attack like the one you did before?" Blake asked, she knew how Adam's semblance worked. Unlike most, his semblance drained his stamina more than anything, and he had an above average amount of aura, which was why he would fight for so long. He really only lost a considerable amount of aura only when he took a hit, and with his speed and skill that didn't happy all too often.

"I'll manage." Adam said after a deep breath. He knew the stakes, and how he was the one who had to get to the tower. But he felt a strong urge to protect those around him, it was mostly unfamiliar, but he had practice after what he has been doing back in Claire's village after the Battle of Haven. He just wanted to protect those who he calls ally, and friend.

"Okay… I'll have faith in you." Blake said, and darted off in Coco's direction to assist her.

That meant more to him than he expected it would. To hear those words come out of Blake's mouth of all people, it filled him with confidence and rejuvenated his spirit. Needing nothing else, he drove himself forward and pierced an Ursa through the eye with his sword, killing it instantly and cutting the head of the monster in half when he twisted around the dying brute.

Getting to this Goliath was surprisingly easier compared to the path he had to carve to Glynda's team, but he wasn't about to complain about it. Adam came soaring through the air with a roar, and stabbed his sword hilt deep into the Goliaths back. The humongous creature of Grimm made a loud deafening horn like screech and reared back to try and get Adam off of it's back.

When Adam not only held on, but _twisted_ the blade within the monsters back, it only spasmed around even more violently. "Stop standing there and help me!" He screamed to the awestruck members of Team CFVY, who were stunned with shock at the sight of the neon pink commander flying out of the Grimm horde and was now rodeo riding the Goliath in an effort to kill it. They sprung into action the next second however, realizing that now was not the time to be gawking, they knew that Politan Rose was powerful, he was Ruby Rose's supposed older cousin after all.

Together as a force to be reckoned with, Adam and the three students of Beacon along with the help of the remaining live soldiers were quickly beginning to weaken the Goliath. Adam could have used his semblance again to kill it in one strong Moonslice attack, but he didn't want to run the risk of friendly fire again, especially when Nicholas, Coco, and Blake entered the fray. At that point, he didn't need to anymore.

With a dying howl, the third and hopefully last Goliath fell to its side, and began fading away into thick black dust. No longer a threat to the living forces.

"Join the backline, provide covering fire and avoid any close quarters combat with the Grimm. Those able to keep fighting, please do so." Adam said to the soldiers, who were all too eager to be anywhere besides the front lines at the moment, they knew what it looked like for a Grimm to rip a person apart, and they'd rather not end up the same way. As Adam ordered, the soldiers who could still fight joined the backline, while a few stayed behind so that they could drag the wounded but still alive soldiers after the battle with the Goliath. Adam let them be, if he were as he was before, he might have scolded the ones who tried to save the wounded and left them to die.

He was no longer that person, and for once this battle he was full of hope when he realized that the CCT tower, or what was left of it anyway, was much closer than he previously thought.

"We are nearly there! Keep pushing, for Beacon!" Adam screamed to the army.

"For Beacon!" Everyone echoed back, and they started fighting with everything they had left.

Before Adam could keep moving forward with the rest of his forces, something grabbed his wrist, he nearly cut off the hand that grabbed him before realizing it was the glove of Jaune Arc, who smiled sheepishly at him as he amplified Adam's aura with his.

His other arm, which was still injured and possible broken, was resting on the shoulder of Lie Ren, who made them all appear as black and white. Nullifying the emotions of them all and gave a nod toward Adam.

"Jaune, your arm is still injured." Adam hissed at him almost angrily, only being held back by the other boys semblance.

"I know, but this is our only chance. Look." Jaune gestured toward the tower with his chin.

Adam followed his gesture, and took in the sight of the tower being right before them.

"We're so close, I can't afford to back down now and this might just be our only chance to get in there." Jaune said, and Adam couldn't find any words to argue with. "I'll amplify Ren, we need to keep touching each other or else we will lose our cover and get surrounded by all sides."

"But even when we get in there, there's no telling how much Grimm are going to be waiting for us on the inside." Adam pointed out.

"We're just going to have to hope then, and have faith in your awesome skills." Jaune said with a chuckle. It was the kind of chuckle Adam has become all too familiar with, the kind of laugh that tells him that he was ready to sacrifice himself, but afraid of his fate. Just like countless other members of the White Fang who thought it virtuous to sacrifice themselves for the _cause_. Fat load that was worth now.

"Very well…" Adam sighed softly, and prepared to run through the remaining Grimm into the tower. Throughout the battle, the Dragon has been getting closer and closer to being free, he saw the debris of it's petrified skin flaking off, any second now, it could get free.

Without any further words being shared between the three men, they broke into a sprint of even space straight through the Grimm, pushing aside some that got in their way while others moved aside, and killing those who were more stubborn. It was a quick yet strenuous path to the tower, any wrogn move could lead to them getting pounced on by all directions, being torn apart limb from limb. Adam, Ren, and Jaune all refused to think of that as they made their way through the ocean of Grimm.

Making it to the tower was less a relief and more a completion of step one, the others already knew of the plan to get Adam into the tower, but probably didn't think of it working _this_ way. There still laid the question of if Adam can even use his silver eyes in the first place. He had to, or else they would all die and Beacon would be lost forever, after that, Vale could very likely be next on the Grimm's to-kill list.

"This is strange, I assume these are the pools of which Grimm spawn from." Ren said as he looked around the ground floor of the CCT, somewhere he hasn't seen in a long time.

"But there are no Grimm to be seen." Adam finished for him, keeping a tight grip on the hilt of his sword just in case something were to jump out at them. "They could be all outside fighting, but then again I doubt spawning pools are called such without a good reason."

"Ominous, keep your guards up." Ren said as he brushed his brow with the back of his wrist, sighing heavily as he tightened his grip on his weapons. "They probably aren't attacking us because of my semblance, but once it goes down… be ready."

"Yeah, let's hope not." Jaune said with a pant.

Adam noticed their strain, it was too obvious with how they were behaving.

"How much can you two last?" He had to ask.

Jaune looked down and shut his eyes, looking almost shameful for the answer to come out of his mouth. "A few more minutes maybe, but long enough for us to get up the tower."

"But not long enough for you to amplify me when we get to the dragon." Adam finished for him, to which Jaune simply nodded his head to. "Change of plans then," He tore his shoulder out of Jaune's grip, much to his horror as he started sprinting toward the nearest set of stairs. "Run!" he shouted back at them as the color of his body took form around his body, and while the Grimm weren't attacking now, if any were still in the building they would have been able to sense him by now.

"Shit, Adam you better know what you're doing!" Jaune exclaimed as he broke off from Ren, not able to think about his decision any longer. Caution was thrown to the wind as he called his actual name, and ran off after him. Ren quickly realized it was time to push on forward and added himself to their roster. The sounds of fighting was just outside, so the small elite team of Huntsmen that was _supposed_ to get in here with them shouldn't be too far by now, and with them should be Nora and Blake for obvious reasons.

He just hoped that they would catch up to them on time, because he didn't like the chances of just them three up against a dragon would be.

/-/

Adam huffed and puffed as he ran up the stairs, two or three at a time. He could hear his ally Jaune behind him, trying to catch up the the best of his ability. But Adam was older, stronger, and faster. He wasn't going to catch up unless something got in his way that forced him to stop and be rid of it.

This was it, Adam told himself. This was the moment of truth. He could already hear the Dragon screeching, and the building shaking as it tried to shake itself free of Ruby's petrification of its body. He almost lost his balance when that happened. Adam was already tired, he knew that. Killing so many Grimm, losing allies, accidentally killing an innocent. It was draining in every way imaginable. It was war, humanity against the Grimm, humans and faunus fighting side by side together against a common foe. If he was two years younger he would have had a stroke seeing so many faunus fighting alongside the humans, but he that Adam anymore, he wasn't a monster.

He was different now, he wanted to save people. To right the many wrongs he has committed over the course of his hateful life. Though still being in his early twenties, he felt like he has lived much longer. All the blood he has spilled, both faunus and humans even though he swore to bring the faunus into an age where _they_ were the superior with humans as their underlings. He was a fanatic, he knew that now. Obsessed with a goal that was just impossible. Even Sienna Khan knew that, and she was the one who made the White Fang violent in the first place. Yet he killed her, she wasn't even able to put up a fight, and he left her body out in the open for the vultures to feed on. A woman who did so much for the faunus, betrayed and killed by one of her most loyal and trusted lieutenants. All in the name of some empty impossible dream. On top of everything he regrets, killing her was near the top of the list. She was his former mentor after all.

Blake was another one of his regrets, what they shared together once drove him into a frenzy when he saw her again. He prioritized slaying her over anything else, and it nearly costed him his sanity when he lost at the Battle of Haven, not because of her, but because of what she did. If he didn't stumble upon that village that didn't recognize him, he might have just gone after her again, probably until it even cost him his life. He was eternally grateful to that village for saving him.

Before all that, he was responsible for the destruction and fall of Beacon Academy, and did it during a time of peace while the Vytal Festival was going on. He was intimidated into submission by Cinder Fall, another one of his regrets. He had the power to kill her before she came back with the powers of a Maiden. If he did give into his bloodlust for humans that one time, he could have prevented so much pain and destruction.

Now he was the most wanted criminal on the planet, he wouldn't put down the possibility of him being even more wanted than Roman Torchwick was during his time as a master criminal. He wanted redemption, he sought it out and while he didn't show it before he was more than eager to join Hector on his quest to save the world. What better way to redeem oneself than to save thousands of people? It didn't erase the thousands that died because of him, but it helped numb the pain.

Slaying this dragon would be the start, all he needed to do was figure out how to use these fucking silver eyes of his.

He idly noticed that his disguise was slowly flickering, seeing red instead of pink for fractions of a second. He was low on time, and of course Neo's disguise for him just had to start running out now.

No matter, he had a job to do. He made a promise that he needs to keep.

With a roar, Adam bursted through the final door, and into what was once the office of Headmaster Ozpin.

And almost immediately into the jaws of the Grimm dragon.

Adam reacted on instinct, seeing the dozens of razor sharp pointy and jagged teeth in the mouth of the monster he was supposed to destroy filled him with a fear he didn't know he was still capable of. He jumped up into the air by just using his ankles, and kicked off the snout of the Grimm's face. He flipped through the air and pressed his foot into the wall, and kicked himself off it to land beside the dragon's head.

Now he had a better look at what he was dealing with. The dragon was massive in size, it's head alone was a good four or five feet taller than Adam's entire body, it was sticking its head through the side of the tower, it's wings were wrapped around the entire structure, which was mostly destroyed after Cinder's battle with Pyrrha years ago. He was told about that during his time with the remainder of Team JNPR, their battle stage was just as they left it. Giant metal cogs flung all over the place, the walls almost all completely knocked down or destroyed, and he could even spot a few burn and slash marks across the floor of this office.

Half of the room was taken up by the dragons head, and with a sickening crack. Adam's heart dropped when he realized that the dragon broke free from it's prison, and probably had before he even got up there. Even with all the negativity down below the tower on the ground, it seemed focused on him more than anything.

 _It must be my eyes…_ Adam realized, it made sense. With what he knew about the Grimm and silver eyed warriors, it was that they were natural enemies who have been fighting for thousands of years. Adam wouldn't put it past the dragon to want to kill him right away, especially since the last time it was free, it was nearly killed by Ruby's first activation of her eyes.

"Rargh!" Adam roared as he dashed forward, Wilt was held out before him with both of his hands. He doesn't usually use both hands to wield his sword, but against a massive opponent such as this, he would need all the power he could get behind his strike.

The dragon screeched at him in response, and pulled it's head back before it could get stabbed in the eye. Forcing Adam to change his path and dodge the rubble that feel from what was left of the ceiling and roof.

Jaune and Ren bursted through the half destroyed door a second later, earning the dragon's attention as it's evil glowing red eyes looked to them with a certain hunger and hatred that made Adam's stomach roll over itself.

"MOVE!" Adam screamed at them at the top of his lungs, feeling his throat burn as a result of how loud he forced himself to be.

Jaune instantly noticed the dragon rearing back it's massive head to lunge at him, and dove to the side. Ren did the same but in the opposite direction. The door to the stairwell was destroyed as well as that entire side of the office. Leaving the three much smaller Huntsman up against the dragon on a wide open platform with very limited cover.

"How do we take this thing down!?" Jaune asked with wide frightened eyes, he has never fought anything this big before, and he felt like Crocea Mors was not the right weapon to use in this situation. He never felt so tiny in his life.

"Jaune! The plan!" Ren shouted at him in response, and began to fire every bullet he had left in his sub machine guns at the gigantic beast. "I'll distract it! Adam is our only hope right now!"

Fearful for his friends life, but not willing to let his few precious seconds of distracting the dragon to go to waste. Jaune sprinted to Adam's back, and placed both hands against his back.

Adam nearly passed out as he felt his aura reserves get filled completely, and then surpassed his limits completely upon amplification. His red aura flowed over his disguised body, and without thinking, he crouched down and prepared to use his Moonslice, hopefully for the last time today.

"Ren! You might want to get out of the way!" Jaune called to his teammate as he amplified Adam's aura beyond his own limitations.

Ren heard his teammate and leader, and dodged a snap from the dragon right before he could lose his leg. He nearly fell off of the building all together, but held on to a metal rod that was sticking out of the ground, saving him from a long fall to his death.

"I need more time…" Adam said through gritted teeth, staring straight at his target as it turned it's head to face him.

"We don't have time!" Jaune yelled at him. "Do it now!"

"I can't! It takes time to charge up my strength, and I am going to need all of it that I can get!"

The dragon screeched at them, and reared back it's once more.

"Do it _now_ Adam!" Ren yelled at him next.

"Just a few more seconds!"

The dragon bared its teeth at them, and Adam saw his life flash before his eyes as he realized he wasn't going to charge up the strength he needed to kill the monster. But to his surprise - and horror, the Grimm Dragon raised it's humongous dark red wings, and with one flap, pushed him and Jaune away as it took to the skies.

"Agh!" Adam coughed as he felt the wind get knocked out of him, and dropped all the power he had stored up so far.

"Oh no, help me!" Jaune exclaimed as he rolled off of the tower, but grabbed onto the edge at the last second with one hand. He tried reaching up with his other to support the rest of his weight, but his other arm was still injured, and even if he could get it up there he doubted that it would be of much use.

"Jaune!" Ren exclaimed in shock and dove for his friend, only for another flap of the dragons wings to nearly blow him off as well.

 _No! It can't end like this!_ Adam thought as he held his ground, stabbing his powered sword into the ground to keep himself from flying off the building like his allies almost did. He cracked one eye open against the blowing wind against his face, and looked up at the Grimm which was now blocking out the sun with it's large body. It screeched at them again, and Adam could imagine that it was taunting them.

He looked to his right, seeing Jaune hanging on to the edge for dear life, but slowly slipping. Then to his left, seeing his other ally Lie Ren, desperately trying to make his way to his leader without getting blown off himself, and then there was him. Barely holding his ground as it was.

It was too late, the dragon broke free and was flying again. It must have realized what he was doing, charging up his power like that made him a sitting duck. If it realized that it could have killed them before he charged up enough power to actually hurt the thing, then he wouldn't be breathing right now. But not, now it was flying back, and circling around them. Adam saw it charge at something before, and that something was the tower itself. It nearly collapsed the entire thing after the first charge, and he didn't like his chances of surviving against a force like that.

Desperately, Adam tried to use his eyes. Try to find _some_ way to activate them and save everyone around them. He focused and focused, clenching his eyes shut and thinking _hard_ about saving those around him, just how Ruby advised him to do. He needed to think of protecting life, and defending it at any cost. It frustrated him that while he was even doing that, he couldn't see even a flicker of white out of his eyes as he looked down at his own hand.

So he tried harder, he only had seconds left. It was now or never. He thought about Blake, the girl he used to call a lover a few years ago, and was even obsessed with her for a time. He wanted to be worthy of her trust again, to be able to call her friend, and maybe even laugh about their past together one day. They couldn't do that if they were dead. Then he thought about the village that took him in, the children that begged him to play with them, the humans and faunus that relied on him to do the heavy lifting, and to do the dirty work against the bandits that attacked their town every now and gain. Next was Claire, the woman who proved to him that he could still be loved. He made a promise to come back to her, and he intended to keep that promise.

Then he thought of Yang, surprisingly. He cut off her arm during the first Battle of Beacon, and yet when he apologized to her and stated how he regretted what he did and she forgave him almost right away, he wouldn't say that she trusted him just yet, but it was safe for him to assume that the blonde wasn't about to attack him for it anymore. She was one of the people he wanted to make things up to, despite not knowing her very well. After that, there was a wide range of people, there was Hector, who was actually the one who vouched for him first before any others, taking him in as an ally before marking him as an enemy. It might have just been for his silver eyes, but he was eternally grateful for his mercifulness. Nora, oh Nora, she just snaked her way into his good side without even considering what he thought about it, she practically forced him to become her friend, and he didn't find the feeling of it entirely unpleasant.

He felt a warmth behind his eyes, was that it!? He felt something coming, his head pounded, and everything hurt. But he felt _something_ coming from his eyes.

When he opened them with a roar of defiance, nothing came out. All he saw was the wide open mouth of the dragon right about to swallow him whole.

A pink explosion stopped it, blasting against the side of it's head and making it divert itself off it's target. But it's body was still much too massive, and Adam didn't dodge in time for it's shoulder to barrel into his body. He felt something in his chest crack as he was blown backward, but before he could fall to his death, an aura of black and purple suspended him in mid air right over the edge.

"You are not allowed to die yet _Mister Rose_." Glynda's voice said to him, full of strain and effort as she levitated his body back onto the platform. "You've made it an activity to surprise me."

Adam coughed in pain as a response, but nodded his head right after. Something was definitely broken, even his aura wouldn't be able to protect him from something some massive even bumping into him. Remembering what happened to Jaune and Ren however made him think about other things.

"Jaune, and Ren." He choked out.

"Are okay," Blake said, her voice coming from his left. In her arms was an exhausted Jaune Arc, clutching his injured arm in pain and grimacing every time he made to move.

"I got Renny bear all safe and sound. No need to worry here!" Nora exclaimed as she hefted the pink eyed boy into a one armed hug. Smoking grenade launcher in her other arm already fully loaded. She saved his life just in time, that much was obvious.

He wished he could thank her for it, but the angry roar of the dragon snapped them all back into the reality of their situation. The elite squad of Huntsmen Adam intended to come up here with were here now, along with Blake, Jaune, Ren, Glynda, and Nora. A quick explanation from one of the other Huntsmen told him that Nicholas was still on the ground with the rest of the army. So this was all they had. A dozen Huntsmen against one massive and ancient Grimm.

"It's hide is impenetrable, I had a plan to pierce it with Jaune's assistance, but that doesn't seem like an option now." Adam said as he looked down to the blonde knight, he must have been out of aura, if he did have any left he would need it for himself. "I don't know what to do now…"

"We fight," Glynda stated. "We don't give up, that is what we do."

Adam snorted and shook his head as he pushed himself back onto his feet. Shrugging off his coat as he did so. Revealing his undershirt for the first time, and the many scars he has on his bare arms. Blake looked away at the sight, she was there for some of them when they were made. The others didn't pay much mind to it, the life of Huntsman was rough, or so that was what Adam was going to let them believe for now.

"I understand now…" He said to himself absentmindedly. Neo's disguise was going to wear off any second now. "In order to take this down, I will have to hold nothing back… Nothing at all."

"What was that?" One of the Huntresses asked him.

"I have a plan." Adam said. "It requires me to get very close to the dragon, can you manage that Glynda?" He asked, looking to her for confirmation.

"To throw you that hard and far will be difficult and taxing, but if that is what it is going to take to defeat this monster, then I shall do what you say." She said as she prepared to use her semblance on him once more.

"Good," Adam nodded to her and looked to the rest of his squad. "The rest of you try and get the attention away from us two, you'll know when to back off." His squad nodded at him in response, as did Blake, Nora, and Ren.

And that was what they did. The fully trained and experienced Huntsmen and Huntresses were easily able to able to gain the dragons attention, whether that be bad or good for them. One was unfortunately blown off the building and fell to his death, and another got eaten alive by the dragon. But the combined explosions and armour piercing bullets was enough to at least make the dragon consider them the more serious threat, and focused on them. Everytime it thought about charing at them, Nora would fire her grenades at it, and Blake would punish it if it ever got too close and was too slow to dodge her blades. They weren't going to win, but they didn't need too.

When he felt his body get pulled up into the air, Adam prepared to use the overflowing amount of power he had absorbed into his sword, both from Jaune's semblance, and the damage he took after the dragon's shoulder bashed into his body.

"Make this count." Glynda told him as she prepared to shoot him like a slingshot.

"I will." Adam promised, and his body glowed a bright red color, his disguise falling at last. His red hair flowed atop his head, his pink sword returned to it's blood red color, and his clothes were black and red again. People noticed of course, but now was not the time to call him out for it.

Without any further words, Glynda _threw_ Adam as hard as she could, and he soared off as a blur of black and red fire and _crashed_ into the side of the dragons head. The dragon screeched and hissed, and tried flying in bareilly rolls to get rid of the warrior holding on to it and slashing at it's body with reckless effort.

Then, time slowed for Adam, and his world became black and white. The only color being his glowing red hair, details on his clothing and red Wilt. He glowed brighter than he ever did before, and continued to glow like a beacon in the sky as the dragon flew far and away from the tower to get away from the other attackers.

"Adam!" Blake and Nora called to him to no avail, he was much too far away now. Over the Emerald Forest now with how far he traveled on the back of the dragon.

"Die monster!" Adam screamed, a flash of his former self seeping through as his sword _cut_ through the beats shoulder. From a range, it was seen that a _massive_ black and red arc of flames above and below the dragons body, gone as quickly as it came as it crashed into the Dragon's shoulder.

His sword cut through armour, skin, muscle, and than bone for a good six feet before stopping against something too hard to cut through. The dragon screeched in pain and hatred, but it was still alive. Adam cursed as he lost his footing, and his grip slipped off of his sword and found himself falling through the air. Time slowed for him again, and this time it wasn't because of his semblance. He was hundreds upon hundreds of meters in the air, a fall from this height almost assured death.

 _Was this it…? Is this all I have? Did I just fail?_ Adam asked himself as he fell slowly farther and farther away from the ironic safety that was the killer Grimm dragon that bled gallons of black blood all over the place as it's wound festered and remained.

He was angry, he hated his fate, he hated destiny. Adam felt an anger like never before, and with the combined pain of _every little thing_ he has ever done in his life came crashing down on him. He failed, and now he could never be redeemed.

He would rather die redeemed, then live as a failure of a monstrous man.

Adam grit his teeth, but ultimately let out a loud scream of his own as his eyes glowed a bright white color, and then a power he has never felt before _exploded_ out of his eyes. For miles and miles around, people and even Grimm alike were forced to cover their faces as to not be blinded by the light that was so far away. As Adam fell, he kept his glare on the dragon's body, and grinned manically as he watched the dragon turn to stone, and the wound in its shoulder grown even worse.

It was almost like he planned it when the sword in the monsters body cut even deeper into the stone and cracked the entire thing. The dragons petrified form exploded into two pieces, and all Adam could do was smile and laugh even as he fell from an impossibly high height.

He did it, the dragon was defeated and slain.

Back at Beacon, Grimm started to die left and right, not all of them, but every single one that was spawned from the dragon fizzled out and faded away into dust. The army Adam lead quickly outnumbered the Grimm, and it was only a matter of time before they won the battle entirely.

Beacon was saved, Adam smiled and laughed like the little kid he never got to be. He twisted his body so that he was facing the ever closing in ground of the Emerald Forest, and even though his head pounded, and he felt like he was about to pass out, he forced himself to stay awake.

In the end, it wasn't the thought of protecting and saving his friends and loved ones that awakened the power of his eyes. It was the thought of killing something that dared to get in the way of his redemption, a purely selfish thought.

That was just how he was. He couldn't force himself to be something he wasn't any longer. His silver eyed powers awakened because of his desire to _kill_ , not to protect.

"Heh heh… oh the irony." Adam said to himself as the wind blew into his face as he fell at terminal velocity. "I kept my promise, hopefully that was enough."

His body got dangerously close to smashing against the ground.

Even though it looked like his fate was sealed, and that his life was about to come to an end and he wanted to do so much more. He found himself content with what was about to happen. He could barely move his body as it was, and his eyes wouldn't be saving him here, even if he could somehow activate them again. It would take a miracle for him to survive this fall.

Adam broke through the top of the Emerald Forest with a smile on his face nonetheless.

* * *

Blake watched as a figure that wasn't a piece of the dragon fall into the Emerald Forest at an incredibly fast speed. While the others were cheering, and the Grimm started dying left and right. All she could think about was what she just watched.

Adam Taurus, the man who caused her so much pain, and brought a lot of good to her life at the same time, has just slain the dragon. Kept his promise that he made to them all.

He saved Beacon, and by extension, probably Vale as well.

They won the day, and even though they won Beacon back. She couldn't help but fall to her knees crying.

* * *

 **Oh boy… This battle was intense, and sad at the same time. This entire chapter was almost entirely focused on Adam, and what he was doing and thinking about. It all lead up to the moment where Adam gave** _ **everything**_ **to stop the dragon at last. He did so at a great cost of course. He is content with everything that has happened in his life now, accepted it for what it was. Truly, he thinks himself redeemed.**

 **-Volume 6 Spoiler warning-**

 **I found myself surprisingly sad for this character, even though in the show he's basically nothing but a jealous ex who was obsessed with killing Blake and Yang. I really think RT messed up** _ **bad**_ **with his character, he had so much potential. Honestly, if I could, I would have given him the redemption arc Ilia got in Volume 4 or 5, I forgot which is which honestly. But no, they screwed him up so badly that they just ended up killing him off over something stupid like in the name of the Bumblebee ship, I am going to be honest here, they listened to the RWBY fanbase** _ **way**_ **too much, and it is killing my desire to watch the rest of the series. I still will of course, after coming this far I might as well finish it.**

 **So yeah, hate me for saying that if you want. I don't really care. In other news, Adam in this story is kinda how I always wanted him to be, I wanted his redemption to be something to remember, something akin to something like Zuko from Avatar TLA, or maybe even something like Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones. There was so much that could be done with Adam, but sadly, in this story. He has fallen. Pun intended, sorry.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story! If you want to keep up with me, I have a twitter account just to update on my progress of every chapter of every story that I write! Along with some drawings of some of my OC characters.**

 **T witter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	68. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 68

**I am back! I am sorry that it took so long for this chapter to get written and posted for you guys, life came unexpectedly and I worked six days last week, it was crazy. But I am here now, and Unlikely Hero is back as a result.**

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 **Tigervolcano5000: Thank you for enjoying it! So far, last chapter was the biggest battle sequence I ever written so far. I wrote about 7k of it in a single day as well, an in one sitting. I just had everything planned from the get-go and it was totally worth it. Decisions, decisions, basically how this whole story was written by me, a shit ton of decisions needing to be made. Of course I am changing from the cannon, I am so far away from the cannon at this point it's crazy to imagine how exactly I have thought all this up. Adam has fallen I am afraid, though surprises are still a thing, we don't know what happened really, not even I. I am glad I have some who agreed with me, even if it is only partially, Volume 6 started out good, and then it went on to the Bumblebee stuff and I was just like 'Ugh' with every moment I picked out.**

 **Oblivious IJ: I believe I responded to you in a PM last chapter, but thank you again!**

 **HunterMC: He has fallen I am afraid.**

 **Zeldawolffang: He has fallen a hero, I agree.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Now let's get right back into it!**

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Chapter 68- One at a time

Blake didn't know what to think when she saw Adams figure in the distance break through the top of the Emerald Forest. Everything happened so fast. First she was fighting for her life along with her friends and allies, and the next there was the brightest flash of white she has ever seen and then suddenly the Grimm started to die around them. All she could do was cry as she determined her longtime friends fate, she didn't need to see a body to know that he most likely did not survive that fall. Even if he had aura, the impact with the ground would have broken every bone in his body.

She thought she hated him, even then. Only deigning to work with him and allow him to stay for the sake of Beacon and everyone fighting for it's return, but even with everything he has ever done to her, all the pain, suffering, betrayal, guilt, and emotional strain, she couldn't help but put him in the spotlight again. Blake couldn't believe that she actually started to look up to him again, Adam of all people became an idol to her and not for the first time.

Which was why she fell to her knees, and balled her eyes out as she slammed one fist to the ground. It just wasn't fair! How could this happen? How could her partner, friend, and once lover go through everything he did, and then pull himself out of his own darkness only so he could literally kill himself saving everyone in Vale.

Blake didn't even feel Nora's arms wrap around her as she cried softly into her shoulder as well. She knew that Adam probably wasn't even going to get credit for this. For a faunus, especially one such as he, one who had caused untold amounts of pain and death to get _any_ credit for the slaying of the Grimm Dragon would need a cold day in hell before he would get the credit he deserved.

Her biggest regret now was that she could never tell him that she forgave him. She never said those words to him, something he more than deserved after redeeming himself in such a way. She forgave him for turning into a monster, forgave him for cutting off her best friends arm, forgave him for forcing her to kill when she didn't see it necessary, and even forgave him for attempting to kill everyone she cared about on more than one occasion. Adam was no longer the monster she once thought him to be, and she hated herself for only seeing that to its fullest today.

The cheers of victory were tuned out as well, even victory tasted like ashes in her mouth as she processed the death of her comrade. She cracked her bloodshot eyes open and looked to her side, Nora was there with her she finally realized, and of course she would be sad too. She constantly pestered Adam into a friendship he probably wasn't prepared or ready for, but she could tell that he eventually got used to her. Over the countless hours they spent together slaying Grimm and recapturing Beacon territory, Nora's excitable nature probably became something Adam was fond of even against all the odds. Blake thought of warning her ginger haired friend, but stopped when she noticed that Adam wasn't going to do anything to her.

"H-He did it." Ren blinked his eyes in disbelief and shocked. Even Ruby could never produce something so bright out of her eyes. Adam's first activation of his silver eyed powers were even more powerful than Ruby's even though she had much more experience in using them. Adam would prove himself a prodigy just one last time. A new title of his would be 'Dragonslayer' now, if anyone was to remember him.

It was all she could do for him at this point, just remember him.

"D-Did we win?" Jaune croaked as he sat up, favoring his broken arm with his right hand as he moved. Ren was quick to assist him, kneeling down beside him and letting his leader rest against his leg as if he was sitting in a chair.

"Yes." It was not Ren who replied, but Glynda Goodwitch herself. "Politan-" She sighed, cutting herself off. "Adam Taurus slayed the dragon at the cost of his own life… a noble death, considering his path."

"He was a _hero._ " Blake might have been afraid of the punishment she would get for speaking to her professor like that, but she was a student no longer, and could not be treated like one after everything she has done. "It doesn't matter what happened in his past, and if you are going to judge him for it, then arrest me as well."

Glynda could not hide her shock and widened her eyes in surprise. She killed that gesture just as fast as it came however, and for the first time she actually looked away in shame from one of her students. No matter what her grudge may have been for the bull faunus, there was no way she couldn't deny that Adam Taurus saved not only Beacon, but all of Vale was well. If the dragon wasn't slain in this battle, it would have flown into Vale itself, spawned Grimm, and caused chaos in the streets for a second time. She didn't want to think about how long Vale might have lasted on it's own, because most likely it would not be any more than a day.

"Wait, so you're telling me that Politan Rose, the guy in pink that we assumed to be Ruby's cousin was actually _Adam Taurus_?" One of the other Huntsman asked, the conflict in his own voice clear to even himself. He wanted to be mad about it, but couldn't bring himself to. Instead he kept quiet, ignoring the glare of the yellow eyed cat faunus a few feet away from him.

"The Grimm are dying, only a few stragglers left and they're being handled by Nicholas Arc himself." A Huntress reported, thankfully not sharing her thoughts on the matter of Adam Taurus' reveal.

"Then the day is won." Glynda sighed, this time in relief. She never looked so old before, there were dark spots under her eyes, and wrinkles beginning to form on her cheeks. It was like a decade finally caught up with her all in the span of a second. "Beacon has been reclaimed."

More cheers followed after that, drowning out the sadness that the recently established Team JBLN felt after the loss of their friends. Nicholas Arc even felt little joy after taking in the sight of Beacon being free of Grimm for the first time since the last Vytal festival. He remembered that the one that was supposed to start this year was cancelled due to the troubles other kingdoms have been having. Haven was still recovering from the White Fang's attacks, and the new headmaster was doing his best to fix what was broken, and Atlas was attacked a couple of months ago, and if what he knew about the others, Vacuo was going to be in some troubling spotlight next.

With he sigh, he cut down the final Grimm. A measly Beowolf that foolishly thought it could kill an entire army on it's own. His silvery sword cut its head off and more cheers sounded out behind him as Beacon was no _officially_ wiped clean of the Grimm that has been plaguing the innards of the academy like an infestation ever since the fall.

He didn't know Adam very well, only knowing him from others and on the news. When he met him however, he wasn't at all like what he heard. Adam to him was a man seeking something nearly impossible for him to get, and it was only due to the kids like Ruby, his own son Jaune, and the Hero of Two Kingdoms himself that convinced him to give the guy a chance. But now he wished that he did. Because if it weren't for him, they would have all died here.

Putting that thought aside for now, he stormed past the celebrating students and Hunters alike and sprinted up the steps to the top of the CCT tower. Like a man on a mission, he bursted through the destroyed rubble at the top and ran up to his son.

Jaune Arc was alive, which was good. But now his sisters were going to have something to yell at him for again. But for now, he could only feel grateful that his son survived a battle of this scale.

"We've done our part, now we just need to wait for Hector and the others to finish up on their end." Jaune said as he stood up with his fathers help. "But for now, I think we deserved a well deserved break, right?"

Nicholas chuckled out of amusement, which was nearly a foreign concept for Jaune since he never really heard the man laugh like that before. Before long, Ren and Nora joined in. Blake even through her tears couldn't help but laugh brokenly. Rest… that sounded good right about now.

"With Beacon reclaimed for now, we are going to have to begin repairs to get the school back in working order." Glynda Goodwitch interrupted, and for the first time she actually looked sympathetic for her students. "As the standing Headmistress of Beacon Academy, I shall allow a few days rest so that everyone can recover from their injuries… be it physical or otherwise." She left it unsaid that even though the battle has been won, there was still many casualties. Almost all of the auraless soldiers were killed, some students lost their partners and teammates, and even some fully trained Hunters lost their lives in this battle. Little over half their forces survived the battle, and even though the hard part is over, reparations in just the next phase before Beacon can officially open back up for business.

"Yeah, I'll take that as it is." Jaune said as he laid back down, finding the broken concrete and glass much more comfortable then going down those stairs again. "I'm just going to lay here for now… take a nap or something."

"Idiot son." Nicholas said as he sat down beside him. "Making me watch over you as you sleep again, figures, some things never change."

Nora gasped, and when Nora gasp, she _gasps_ in the most dramatic way possible.

"How could I have looked this over!?" Nora asked herself more than anyone else as she slid on her knees on the other side of Jaune's body. "You have embarrassing stories of my fearless leader!"

Jaune widened his eyes, but was too weak to stop her. It was too late at this point, and it was only a matter of time before Nora found out anything about his childhood. So instead he groaned and covered his ears, or well, one ear, since his other arm was still sorta broken in a few places.

"Well, I could tell you about that one time my daughters put him in a dress and convinced him he was a little princess."

Jaune choked on air.

Hector couldn't be having it this bad, could he?

* * *

Hector couldn'l happier at the moment, even with his handy defeat from Salem that costed him all his power, Knolly, and Yang's right arm _again_. He couldn't help but feel satisfied with it all, not that he was okay with it in the slightest, he would much rather not be forced to use Ozma's cane as it was, a walking stick. But considering everything they have all been through, he took it as good luck that he was able to get through it the way he had.

Rhea forgave him for killing her biological mother. Thankfully, she was one smart cookie. Cinder wasn't a good person, and just thinking about the daughter you nearly killed, and whose father you've also murdered in cold blood, when you were about to die didn't erase everything she has done. Now they were closer than they have ever been before.

It took awhile for him to recover enough to be able to walk, but Ruby was there at his side literally every step of the way, holding onto his arm for her own comfort and to support his weight just in case he were to stumble.

Natsuki's back was to them, the Summer Maiden was leading them to the vault where the Relic of Destruction was being kept. In a way, Hector was able to tell how close they were because of how deep into Shade's basement they were going. It was similar to Heaven's vault in that way, except the major difference here was that Natsuki placed a hand on one of the bricks on the wall, and pushed it in.

A whole door opened up to them all, and with a silent gesture to follow her, the Summer Maiden stepped into the darkness, using her sparkling arm to light the way before her. Rhea stepped through next before Hector could, placing a hand on his chest to push him back before he could take another step. She looked up at him and created a small flame in her left hand, and with a reciprocated nod, she stepped through ahead of him.

It was a tough pill to swallow realized he was even weaker than his stepdaughter now, without Kaioken, or any of the dark magic within him, he was extremely weakened. His muscles were even smaller than before, his windpipe was discovered to be damaged after all his screaming and now his aura, his _regular_ aura was doing it's best to minimize and heal the internal and external damage. Even speaking was difficult for him to do. The only thing he was able to do on his own was breath, needing a walking stick and support to walk properly, and with the other two maidens never leaving his side, being his guards somewhat. He couldn't ask for any better, two maidens would be more than enough to defend him from whatever harm came to be.

The hallway was narrow at first, but as they twisted and turned, went up and down, even climbed a ladder or two that both lead up higher above the ground and down into the ground respectively. It was like a maze, similar to the endless sands of the deserts of Vacuo where one could hardly tell what direction they were going in at any time of the day. It was only when Natsuki shouted and broke through a wall did they all finally reach the vault.

 _Wow…_ Was all Hector could think of as he watched a literary burning tree, dark purple in color, rooted in place behind a large set of spectral doors. The vault looked just as the name of the Relic of Destruction depicted. It looked like walking into the flames would lead to death, but strangely enough, the flames were not as blistering hot as he expected. Instead, when Hector reached a hand out to catch one of the burning purple embers, it only felt warm in his hands. Maybe it was because of his resistance to the heat, but that hypothesis was snuffed out when even Ruby was able to hold her hand inside of a purple flame without so much as flinching from it.

"What… is this?" Yang asked as she looked around the burning purple vault, it was so much different then Haven's, and she felt out of place as the Spring Maiden being in the vault of the Summer Maiden.

"Energy of destruction." Natsuki explained simply, making Hector and Ruby panic as they quickly wiped their hands of whatever energy they were able to catch. "The energy out here is harmless, it's inside the vault is where things start to get a little more… aggressive."

"Considering that there is a tree made of literal energy of destruction, I can't say I am all that surprised." Yang said with an awed expression on her face. Hector idly noted how she stepped back once she realized that the embers flowing around them were bits of destructive energy, chucking to himself silently.

Neo appeared in a flash beside them, cradling a pile of it in her arms. None of them were even surprised when she tilted her head at them as if to say ' _What? You think I was going to sit up there?'_ and so ignored her as she went around exploring the place.

Hector looked around for what felt like a few minutes, before zeroing in on the spectral doors made out of said energy of destruction, and then looked to Natsuki. The message between them was shared instantly, and he didn't even need to force himself to speak as Natsuki sighed and stepped up to the vault doors.

Once she placed a hand on them, she looked back at them. "Just warning you now, once these doors open, there is no going back. I won't be able to close them."

" _That won't be a problem."_ Ozma said within Hector's mind. " _With what little power I have left, I shall be able to close it."_ Hector nodded at his words, and did his best to explain what the old man had said.

"Then we'll have to hope he likes you." Natsuki replied with a snort as she placed her other hand on the door.

The spectral large sets of doors flickered with blue lightning, and then became physical. Before anyone was able to comprehend what was happening, Natsuki was already flying back after the doors opened so violently that she was launched straight back into the entrance they had just came from. Hector held on to Ozma's cane for dear life as a flow of bright purple energy bursts through the doors, it didn't hurt, it was just pushing him back. His already strained muscles burned even as a green trail of magic tethered him with the door.

Memories flashed through his mind as he remembered the moment his and Raven's fight finished, the vault doors opened and the same trail of green energy connected with his body, healing his wounds and empowering him slightly. Thankfully, the same happened here. He felt stronger, not nearly as strong as he did before, but he was able to stand on his own with little support from his cane. His wounds healed, and a gentle warm sensation tickled the back of his throat.

"Ahhh." Hector experimented with his own voice, smiling when no blood came out. "I can talk again… thank god." He said to himself as he stood up completely straight.

The purple blast of energy slowed down and stopped, however it was now covering every inch of the round walls within the vault itself. Lighting up the room in a miraculous display of lights and flashes. Rhea flew up to his side, gripping his hand like it was the first time she has seen him in a while. He looked down at her and smiled, giving her the sign she needed that he was okay. Not long after, Yang and Ruby also joined up with him.

He wondered where Neo was, but got his answer when she fell from the ceiling with a silent groan. It seemed like she was sent straight up once the doors opened, which amused him slightly as she gave them all a thumbs up to give him the go ahead.

"We have to walk into _that_?" Yang asked, referring to the dark purple flames that still burned angrily in the entrance to the magical vault itself.

A dark black and red sword was just barely able to be seen, a very decorative one at that, one with a gleaming hilt and wrist guard, as well as an expertly designed blade. That was it, it had to be. That sword was the Relic of Destruction, it matched up with Ozma's memories perfectly.

"I have to." Hector said, his hand already itching to grab onto the hilt of the sword. "I am the only one that has been claimed as the owner of a relic in well over several centuries, I have the best chance of being accepted." He explained quickly when all three girls _glared_ at him with obvious disagreement.

"Will you be okay?" Rhea asked, tightening her grip on his hand, and even adding her other one just in case he was about to disappear.

"I have to be." Hector rubbed her head right in between her wolf, then turned to kiss Ruby on the lips before taking a step forward.

"Anything bad happens in there, run right out." Yang told him as he took another cautious step forward.

"I will, promise." Hector said with a deep breath, before he then broke into a fast walk straight through the flames and into the vault itself.

To the shock and horror of the rest of the girls, the vault doors slammed shut behind him. Locking him in.

* * *

Hector could barely keep his eyes open, he felt his aura strain as it protected his body from being erased. All he could see was purple and fire, the two mixing well together as he trudged through the flames. Luckily, the fire was only barely hotter than the embers outside the vault, and so he wasn't going to burn to death, and with two peoples worth of aura, he wasn't about to run out anytime soon.

" _Forward!"_ Ozma yelled at him, and Hector listened to him without really thinking about it, he simply kept pushing forward. Throwing his weak arms into the flames and wading through them as if he was swimming.

"Why'd you have to make a vault like _this_!?" Hector shouted as he batted away the flames as fast as he possibly could.

" _To prevent it from being stolen, now hurry. We're running out of time."_

"Oh great, so the vault also has a death timer. Thanks for telling me that earlier Ozma." Hector remarked sarcastically through gritted teeth. He was stopping himself from screaming, and he could still hear the slamming of his friends fists against the vault door as they try to find some way to get inside. Natsuki must have recovered by now, and if that door was _still_ not open, it seemed like it was all up to him to figure out a way out of here.

And so he walked and pushed and groaned and moaned his way through the purple flames that slowly got hotter and more painful. He was sweating bullets by the time the sword was even within his vision again, and his aura began to fail him, so Ozma's began to take over for him. Red turned to green, and with one finally lurch, Hector threw himself at the sword, taking the hilt in both hands and using that to keep himself standing.

Instantly, he felt his hands become glued to the hilt itself, and it was painful. Extremely so. It almost felt like he was using Kaioken again, but surprisingly it wasn't that bad. He just couldn't move away from his position nor could he tear his hands off of the hilt of the Relic of Destruction.

With a defeated sigh, Hector slumped down to one knee to rest. At least the flames weren't tickling his skin anymore.

" **So, it is you Jinn has become so enamoured with.** " A dark, deep voice called to Hector's mind. Making him groan as a migraine began to fester within his brain as it struggled to understand the voice. " **A broken and depowered man, how is it that my sister chose** _ **you**_ **of all humans to become her master?** " The relic asked.

"D-Deus." Hector choked out as he rested his forehead against the flat side of the blade.

The relic laughed at him, and out of the sword came a dark black and red being very similar to Jinn's physical form. Only this one had a males figure, his eyes looked like a Grimm's, black and red. As well as his hair, which was a pitch dark black like a Grimm's fur. The relic also had armour on, for whatever worth that was since by the very look of his well chiseled and muscular arms and red glowing skin didn't make the being very approachable by danger. His face looked relatively young, despite being several millenia years old, the relic looked to be in his early thirties or late twenties. The major difference between him and Jinn however, was the complete difference in power and temperance. While Jinn was wise and patient, Deus was short tempered, and strong. Just plain strong. Even though he has lost the ability to sense magic, just by the sheer pressure he feels by just being around the relic made him gulp nervously.

" **Ah, of course she would tell you my name.** " Deus smirked at him, before lowering himself and gripping Hector's face in one of his large hands. Hectors head was tiny in comparison, and when comparing the Relic of Destruction to Jinn, he was much larger, and evidently much more powerful. Which was to be expected of course, the Relic of Destruction just by name sounded like the most powerful out of the four relics. And it has already been confirmed that by itself, Deus was the most powerful and dangerous of the relics. " **I feel her presence in you even now, tell me. How is it that you managed to lose not only your power, but my sister as well?** "

"How do you-"

" **How do I know!? Foolish mortal, did you seriously think that us relics were not communicating with each other in some way?** " Deus laughed in Hectors face, and dropped him as he floated back into the air. " **I know Salem attacked you, defeated you and the Spring Maiden, and you lost all your power** _ **and**_ **my sister.** "

Oof, someone loved their sister. Not that Hector wasn't going to point that out because it seemed like the Relic of Destruction did not seem to be in a good or teasing mood. Hector pushed himself as hard as he could to stand on his own two feet, and even being over six feet tall, the Relic of Destruction was still at least four feet taller than he was. Maybe more or less, since he was floating and flying off the ground with his knees bent.

"I want to make things right… I have to stop Salem." Hector declared as he looked up at the being, wincing as his hands started to bleed. He looked down at the hilt of the sword to see that the hilt was slowly growing spikes out of the side, and going straight into his hand no less. He pumped aura into that area, but kept his eyes focused on the Relic of Destruction.

" **Ah, and let me ask you this next** _ **mortal**_ **.** " With the way Deus said that, he sounded disgusted to just be in the presence of a human being. His voice while dark, deep, and intimidating, was also very arrogant as well. " **How will you ever hope to defeat Salem without those powers of yours? Oh, I need to hear this.** " Deus sat back on nothing but air, a cocky grin on his face as he waited for Hector to speak his part.

"I need to claim you," Hector began, and just like that, Deus' grin reduced to a single line that screamed pure hatred. "I need to claim you, and the rest of your siblings, and then with an army at my back, I will go kill Salem and her forces myself with the help of my allies." He said, biting back the tears he felt stinging the corners of his eyes and trying to look as imposing as possible. With the past knowledge he had from Ozma, he died once or twice trying to claim the Relic of Destruction himself, which was why Hector wanted to go into the vault alone. He was afraid for his friends lives.

There was a specific set of rules to claim the Relic of Destruction. First, you must be an owner of one of the other relics, which was a check. Second, you need to be a fighter and have your aura unlocked, which was an easy check. Thirdly and lastly, you _need_ to be powerful, and at least have a presence of magic within you, that used to be a check before, but now Hector wasn't so sure anymore. After getting his powers stolen by Salem, he didn't even know if he had _any_ left. Certainly not any dark magic left, so he was bidding everything on the small presence of light magic he had within his body that Ozma told him about long ago.

The rest was really up to the relic himself. The final decision was really left up to them, and even if they _want_ to be claimed in the first place. Jinn was easy enough, she just sort of claimed Hector as her owner before he even knew there was rules in the first place. But Deus proved to be much more problematic.

" **So you wish to bring destruction to your enemies by using me. You also wish to somehow regain your dark by claiming me, am I wrong?** " Deus asked, smirking the whole time as Hector widened his eyes and turned away from him.

Right on the head of the nail. Hector had a hope within him that if he did claim the Relic of Destruction, which was personally created by the God of Darkness himself, that he would get his powers back one way or another. Those hopes were dashed out as Deus laughed at him.

" **You foolish human, I can only send out my power to destroy, I cannot give my power to someone so they can do the destroying for me. That is not how I function I'm afraid.** " By no means did Deus look apologetic as he said this, it was like he was taunting Hector with his words, and it was working to an extent to make him lose hope.

Despite the pain he felt in his legs, he pushed himself even straighter than before, and then tightened his grip even further on the hilt of the Relic of Destruction itself. Deus raised an eyebrow at the follow of blood that ran down the hilt, crossguard, and then the blade itself. Traveling all the way down to where the tip of the blade was stabbed into stone. Only to look back into Hector's determined expression.

"I'll figure out a way… if I am able to hurt her, then she can be killed." Hector said through gritted teeth.

" **And what will you do about her immortality? I am afraid that no amount of destruction can counteract that curse of hers.** "

Hector smirked, his eyes flashing green as he allowed Ozma to show through his body for a moment, before allowing himself to take back control.

"If Salem was able to break Ozma's curse… then there is a way to break _her_ curse. But to do that, I need you." He groaned in pain as the spikes grew suddenly, stabbing straight through his hand in the process, but even then his fingers only wrapped around the handle even tighter, as if the prove his determination to the Relic of Destruction.

"I _will_ claim you!" Hector screamed as he tore the sword out of the ground, using strength he didn't know he was capable of without the use of Kaioken. As he did this, Deus narrowed his eyes around the slightly golden tint in Hector's right eye right before it completely faded back into the dark blue it was before. Deus wasn't that surprised to see the sword being ripped out of the pedestal, but he was impressed by the sheer determination that Hector showed in his eyes as he _glared_ back at him. Such bravery, such stupidity, and such rashness.

Such traits were what made him burst out laughing as he retracted the spikes on his own relic part, completely ignoring Hector's surprised gasp as he nearly dropped the sword because of how slippery his blood was on the handle of the sword. Deus continued laughing all the way until his feet touched down on the ground, standing a full four or more feet above Hector as he took a step towards him. Smiling an impish grin the whole time as he towered over the mortal.

" **Very well,** _ **master**_ **, I shall entertain your goals.** " Deus said as he slowly began to fde back into the sword relic itself. " **I do hope you use me as much as you can, because if you don't, then I shall find something to destroy myself.** "

Around Hector's waist formed a belt and a sheath, Hector watched as the being of destruction merged himself back into the sword, leaving a black and red flame burning on the surface of the blade. Just bursting with power that he was honestly jealous of. But with a boisterous laugh, Hector brought the sword up with his right arm, and slammed the sword into it's summoned sheath.

The dark purple flames died out with the sound his sword made, and with a flash of darkness. Hector found himself walking through the now open doors of the vault with his new weapon holstered at his side, a pained smile on his face as he stepped through and felt the doors shut behind him with a slam.

Before him was Ruby, Yang, Rhea, and even Natsuki and Neo as they looked at him with awe.

He didn't even realize it, but the sheath, holster, and belt did not come on it's own. He now wore a pauldron on one shoulder, as well as a bracer on his right arm. Light armour, but mystical and radiating with power nonetheless. The Relic of Destruction left him gifts before it retreated back into the sword.

" _ **Use my gifts wisely master, and they shall serve thee well.**_ " Deus said, speaking up for the first time within Hector's mind and it not hurting in the process.

"I shall." Hector said with a grin. He didn't feel much stronger really, even though he might have looked stronger. Now he was just more armoured up, and for once he even had a weapon. Ever since Ebony and Ivory back then, he has never used another weapon again besides Ozma's cane. The best thing about it however was that he didn't even need to train in order to know how to use a sword, he had _centuries_ of experience already adopted into his own muscle memory because of his merging with Ozma, and with a weapon such as the Relic of Destruction, he might just be able to dish out just as much damage as he could with his Kaioken back when he had it as an option.

Yang whistled a cat call, impressed by his new look. His self confidence and badassery however died when Ruby and Rhea dashed into him, hugging him from both sides and trapping him in the middle.

"I was so worried about you!"

"How could you do that to us!?"

"Are you okay?"

"Oooo whatcha got there?" Ruby went from being deathly worried to weapon geek mode as she noticed the sword sheathed at Hector's side, apparently not having noticed it beforehand when Hector first exited the vault itself.

He laughed and ran a hand through her hair with his left hand, and unsheathed the sword with his right dominant hand. The Relic of Destruction sung and flared with black and red flames as it was torn out of its sheath. The flames dispersed, and the shiny black metal shone in the darkness.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better than ever." Hector said as he whipped the sword down to his right, and slid it back into it's holster before Ruby could give it a few practice swings. He didn't want her to accidentally cave in the cavern they were in after all. After everything they have been through, death by Ruby test swinging the Relic of Destruction did not seem like a historical way to go.

And after just getting better enough to swing a sword in the first place, Hector became serious again as he thought about what was ahead. "Now that I have the Relic of Destruction, we need to get to Beacon or Atlas as soon as possible."

"Woah, did you forget that you only just woke this morning? It's still night time, if you haven't noticed." Yang pointed out.

"I've noticed, and I didn't mean right away-" Hector was cut off as Ruby pushed a finger against his lips, the gesture surprising him more than anything as she looked at him with a mixture of anger and happiness. A dangerous combination when it came to Ruby Rose.

"Nope. I am tired, stressed out, and you are going to rest." Ruby said in a saccharine tone.

"But-"

"Nope. You will do as I say."

" _ **Oho! I like this one, can she be my owner instead?**_ "

Hector cursed at Deus within his mind as he nodded his head at Ruby. Taking her demands for what it was and accepting them. They have done so much already, they got the relic now, everyone is recovering from the battle against Salem and her Grimm, and now all they had to do was get the Relic of Choice and Creation, and then assemble their army.

Now that he thought about it… He _was_ pretty tired.

That all sounded like a _tomorrow_ sort of thing.

* * *

 **And there we go, the returning chapter of this story has been finished. I was going to involve Qrow Mercury and the bundle of joy that is Hell, but I figured that could wait another chapter, this one is long enough as it is at a comfortable 6.7k words or so.**

 **I am sorry it took so long for this chapter to finish up and get posted, I had a lot of things to do, but from now on I should be able to keep up with my own crazy schedule again.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story. If you would like to keep up with the progress of every chapter I write of every story, then you can do that by following me on my twitter.**

 **T w itter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	69. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 69

**Hello my wonderful fans, I am glad to be back and writing this story and I am sure you are too. I better not be the only one who realizes that this is chapter 69 of this story, and you already know that I am going to be making some jokes in the chapter probably.**

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 **Bolticrontic: In time I shall reveal what is going on on her end, I did not forget about her. Promise.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Don't worry, I got a little emotional after writing that scene. I've grown a little attached to Adam in this story and it was hard to write in all honesty. But hey, at least he got the redemption he has desired for so long. I am glad you enjoy Deus as a character so far. Being the second relic Hector as claimed he was bound to have some tight expectations and tough shoes to fill once Knolly got captured.**

 **Zeldawolffang: We shall see my friend.**

 **Oblivious IJ: You know, because of all the DBZ fans who read this story, I might actually make a short extra of Hector going super saiyan just for pure fanservice. That has been going on since the very beginning, I feel like I owe it to you guys.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Chapter 69 is a go!**

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

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Chapter 69- Forward Progress

Mercury hummed a tune and beat-boxed quietly as he used his legs to warm up the room. Sadly, the heat from his legs began to melt the ice beneath him, and the temperature rising in the room lead to it drizzling lightly inside of the ice cave. Qrow endured it like a man who was used to such shenanigans. But every time a drop of water landed on his body, or he heard one of those ungodly attempts at music from Mercury the corner of his eye twitched _violently_.

It has been a full day and some hours ever since Mercury entered the room. At one point Winter even came in to say hello and see if they were okay. Then some hours later Summer came in and brought them food. Mercury ate it with a smile on his face, but when Qrow decided he wanted to be a little brat and brood instead of eat his own serving of food. Mercury scooted over next to him and ate it for him. It would have been a waste of precious sustenance otherwise.

"Mm yeah, there's so much ice, mm, yeah, you're not being very nice." Mercury rapped as he rattled his knuckles against his own metallic kneecaps.

"Kid, I swear to every God in existence. If you so much as _breathe_ one more word I am going to rip off your leg and beat you with it." Qrow snapped finally, the stress of going through this for thirty six hours finally getting to him as he slapped a hand on Mercury's and promptly yanked it away from his knees.

"Well, I need _something_ to do, since a little someone has been being difficult I needed a way to entertain myself until he got his thumb out of his ass." Mercury replied with that same cocky smirk he has been wearing ever since he entered the room for the first time.

"You know what? Fine, you wanna talk? Let's talk." Qrow growled when Mercury made a whooping sound and spun to face him while still sitting cross legged. The water splashed on the two of them, but it did little more than be a nuisance compared to the shit eating grin Mercury had on his face.

"Why'd you want to kill your Dad?" Qrow asked in an attempt to make this about Mercury rather than him.

"Why are you being a little bitch and refusing to talk to Summer after wanting her to come back ever since she supposedly died?" Mercury countered. He has told his story a hundred times, and than a hundred times more because of all the times Nora forgot and asked him again. He has already become content with himself after becoming a kin slayer, it wasn't like Marcus Black was a good person anyway. "No answer?"

"You wouldn't understand kid." Qrow said with a sigh, the shock of his boldness fading away when he remembered that this was Mercury he was talking to. The kid didn't know how to sugarcoat things, or even how to mince his words. That was just how he is.

"I wouldn't? Well, let's see here…" Mercury scratched his chin, and it was at this point Qrow realized he chose the wrong words as he watched Mercury actually _think_ on what he wanted to say next. "I loved my mother, laugh at me if you want, tease me about it if you want, I don't care. I loved Olivia Black. I would take up her own surname, but I never did find out what it was. Until I was nearly eighteen years old, she was the only support in my life." He began, this part was something he hasn't even told the others. Sure, it was implied, but most of the time he was too embarrassed to admit it. Not this time, however.

"When Marcus killed her, and I killed him in return supposedly. I didn't really have much else of a purpose in life. And then I met Cinder… and Emerald. Then suddenly I found a use for all of my assassin skills, and, I'm not going to lie it was fun at first. A year later though was when I started having second thoughts." Mercury paused, and then hesitated to continue.

"The Vytal Festival." Qrow said for him. "The attack on Beacon."

"The attack on Beacon," Mercury confirmed. "I remember once when I was playing at being a student that I thought; 'Do these kids really deserve what is about to happen to them?' Of course I kept this mostly to myself, didn't trust anyone to know about it. But when I saw what Cinder had in mind…" He sighed and shook his head. "That's when there was no more going back, the world knew my name, Ruby saw me after Yang 'broke' my leg," He made sure to add air quotes as he said that. "And I once again found myself with no purpose in life, unless you count assisting in the murder of all of humanity a purpose of course."

"So why'd you stay?" Qrow had to ask. "You could have left right after that, and used those skills Marcus taught you to stay hidden. Sure, they might have gone after you for a bit, but eventually they would have given up."

Mercury chuckled bitterly, as good a signal as any for Qrow to stop speaking so that Mercury could speak up again.

"There's this saying that Salem said some time to time whenever it came to any plans that involve manipulation. Some she would control by fear, others she would control by giving them something they want or forcing them into submission by fear. But the saying was this; 'The hearts of men are easily swayed'. You'd be surprised by how right she is when it comes to that saying."

"How does that relate to you? Far as I know, you didn't love anything until after you were cast aside and caught up with my nieces team." Qrow asked, but not in a scornful way. He knew that men in love would make fools of themselves when it came to the one they want, or even make stupid mistakes and go above and beyond the call of duty. When it came to himself, he has only been truly in love once. The only two people he can say he _ever_ loved was his sister Raven, and Summer Rose.

Mercury rolled his eyes at him and sighed. "Remember when you fought me and that girl back at Haven?"

Qrow leaned back as the realization settled in.

"Yeah, exactly. I would have left long ago, but through all that shit I told you all about before, she was there with me the whole time. She was obsessed with Cinder, starved of attention and affection until she took her off the streets. I tried to tell her it was just because of her semblance, but she didn't have any of it. She held Cinder above anything, and even in the face of total defeat, she was ready to die with her. I think when Cinder died and Emerald woke up from what she did to get us all out of Haven she was ready to die." Mercury ran a hand through his silver hair, this was the closest Qrow has ever seen the young man come to crying, even after he was forced to kill his father and found out he was being controlled by some Grimm parasite.

"You loved her…" Qrow realized. "That's why you stayed for so long even after the fall."

Mercury just nodded once, not even dignifying that with a verbal response.

If there was anyone who understood wanting someone they love to be brought back to life, it was Mercury. There was that blonde kid Jaune as well, but he wasn't here right now and Qrow wasn't nearly as close to him as he was to mostly everyone else. It went unsaid that Mercury would have wanted Emerald to leave with him, and that she probably didn't return his feelings. Something Qrow knows all too well. Then in the end, Emerald chose Cinder over him, just like she must have time and time again.

"So yeah, I think I do understand." Mercury said, cocky smirk returning. "So here you are, someone you loved suddenly was never dead in the first place, and you're sitting in here brooding and for some reason mad at her. I would say go talk to her and stop being a little bitch, but that's cliché and I am anything if not eccentric."

Qrow humphed and shook his head, an amused smile on his face.

"So what are you going to say?" Qrow asked.

"Honestly, I just want to stop sitting in this fucking puddle and go somewhere warm, my ass is quite _literally_ frozen."

Qrow broke out into a soft laughter, and then quickly got louder by the second. Mercury joined in, and the two of them laughed together for about half a minute. It figures that Mercury would have something like that to say, it wasn't like him to not speak his mind whenever he wanted to, even when he really shouldn't and at least _try_ to make it sound like he was actually interested in making people feel better about whatever situation they might have been in at the time.

"Sounds like a plan then." Qrow said as he stood up, and offered a hand to Mercury to help him up. The silver haired man smirked as he they locked hands tightly, and allowed himself to be pulled up. "Let's go warm up somewhere else."

"Going to go have a chat with our Winter Maiden?" Mercury asked, a victorious look on his face as he spoke.

Qrow sighed, but did nod his head in acceptance. He knew he was going to have to talk to Summer again one of these days. He couldn't avoid her forever, and sure as hell wouldn't be able to once Tai and the girls figured out that she was alive. As mad as he was at her, it was mostly his own fear of growing attached to her again that bothered him. There was an age limit for seasonal maidens. The powers always killed them once they turned fifty years of age. His own sister Raven proved that legend to be true, just another reason for him to despise Ozpin for it.

"Good," Mercury said as he intertwined his fingers on the back of his head. That was the last thing he said to the older man as he left the room before he could. Muttering something about talking to Winter to pass some more time instead of wasting it with an old unattractive man. Qrow would make him pay for that one of these days.

With a put upon sigh, Qrow made his way through the ice temple. Actually spending some time to look at the designs of the walls for once as he looked around the walls and ceiling. The language looked ancient, probably was and was also a dead one too. He didn't think much on it as he walked into the room he knew his old team leader would be. He was noticed as soon as he entered, but Summer said nothing as he looked around the area she lived in.

"You're still bad at tidying up the place." He quipped with a smile he hasn't wore ever since his time as a member of the full complete Team STRQ.

Summer chuckled, her hood was down and revealed her black-red hair. She looked like Ruby a whole lot, if it weren't for the eyepatch she would have looked like an older version of her daughter.

"Well," Summer gestured to the empty chair. "Some things never change."

* * *

"So, how did you become the Winter Maiden?" Qrow asked as he sipped water out of a cup made of ice. When it was empty, he just waited for it to melt naturally and drank out of it again. It was a nice invention, and would be even greater if it also didn't melt along the sides and puddle around his hand and on the table. Which was also made of ice. "Also, is everything made of ice in here?"

"Most of it is," Summer answered the second question first, and then sighed. So far the two teammates have been talking for about an hour already, just catching up on a lot of lost time. She was surprised to hear that her old friend and guardian angel didn't quite tell her everything during their time linked to each other. Instead, he seemed to only tell her about what was going on around this time rather than the path leading up to it. It wasn't that big of a deal now, since the past is the past and according to him he only had eighteen hours of perceived time to tell her what she had to know. That information saved her life a few times already. But the part where he didn't tell her that he was in a relationship with her daughter Ruby? That was something that was going to need some bringing up… and a little bit of intimidation, maybe. Depends on her mood really.

"I don't know if you still remember, but when I tried to explain myself to you the first time I tried to tell you about my guardian angel."

"You mean that thing you were trying to convince Raven and I about that one time?" Qrow remarked, shaking his head with a chuckle as he remembered that scene. "We thought you were going crazy to be completely honest."

"Yeah, well. I wasn't." Summer scowled, but it mostly came to look like a pout and just like her daughter would she looked more adorable than intimidating, despite her age. "Anyway, Rios was real, and he saved me against Salem. That was how I survived that suicide mission."

"Hmph, going to have to thank him for that later then." Qrow muttered. "And how did you become the Winter Maiden again?" He repeated, changing the topic back to the main path.

Summer sighed, and drank out of her own cup. Whatever was in there, it definitely wasn't water. It was a dark brown and steaming, how it wasn't melting through the ice was beyond his manner of understanding. "After Rios saved me, he did his best to take care of me and I was able to somehow make it back to the mainland near Atlas. He couldn't hold on any longer, and he returned to his timeline. Which is the present we live in now."

"As for how I got these powers…" Summer raised a hand up and let a cold blue flame flare up in the center of her palm. Qrow stared at it in awe for a second, it wasn't nearly as impressive as the massive snow storm she was able to create in her battle against Hell, but the fact that a flame could be a freezing contrast to what hot orange flames were was a remarkable thing to behold. "I almost died in the snow where Rios was forced to leave me, but someone came to my rescue." She smiled at the memory. "A little old lady who made the storm go away, and then brought me to her little hut quite literally in the middle of nowhere. I woke up with this eyepatch on, and I met who would be my mentor for the next ten years before she passed away. That woman… was the Winter Maiden, and her name was Maria Calavera. We knew her as the Grimm Reaper."

Qrow's eyes widened. "That Grimm Reaper? _The_ Grimm Reaper?" Summer nodded and giggled out of amusement. "I remember when she first went dark, we thought she retired but a few weeks later we just all assumed that she was probably dead. I based my weapon after hers…" Qrow touched his holstered weapon as he remembered hearing the stories about such a woman. While he was growing up he could remember Raven and he being told to never fight the woman with the skull mask on, for she has murdered multiple tribe members all on her own and was respected with a large degree of fear.

"Yes Qrow, _that_ Grimm Reaper. It turned out that she was hunted by Salem for her powers as the Winter Maiden. She barely survived the encounter against the overwhelming amount of Grimm, but made it through after causing the biggest snowstorm Atlas has ever seen." Summer explained, and then chuckled at a distant memory. "When I woke up and found out that I couldn't use the power of the silver eyes anymore after losing one of them, I just about gave up on myself. She brought me back from that dark spot. I remember she said, "You're too young to be brooding and I'm too old to be dealing with that shit." Hah… it's quite a thing, hearing an old lady curse." Summer wiped at the corner of her eye, a stray tear escaped and trickled down her cheek. "Right before she died, she told me that she was going to be entrusting me with her powers, after everything I told her, she knew that one day I was going to have to fight against her again to save the world. Against my protests, she thought about me while she died… I wanted to come back to you all, I really did-" She choked, another tear falling from her eye before the waterworks started to flow freely.

Qrow moved his hand to rest on top of hers, she appreciated the gesture and squeezed his hand back. Accepting his support. Qrow was never good with crying women, so that was all he could think about doing. "I get it… I don't know why you stayed in hiding for so long, but I get it either way."

"Even without hearing my reasoning?" Summer asked, wiping her face of tears and tear stains. "I'd tell you if you asked."

"Yeah, well. I'd rather you tell us all when we're together instead of me having to think about it now. I already have a bunch of other shit to think about, don't need that on my head too."

Summer humphed lightly. "Oh Qrow, you always were such a gentlemen." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's all I can think of doing most of the time." Qrow said, smiling softly before frowning as he thought about the only other member of their team, Taiyang. Summer most likely already knew that he thinks that she was dead. Not only that, but there is also the case of Raven being the Spring-...

The _previous_ Spring Maiden, he corrected himself. Also about Yang being the one who inherited her powers when she died from wounds inflicted upon her by someone that was cloned out of his own DNA. Qrow does not know if Hector ever told Summer about what ultimately happened to her daughters, but with what he knew of the kid and the fact that Ozpin lives within his body told him that he most likely did not spill the beans to Summer. He didn't know if anything will become paradoxical to this current present timeline if he _did_ tell Summer about her children and what ultimately happened to her team, if she were to find out and reunite early either before or after taking on the powers of the Winter Maiden. Would things have been the same with her on their side the whole time? Or would things get worse?

Time traveling was a weird thing to try and understand, and this was why he left the thinking and planning to the ones who had a better tolerance for it. He was already getting a a sigh he didn't think about it any further, since that would only lead to more headaches.

"So where are you and I at now?" Summer asked, leaning forward with her elbows resting on the table made of ice. "Are you and I good again, or are you still angry with me?"

Qrow hesitated to answer, even though he had plenty of time to think about how he felt about his old team leader from back in the day. During his days as a student and member of Team STRQ. He for some reason thought around it and kept deflecting their conversation to a different topic. Summer eventually caught on of course, and she finally asked the question straight up instead of trying to get an answer out of him without going for the most direct route. That was a thing she used to do all the time when she wanted to find something out from him. Dance around what she wanted to know, be it intentionally or unintentionally, and then pop the question and suddenly you were backed up against the wall with the most passive aggressive woman on the planet.

 _Heh… typical Short Stack._

"Yeah, that about settles it." Qrow said with a smile, which only widened as he saw Summer light up like a Christmas tree. "I can never stay mad at you for anything forever, not after you pranked Raven so many times I thought she was going to snap and kill you in your sleep."

They both shared a laugh after that, which quickly evolved into something much more enjoyable. For the rest of that night the two of them caught up even more, went into more detail about what has happened in their lives the past decade and a half. The S and the Q of Team STRQ of Beacon have finally been reunited, and even though it is not in the way that either of them would have hoped, it was good enough.

There were times where Qrow wanted to ask how old Summer was, just to see if he could gauge how long she has left. She must know about the limit, she seemed so desperate to get to know him again, as if she was on borrowed time as it is. But Summer was always younger than them all by a year and some months. He was fifty years old, so with that math he guessed that she was either very late into her forty eighth year of life, or part way through forty nine. He was never good at remembering birthdays except for when it came to Yang and Ruby, mostly because he would be murdered if he ever dared to forget. For now however, he was just happy to have his leader back. No matter how short or how touchy she might have been before. No matter what happened in the past. She was here now, and that was what mattered.

And so they talked for most of the night before going to sleep, not noticing the faint bright red light just barely visible from far within the storm.

* * *

Rhea made a gagging sound as she stood leaned out of a window, the students below quickly made to run in fear of the vomit that may or may not come out of her mouth. They were not going to take any chances with the pale shade of green the faunus had on her face. But eventually after some dry heaving, Rhea finally calmed down and brought her head back into the room. Still as scarred as she was five minutes ago.

"You okay now?" Yang asked, an amused smirk on her face that showed her barely concealed amusement.

"No… I don't think I ever will be after what I just saw _again_."

"Oh stop being dramatic, that's Adam's job." Yang quipped, earning a reluctant snicker from her fellow Maiden. "Oi, are you guys decent yet!?" She asked the occupants of the room off to the side as she banged on the door.

"We have been for a while…" Hector hesitantly said as he peeked his head out of the room, much more clothed than before thankfully. "Ruby is less than ready to show herself again… though she is a pretty shade of our aura colors at the moment."

" _SHUT UUUP!"_ Ruby indignantly exclaimed as she threw a solid pair of socks at him. How or why it was solid in the first place was beyond him, but he most likely deserved such a punishment.

" _ **Yeah! Go for the throat young one! You are proving yourself a true warrior more and more!**_ " Deus shouted within Hectors mind as his owner weaved and bobbed between all kinds of apparel.

Hector quickly slid out of the room as more things were thrown at him, Yang and Rhea noted that even through everything else they have been through, including fighting against a literal ocean of Grimm. Hector was still somehow afraid of his much shorter, smaller, and cuter girlfriend. The look on his face could only be described as an awkward mix of terror, confusion, and snarkiness.

"You know, when my sis said that we all needed to rest before we went back to Beacon, I didn't think she'd be _that_ brave about it." Yang quipped as she took on the most teasing shit eating grin that the world of Remnant has ever been blessed enough to see on a hot summer day in Vacuo. "I gotta say, I am proud of you Rubes!"

"SHADDAP!"

Hector coughed awkwardly, and made a point not to meet eyes with Rhea who has unfortunately had the timing to walk in on himself and Ruby in the act of love making. Of course they weren't doing it the _whole_ night, only just when they first got back from the vault… and then when they woke up in the middle of the night… and then in the morning. It went without saying that the two of them may have gotten a little cocky after getting away with it without getting caught twice in a row. However, their luck eventually ran out when Rhea heard _something_ coming from their shared room that sounded like… experimenting was the nicest and safest way he could put it. He was too embarrassed to even think about what had just happened between he and Ruby, and the red tint on his cheeks more than proved that.

" _ **I must say, I've never seen humans consummate their love in such a manner before… are you sure your face is supposed to go down there and-**_ " He tuned the rest of the relic out lest he become even more red, and then get pounced on my Yang and her teasing. One thing will lead to another and he would eventually die of a stress induced heart attack.

"A-anyway, is everyone ready to go?" Hector asked as he straightened up his shirt, the article of clothing was a little wrinkled and see through, but at least it was still in one piece. As was his pants thankfully.

"Yup, we were just waiting on you. I think my little niece here was wondering where her daddy was and went to go find you." She crooned, suddenly feeling like an aunt when she looked at Rhea now.

"Ew, please stop. If I have to think about that any longer I am actually gonna barf." Rhea gagged to show just how serious she was about that statement.

"Fair enough, where's Neo then?" Yang asked next, thankfully changing the subject.

Neo jumped down from the ceiling and bowed. For some reason she looked very proud of herself. Yang didn't know why, and she didn't even know if she even wanted to know. But the fact that she now had a hat on that she _definitely_ did not have before did not spell anything legal. She narrowed her eyes at the ice cream themed girl, but did not comment on it. Though that hat did look a little familiar…

"What did you do?" Hector asked, blush now gone and replaced with something much more pale as the corner of his eye twitched.

Neo made the nice gesture of 'Show don't tell' by twirling her hat on the point of her parasol. Hector shared the same thoughts as Yang did, but ultimately swallowed it down in favour of not wanting to deal with whatever the hell Neo actually did.

"Okay, new plan. Ruby are you ready yet!?"

"Mm." Ruby hummed negatively, and then a thump was heard from within the room.

"Okay, other new plan. Where's Natsuki?"

"I've been standing here the whole time," The Summer Maiden spoke up, and true to her word she was seeing standing in the doorway of the room with a scroll in her hand on the record button. Yang snickered, Rhea giggled, but Hector did not share either of their feelings.

"Delete that." He all but demanded.

"Make me." Natsuki challenged.

"I beat you once before, think I can't do it again?"

"Our early match was debatable… but no, you wouldn't even be a challenge after losing your powers."

"Ouch. But still, delete it. Please?" Hector asked, his eyes much more softer than before as he came the closest to begging that Yang has ever seen, which to his horror caused him to flush again when she bursted out laughing.

"Hm…" The Summer Maiden made a show of thinking about and considering his words. Then made a show of how much she thought about his opinion when she stuffed it back into her pocket. "I'll think about it since you technically did stand up against the Queen of the Grimm, even if it was just because you were forced too."

Hector sighed, but nodded his head in understanding. "Yeah, I guess that's the closest I am going to get with that."

"Yup, so are you guys all ready to go, or do I have to stand here and start recording again?"

"Nope! We're fine!" Ruby shouted as she came _sprinting_ out of the bedroom, fully clothed and geared up with Crescent Rose shifted back into its holstered form. "Got the relic?" She asked hector next quickly before anyone could tease her about her still red face.

Hector patted the sheath he had tied around his waist, the Relic of Destruction. He has never swung the sword yet, but with a name like that he plans to only use it when he absolutely has to. He wouldn't want to accidentally destroy a mountain by giving it a test swing, all against the wishes of Ruby Rose of course, who wanted to give it a few test swings herself just to get a 'feel' for how powerful it is. Which was why he was thankful that the sword only came out of the pitch black scabbard for him and not anyone else, it seemed like in this case with this relic the term 'owner' had a much more definitive meeting then compared to Knolly. Deus didn't let anyone else wield him, only Hector so far and would only change hands when the current owner died. Apparently, Deus never had an owner before, even though in some past lives Ozpin attempted to do so, only to lose those last few lives. He just never considered letting the one he was meant to control give it a go.

" _ **Stop rubbing me, you're making me feel uncomfortable.**_ " Deus said with a shudder.

"Eugh." Hector immediately snapped his hand back from the scabbard, shuddering as his mind went right down into the gutter from the way Deus just worded his demand. "Y-yeah, we're all good." He said once he sensed a few eyes transfixed on him.

"Great!" Ruby grabbed his hand. "Let's get to the Bullhead then."

The walk to the Bullhead was short and quick, the halls were still mostly empty because all the students were in their respective classes, and those who weren't promptly got told off by the future headmistress of Shade Academy. It seemed she had quite the reputation here when everyone listened fearfully of her punishments. Soon enough however, they made it to the Bullhead, the pilot from before let them know that the ship was fully fueled, stocked, and ready to make the trip back to Vale just as planned.

Rhea, Yang, and Neo all stepped into the ship right away, falling into the seats and enjoying the air conditioning that the Bullhead had on board. Even Ruby fell for it's charms as she ran up to join them. Which left only him and Natsuki down at the bottom of the ramp, neither of them made to move.

"You're not going to come with us?" Hector asked with a worried look on his face. "We do need you, you know."

"Don't get so dramatic with me, you'll make me lose all the respect I have for you." Natsuki hissed as she turned to face him. "I'm no going with you right now, yes, but I made a deal with you… and I've been thinking about that little speech you gave before. About that army…"

Hector swallowed nervously.

"You'll have Vacuo's support." Natsuki said, visibly making Hector sigh in relief. "The council will listen to their Summer Maiden and future headmistress, and the current headmaster happens to agree with me. So when the time comes…" The Summer Maiden extended a hand toward him. "We'll be there."

Hector took her hand happily, and they shook hands. Neither of them said goodby, because they both knew that they were going to be seeing each other again soon. As Natsuki turned her back and started walking away, Hector walked up the ramp and into the Bullhead. Looking back one more time at the great desert kingdom of Vacuo.

 _Fuck this place._ Was his immediate thought, but he couldn't help but smile as he looked at it anyway. A lot of bad things happened here, but a lot of good as well. He has the support of an entire kingdom already, even if it was just Vacuo so far. Soon, Vale should follow, and that Albedo guy from Mistral already implied that he would be there when they needed them, and since Weiss and Ironwood are currently running Atlas at the moment, support from them was a foregone conclusion.

" _ **Yeah, I don't like this place either. Let's leave before I destroy this damn building I've been kept in for millenia.**_ "

"Okay then." Hector stepped into the Bullhead, and didn't turn back even when there was the sound of-

"Hey!" The voice of Sun Wukong yelled out, Hector turned around curiously and saw the entirety of Team SSSN, with Ilia stalking up behind them with an amused look on her face as she followed the team jog up to the Bullhead. "You're not forgetting about us are you?" He asked as he ran up the Bullhead and fist bumped him.

"Nope, I knew you were going to catch up." Hector lied. "Glad you all came though, we're headed to Beacon."

"Aw yeah! I'll finally be able to help clear that place out of Grimm!" Sun exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air as he walked into the Bullhead and basked in the cool air being pumped out of the AC.

"I had to wake him up, he almost forgot that you guys were leaving today." Neptune pointed out as he followed his leader. Earning a chuckle out of Hector as Scarlet and Sage also followed through.

Ilia then came up, but neither of them said anything to each other. They both knew what was on their mind. The chameleon faunus patted his shoulder as she walked by, choosing to sit mostly on her own in one of the corners of the Bullhead, only for Sun to literally get out of his seat to sit next to her with the excuse being that he didn't want her to be alone after what they had all been through together, to which Ilia rolled her eyes and remarked about something like having to take care of them all drunk.

Those were his friends, Hector chuckled. He sat in between Rhea and Ruby with a long relaxed sigh. His body was still sore after what happened, and his chest still hurt. But things didn't seem so bleak at the moment.

"So, I got good news for you all." The pilot said as he started the engine of the Bullhead after closing up the ramp. Neo teleported into his co pilot seat, but after dealing with her on the ride there he didn't seem all bothered by her presence anymore.

"Beacon has been reclaimed!" The pilot exclaimed before anyone could ask what he was going to reveal to them. There were cheers and whoops, surprised expressions and cheerful laughter.

 _Adam did it then…_ Hector thought with a smile, he knew that Adam could be trusted now. He could sense that he wanted to become a better person. He made a note to go congratulate and officially welcome him into their group of friends. After saving Beacon, he had a feeling even Blake would forgive him for his past misgivings now.

With Beacon now reclaimed, there was now just the case of the relics. All he needed now was Choice and Creation. The former might as well be given to him already since Beacon has been reclaimed, and the latter was just a Winter Maiden away.

Yeah… things weren't looking so bleak at all anymore.

* * *

 **Just to let you all know, Hector and friends do not know that Adam fell, nor what it took exactly to save Beacon in the first place. Right now they just think that the road ahead is going to be a breeze up until the final battle with Salem. Of course they're wrong, but who am I to judge?**

 **I don't have much else to say, so I'll leave it all at that. Please review and let me know what you think of the story! If you would like to keep up with me on the progress of every chapter of every story than you can follow me on my tw itter!**

 **T witter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	70. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 70

**Hello all, we're back with chapter 70! That's a number I thought we weren't originally going to get up to, but here we are. If I had to make an rough estimate, I'd say this story has about ten to twenty chapters left, maybe more, maybe less. It all depends on how quickly I get through this second to last arc here. And yes, I mean that the arc we are on right now, the relic collecting arc,** _ **is**_ **the second to last one. Some things from Volume 6 will be implemented, and some will not be implemented. We'll see how everything goes.**

* * *

 **raheem05: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: I am glad you enjoyed the previous chapter. I decided to make some lore for Mercury and his familial past to humanize him a little more. After the battle of Haven arc and with the way I wrote him is when I decided he was going to be redeemed and become a good guy, but he wouldn't do that if Emerald was still working with Cinder and them, why? Because he loved her, now that she is dead and Salem was the one who did it, he has a goal in life. Oh and honestly I nearly forgot my whole maiden rule as well, I remembered when there was a review that brought it back up to me. For Deus, I kinda already drew some inspiration from Drax, sorry lol. You'll see what I mean. Hector and Ilia's little moment was mostly because they didn't have anything they could thing to say to each other, not having seen each other since Haven. As for right now, Hector is the only one who can use Deus as a weapon, think of it like Thor and his hammer, he is the only one deemed worthy so far, so he is the only one who can use it. I would recommend my next story for you being The Blind Huntsman. This story** _ **should**_ **be ending in the summer, so that is going to be your opening.**

 **Oblivious IJ: 69 ( ͡°( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°) ͡°)... and yeah, Rhea walking in on Hector naked is basically a running joke at this point. It just happens sometimes. Also congratulations on being my 400th review.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Don't worry, everything will come together soon enough.**

* * *

 **And that is that.**

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

* * *

Chapter 70- Return to Beacon! Again…

The ride back to Beacon felt much shorter than the ride to Shade. It might have been, but when Vale came into vision from through the clouds when they were so up in the air, all questions were forgotten or ignored. They were back in the kingdom of Vale, and Hector thought to himself that his plan was now at least halfway completed. Progress was going to be made fast now as well, all there was left in Vale to do was retrieve the Relic of Choice using Ozpin's memories, and have Rhea open up the vault door so that he could claim it. It made him think even more about it… the relic of Destruction, Deus, was the most dangerous relic on it's own, but the relic of Choice took that title once all the relics were gathered together. He didn't know if he was truly capable of controlling all the relics at once, since controlling Deus on his own was already a task that required more patience than he thought he would ever be capable of. Luckily once you mentioned destroying something Deus stopped talking about finding a new host or asking if Ruby could be his new owner because of her ability to control Hector with her firm words.

" _ **You're talking mad shit for someone in destroying distance.**_ " Deus muttered within his mind, the sword vibrating literally with offense.

Right… Hector may have momentarily forgotten that there are others that can read his mind. Counting Rhea when she managed to enter his mind during the battle of Atlas, that would make four other beings capable of hearing his thoughts. For some reason, he didn't ever really think about that, it was a wonder he was able to keep track of which voice in his head is really his.

He squeezed Ruby's hand as she walked up next to him and grabbed his. He didn't even realize that he was cold now until she snapped him out of his train of thought. That explained why she looked up at him with concern.

"You're shivering." She pointed out, holding his hand with both of hers as Vale slowly began to get bigger and bigger.

"Yeah… I noticed." Hector said as he did his best to suppress his shivers. He didn't think about the fact that when he was able to use Kaioken, his body was always warmer than usual. Sometimes to the point where some fires weren't able to harm him. For example, when Rhea wasn't able to control her powers. He didn't notice the change right away since he was in Vacuo, and Vacuo was the hottest place he has ever been in so far. But now that he was back in Vale, he could feel the much cooler atmosphere flow around his body. He hasn't felt cold in… he couldn't remember the last time he felt this cold before, probably in Atlas during the battle would make the most sense. But if it was this bad now? He really hoped that Deus came with a heater.

" _ **I refuse to be degraded to a mere 'heater', master.**_ " Deus growled at him in response when he asked him. " _ **If you are cold, but on some more clothes. You could go with a bit of a makeover anyway.**_ " Now that was just uncalled for, but advice he was willing to try out once they landed.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Hector replied to Ruby after a few seconds of sensing the cold shivers that ran through his spine and jaw. "I haven't felt cold in a while, so I kinda forgot what it felt like."

"Want me to warm you up?" Rhea asked from behind him, holding a ball of flame in her hand and to his horror already prepared to throw it at him.

"No no! I'm not _that_ cold!" Hector waved his hands to emphasize his point. Rhea narrowed her eyes slightly at him, and he figured that she probably was going to want some revenge for seeing... what she saw the other day. He really hoped some miracle happened and he got his Kaioken back because for some reason he felt like he was going to get more than a few fireballs thrown at him and for Rhea to claim that she slipped or something. She was a really sweet girl, but get on her bad side and some of your things may catch on fire by `accident`. "Just getting used to feeling this way again."

"Hm," Rhea let it go, going back to playing some game with the still one armed Yang. She was going to have to get a new arm soon, but she seems content with the way she was for now. She was the Spring Maiden after all, so it wasn't like she was in any immediate danger so Hector had nothing to worry about.

When he turned around he noticed just how packed it really was, Ilia was sitting in the corner and chatting with Sun (After several tries to spark a conversation with her, Ilia eventually gave up and started talking to him), Sage and Scarlet were passed out asleep in the corner, and Neptune was _attempting_ to understand Neo as they communicated with each other, the pilot beside them looked like he wanted to do nothing else but slam his door shut so he could have some peace and quiet. It looked like he realized that the joke about him sending Neo after him was actually a joke, so he didn't look like he was about to skydive out of the Bullhead anymore. Yang and Rhea were playing checkers now that he paid attention to them more, and then lastly but most certainly not least Ruby was standing by his side, holding his hand and smiling brightly at him.

It almost made him forget that they were all going to go to war soon.

"Ruby… do you think I can still do this?" Hector asked, shaking again but this time not from the cold. "I am not as strong as I was before, all I have right now is this powerful sword and some skills I inherited from Ozma. That's all well and good, I know. But is it going to be enough?"

"Have you thought that maybe power isn't what you need?" Ruby asked after a few seconds of thinking.

"Huh?" Hector said, looking down at her with wider eyes than usual.

"Think about it, when we fought Salem your attacks did next to nothing, neither did Yang's. I don't mean to sound arrogant or anything, but my eyes were the only way she was able to get hurt, if at all."

Hector did think about it, and yes it did not make sense to him. He was able to bruise Salem slightly, and make her have to push back a little harder. But once she decided to put some more effort into it she nearly killed Yang while making him watch. She even grabbed Ruby's face _while_ she was using her silver eyed powers, and rubbed sand into them so she wouldn't be able to open them again.

"Don't think about it so much," Ruby said, as if reading his mind and hearing all of his confused thoughts. She then hugged his arm, and pressed herself up closer to him. "We'll all come out fine, I know we will."

Hector leaned in to her touch, he was a lot different than he was when he first appeared on Remnant out of mysterious means, but his feelings for Ruby never changed. "Yeah…" He said with a sigh as he yawned tiredly, making Ruby giggle as his chin dug into her scalp slightly. "Once we pick up Adam and the others, get the other relics, find Summer, and rally up the whole damn world. We'll bulldoze over Salem and whatever allies she has left." He chuckled at the way he made all that sound oh so easy. If only it were that easy.

Ruby held on a little tighter, sensing his nervousness. "And after that?" She asked.

Hector shifted to look down at her, after that? He hadn't really thought about it, what came after that? What _could_ be after that? Peace? What would happen to him when Remnant was saved? Would he go back to Earth finally? What would happen if they all lost their lives? He had no idea what came after that, all he knew was that _if_ they _did_ win, he was going to hang up his sword, rest, and stay with-

"Oh… _Ohh._ " Hector said as he thought about what could happen with all that peace going on. "I- uh… what do you think would happen?" He asked, doing his best to ignore the way Yang called out to him and asked if he was feeling a little hot teasingly.

To his comfort, Ruby also seemed bashful to talk about a their potential future. He called himself foolish for thinking that he would be the only one of them to feel that way, this was _Ruby_ of all people. She was literally the personification of what a blush was when someone managed to tease her in the right way.

"W-well… I'd like to think that we… well… you know." Ruby trailed off, looking away as her face challenged her cloak to a `who could turn the most red` contest. Surprisingly her face was quickly closing the gap in the scores.

"Yeah… I know." Hector said, thinking the same thing.

The two of them stayed silent after that, not an awkward silence. But the kind of silence that said that they both knew what was implied, and neither were willing to deny what would happen. The future was going to have to be saved, they can worry about that once the threat of Salem was gone.

* * *

"They're almost here." Jaune said as he hung up his scroll. They were in range of scrolls now, so Hector and the rest of their friends were close. By now they must have been able to see the newly cleaned up Beacon. There was still plenty of rubble and signs of a battle, but it was spotless compared to the way it looked before. The first thing everyone did when Adam killed the dragon was repair the CCT tower so that Vale could have better communications with the rest of the world.

They got news from Weiss that Atlas was already preparing their forces, and that finally a peace treaty has been made to prevent any conflict between Vale and Atlas ever since the hostility since the Fall of Beacon. That was good news to tell everyone when they landed…

"Did you tell them?" Ren asked, accepting himself to be the only one willing to bring up the topic of Adam's death.

Jaune shook his head. "No… I-I couldn't tell them over the scroll like that," He said, sighing. "They deserve to be told face to face."

Ren hummed in understanding. Blake and Nora hung their heads as they thought about what happened just earlier that week. The battle would have been lost if it weren't for Adam, and ever since he has been discovered the populace has been split on what they should think about it. Half were grateful and forgiving of his past crimes, and half spat on his memory and called him a monster. Just last week Blake nearly got into a fight with one of the human Huntsman for speaking ill of the dead, it nearly lead to weapons being drawn until Miss Goodwitch broke them up.

"Come on, let's go meet them at the air pads." Nicholas drew them up, distracting them from their solemness. It came with practice that he was able to distract young women and his son from a bad memory or moment. "I'm sure you're going to want to see your friends when they land, I sure as hell know that they're going to be excited to see you."

They followed Jaune's father without question. Despite their sadness, they were all still excited to see everyone again. It felt like it has been so long since they last saw each other. So when the Bullhead did land, and not only did Hector and the others come out but also Team SSSN? They got more than a little excited.

Nora, of course, was the first one to break away from them, scooping up Hector and Rhea in one big hug and joking about being both of their aunts. It made little sense, but that was just how Nora was, she went from person to person and hugged everyone before the others caught up with her. It was group hugs and talks of how much they missed each other all around, and Nicholas watched it with a minor amount of confusion on his face. He wasn't able to keep track of what was happening at all, so instead he simply just stood there and waited for the excitement run its course. Though he couldn't help but notice the one with the pink and brown hair break off from the group and literally jump off the cliff, breaking into pieces before she could fall more than a foot toward the lake below. He looked away and hummed like it was a normal thing to see. After raising eight children surprises never really worked on him.

"Wow, you all look a little darker." Jaune pointed out as he stepped away from Hector. Earning a giggle out of all of them. "What happened over there? Did you get it?"

Hector smiled as he placed a hand on Deus' hilt, and tore the Relic of Destruction out of its scabbard. The dark black and red steel shimmered in the sunlight, and for extra dramatics, the blade flared up with a dark red aura before it was slammed back into its sheath. "Yup," He said coyly as he patted the blade, ignoring the way Deus yelled at him to stop and that he wasn't some pet you could pat and make it feel better. "This is the Relic of Destruction."

"And the Summer Maiden?" Blake asked. "Did she not come with you?"

"I…" Hector hesitated, flashes of memories about the battle with Salem ran through his mind, and his face paled as he pressed a hand against his painfully beating heart. He was so excited to see his friends again that he nearly forgot about what happened. "I think that's a better talk to have in private." He eventually said.

The excitement they all felt simmered down quicker than they would have liked, and the reality of the situation dawned on them as the reminder of Salem ran through all of their minds.

"Hey… where's Adam?" Ruby asked, standing on the tips of her toes and looking for the familiar set of bull horns and red hair. "Is he hiding and being edgy again?" She asked, chuckling lightly but choking on air as she spotted the utter despair on the faces of Team JBLN.

"Y-yeah." Jaune closed his eyes and shook his head. "I think that's a talk we should have in private…"

* * *

Hector pressed a hand against his face and he felt the familiar burning behind his eyes once again. Ruby was already crying, both hands gripping his clothes as her tears soaked into his shirt. Yang felt conflicted, but the sadness was there as well, it was clear she was forcing herself not to cry. Sun felt much the same, except there was no tears for him to shed, he never knew Adam for what he ended up becoming, he only knew him as the fanatic obsessed with Blake. The same with everyone else on his team. However, Ilia took it almost the worst. She spent almost the entire time since saving Haven looking for Adam herself so that she could kill him or bring him in, most likely the former. To hear that he not only never left Mistral, but turned himself around and ultimately was the one to actually save Vale? She feels like everything she has done since Haven was all for nothing, and she was right to think that way. She didn't do anything worthwhile except finding the Summer Maiden by accident and running into Team SSSN as well. She sat near the wall with her head in her knees, not knowing how to feel about any of this.

The news of Adam's death was a hard pill to swallow. Not only was he a valuable silver eyed warrior, but he was also a friend. Hector deemed him as such before he left. To hear that he not only lead the battle against the Grimm to reclaim the CCT tower, but that he was the one who almost single handedly defeated and slayed the Grimm dragon was both shocking and difficult to process. To find out that he not only completed his task with flying colors, but fell to his death in the process as well was especially hard for Hector to take.

"I sent him to do that…" Hector said as he shook his head in his hand and a great sense of guilt piled onto his shoulders. "I sent him here with you guys just to kill that dragon… and now he's gone. This is my fault."

"It's not." Blake denied, making Hector peek out from behind his hand to look at her. "He wanted to redeem himself from what he did before. He did only what he already wanted to do. It's not your fault." She said again as she gripped his hand, closing the distance in a second and looking into his eyes as if daring him to keep blaming himself about it anymore than he was already doing now.

"I… okay, does anyone know about who he was?" Hector asked next, sitting up straighter.

They gave him a grim nod.

"Shit… and?"

"Some took it well… some didn't." Ren answered for them.

Hector sighed and rubbed Ruby's shoulder as she began to calm down. Leave it to Ruby to be able to forgive the man who cut off Yang's right arm, and then consider him a friend enough to cry for him when he left this world. She was just like that, too kind hearted for her own good. He only wished that she wouldn't have to go through it again. Not after everything that happened. Hector swore to himself that he would lose no more of his friends if he could do anything about it.

"Blake, what about that woman?" Hector asked. "Claire, I think. Does she know?"

Blake sighed and shook her head. "I already tried to contact that village from the repaired CCT tower once we got it working again. But the village is on the outskirts of Mistral, and when we there I don't think we saw any sort of communication devices. We'd have to go there ourselves."

"Shit." Hector hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he thought about the human woman that managed to win Adam's heart. _Adam_ of all people. This Claire woman might have been the person to plant the seed in Adam's heart to redeem himself. She had to know, but with no way to tell her besides physically visiting the place and without Jinn to find the village in the first place the task seemed almost impossible unless Blake or Neo remembered the path there. Neo might know better, but as he looked to her leaning against the wall just a few feet away from him she shrugged her shoulders. It seemed like when they found her there she was only there for a few days or so. "Shit…" He repeated himself as he realized that they only had a scarce amount of time before Salem makes her next move. There was no way she was just going to sit back and let them collect the relics. She may have Knolly, the relic of Knowledge, but he was going to have three relics to his name, four maidens behind him, and an army made up every capable warrior on Remnant. She was going to make a move again eventually, he just didn't know what or when.

"What happened in Vacuo?" Nicholas asked, and Hector felt grateful to the man for changing the topic suddenly. They all needed it. Crying about Adam wasn't going to bring him back anytime soon.

"I… A lot happened." Hector said with a sigh, his heart started to hurt just thinking about what happened. His eyes flicked to Yang's stump of a right arm, her bionic one being destroyed in the blast Salem sent her way. There was no way they did not notice that, and they must have kept quiet about it out of respect. "A lot of good, but a lot of bad as well…"

Ruby rubbed her tears off of her face and hung her head as Hector retold the story about everything that has happened in Vacuo ever since their arrival there. Yang's left hand rubbed what was left of her right arm as he recounted Salem's sudden attack. Rhea felt bad when he mentioned that during their fight the Summer Maiden was injured, and that he made his stepdaughter take the Summer Maiden away as to protect her.

But nothing prepared them for when he told them about what Salem did to him. Plunging her hand into his chest and literally ripping out all of his power, root and stem. When he told them that he lost his power, he could see the despair in their eyes. Eyes which barely lit up when he mentioned again that he was the new owner of the Relic of Destruction. Deus preened as he told them that he was the most dangerous relic they had so far, and then cursed at him when he said that he also had a bit of an attitude.

As he went on about the guaranteed support that they were going to get from Vacuo however, things started to change for the better. They had the support of one of the kingdoms already, and after the actions they all took in Haven a while back and Vale recently, they were most likely going to get their support as well. Also with Weiss in Atlas and after saving that city as well, it seemed like the support of all four kingdoms was a foregone conclusion at this point. Especially with Hector so well known throughout all four kingdoms now.

"So what now then?" Jaune asked, leaning forward on one of his knees with his elbow. "You have the Relic of Destruction but lost the Relic of Knowledge and your powers. We have three maidens on our side so far, what is next?"

"Now that we're here, and we have Rhea." He nodded to his stepdaughter, who nodded back at him, determined and willing to do what she had to do. "I am going to use Ozma's-"

"Ozma?" Nora cut in.

"Oh, yeah. Long story short, Ozpin is a good guy again and his real name is actually Ozma." Hector explained simply and in as many few words as possible. Everyone who didn't already know leaned back in surprise, but were forced to listen as Hector continued. "He is going to tell me where he kept the vault hidden, and we'll find the Relic of Choice that way."

"Okay…" Jaune said after processing all of that for a good fifteen seconds. "So where is the vault?"

" _Yeah Oz, where is the vault?"_ Hector repeated the question in his mind where he _knew_ Ozma heard him.

' _The answer to that question may surprise you…'_

" _ **Oh, this'll be good.**_ " Deus laughed as he sat back and ate his metaphorical popcorn.

* * *

"You can't be serious." Hector said as himself and all of his allies stood around the half destroyed fountain in Beacon's courtyard. "All this time, and it was _here_ of all places?"

' _I couldn't exactly make it easy to find the vault, not could I?'_ Ozma asked, amusement clearly evident in his voice.

"No, but it's not going to change just how miffed I am about this." Hector said with a sigh.

"This whole time…" Ruby began her crisis.

"Right under our noses…" Yang continued, having the same crisis.

"But I sat on this brick all the time!" Nora exclaimed, hands on her head as she stared at the fountain. "Like, _all_ the time!"

"How do we get in, exactly?" Ren asked the most important question out of all the ones that were muttered and whispered during this entire debacle.

Hector sighed again, looked at the fountain, and then sighed again for good measure. He really felt too old for this, and he was just twenty years old… he really need a vacation that didn't include hunting relics or fighting Grimm. "Just take control, Ozma. You can deal with this shit."

Hector's hair changed to White, his eyes flashed green and changed color back to brown, and his skin began paler. Even his demeanor changed as he stood up straighter and grabbed the cane that he had strapped behind his back, holding it before him and with authority as he beckoned for everyone's attention.

"Hello-"

"Since when can you change your hair color!?" Nora asked loudly, cutting him off instantly.

Ozma sighed, already being able to tell that this was going to take a while to explain. "As I was saying, it has been quite some time that I have been able to see you all. The first thing I'd like to say, is that I'm sorry." He bowed his head respectfully to his grown students. "I swear to you all that I shall never take up arms against you all again. You have my word."

"If Ruby forgives you, or hell since _Hector_ forgives you even after you tried taking over his body permanently. Then I don't think we have anything to forgive you for." Jaune said with a small smile. Ren, Nora and Blake nodded their heads as well when Ozma turned to look at them. The relief settled in quickly.

Ozma sighed out of relief. "Thank you. I knew there was a reason I let you into my school even with your obviously fake transcripts."

Nicholas Arc sudden half-drew his sword. "Excuse me, what?"

"Moving on," Ozma said as Jaune did his best to calm down his father. "Usually I wouldn't do this with many people around, but we are low on time and I doubt we are going to have an easy time convincing everyone to leave us alone. So as you might have figured out already, the vault to the Relic of Choice is underneath this fountain. The way we move the fountain without causing anymore destruction is as such." He looked down to the tiled ground, some were cracked and broken, with others being missing altogether. He pressed his foot down on one of the tiles that was a very slightly different shade of color then its surroundings. Everyone heard a click as half of his leg went into the ground, and they were about to help him before he raised a hand to stop them. "I am alright, this is simply part of the process." He said.

"There are more pressure plates like this one," Ozma continued as he stood up, and watched as the tile clicked back into place and looked like it was never even touched at all. "There is a sequence to them, and so-"

" _Ozpin!_ " The voice of the woman who suddenly called out his most recent name made everyone wince and widen their eyes in fear. When he noticed that all of their eyes were no longer on him and instead on the woman he could feel _glaring_ into his back, he slowly turned around. Seeing a green eyed, blonde haired woman staring back into his eyes.

"Ah… Glynda, it's uh… I'm so happy for you to join us." Ozma said as he took a cautious step backwards. He fought to give control back to Hector, but got completely stone walled.

" _Nuh uh, nope, that's all you man. Relic can wait an extra few minutes."_ Hector said, backing up as far as he possibly could from whatever allowed him to take control of his body again.

' _Mister Rivers, I have never begged for anything in my life. But today is about to be the first…'_

" _ **Pussies you are, both of you.**_ "

"Would you mind explaining to me just _what_ you are doing?" The green eyed woman asked as she took a few stompy steps toward the previous headmaster of Beacon Academy. "Not to mention your not telling anyone besides _Qrow_ of all people where you would meet them at just in case of an untimely death. Was it you that I have heard about all around the world from time to time?"

" _Yes…"_ Hector answered for her knowing very well that she was not going to be able to hear him.

" _ **Quiet, I need to listen to more of this. I love me a woman who speaks truth without any coat of sugar. Are you sure I can't have this woman as my new master? Or is it mistress?**_ " Hector did his best to ignore all of those sentences.

"Or was it the one you have claimed the body of? Just what did you hope to accomplish with the body of a young man with a team of children?" Glynda said with a huff, taking deep breaths as she recovered from her outburst. Ruby, Rhea, and Yang who were the closest ones to Ozma all backed away slowly. Pushing back the others who happened to be standing near them back as well. Not that they were resisting at all. No one wanted to be near Glynda Goodwitch when she was angry, which she very much was at the moment. Trusting in Ozma to handle it on his own without getting killed, they backed up and put the fountain in between Ozma and themselves.

"I may have… made some mistakes." Ozma said slowly, being careful with each word as Glynda glared daggers at him. It seemed like the cat was out of the bag, since nearly every single student or Huntsman or anyone that was near was staring at them right now, and at the man who looked strikingly similar to Ozpin the headmaster of Beacon Academy at the time of the fall.

"Some?" Glynda challenged.

"Many," Ozma corrected. "But, we have made more progress together than I was able to alone for a millenia. It was a risk, I admit but it more than paid off."

"Oh, I am not mad about the results," Glynda pointed out, a scary angry smile on her face as she stepped closer. "The means were stupid and risky, but yielded results and I can't be upset about what _didn't_ happen. But when you died here years ago, reincarnated, and went on to save the world without even informing your inner circle that you were alive again… _that_ is what I am upset about."

Ozma winced with nearly every word. He has been inexcusably cruel to his old allies. Last he heard, Glynda took up the mantle of Headmistress, and the professors went on extensive missions to raise money for the reconstruction of Beacon Academy.

"All I can say, is that I am sorry." Ozma said. "I wish I had a reason to give you, but I am afraid that I simply do not have one. I would love nothing more than to explain to you what I have been doing — what _we_ have been doing." He gestured to the young men and women standing around him. "But time is of the essence,"

"As I figured." Glynda sighed as she stepped past him, looking at the fountain and doing her best to remember the puzzle Ozma put in place. "And I would like nothing more than to corner you and demand an explanation, but you would be correct. Hector Rivers I mean." She added as she looked at the relic of Destruction still sheathed at his side. Ozma looked down at it and was careful to not touch it's hilt even by accident. He and Deus weren't exactly on good terms as of yet.

"Ah, thank you Glynda." Did he _have_ to sound so surprised? It wasn't like she was going to make a scene right now, even if she wanted to yell at the headmaster and call him a heartless and cruel idiot who got lucky these past years, she wasn't immature enough to do that when not only her old students were around, but right in front of the hidden vault to the relic of Choice. She was a grown mature woman, not a child.

"This isn't over," She warned before looking back toward the destroyed fountain.

"I didn't expect it to be." Ozma said as he cleared his throat and turned back to the fountain. The rest of his old students slowly and apprehensively made their way back to form the circle they once had when they first arrived around the fountain. No one dared to speak a word while Glynda Goodwitch was there with a clear chip on her shoulder. But were willing to get near her again once she was calmed down.

"To simplify it in the quickest way possible, there are four pressure plates in the shape of a square around the fountain. I found one and know where the others are, Miss Goodwitch, if you will." Ozma said as he tapped the pressure plate his leg was pressed through earlier. Glynda did as he requested without question, and prepared to put pressure on it in a moments notice.

Ozma went around placing and assigning people to each pressure plate. He put Ruby on the one perpendicular to Glynda to her left. Jaune to her right, and then Blake down on the last one. He kept Rhea, the Fall Maiden to his side as he called out who should press down on their plates first. The first one he called out the name of was Jaune, next was Ruby, then Glynda, and then finally Blake. Once the final plate was pressed into the ground. The fountain began to move.

Like the vault door to a safe of a bank, the fountain was opened by some mechanism like a heavy door. Underneath the fountain appeared to be another spectral lock, similar to the one they had all encountered in the vault of the Relic of Destruction, but this one was much more physical than the other.

Before anyone could ask what was next, Ozma stepped up to the lock and pressed the end of his cane into the keyhole.

"Ha! I knew that cane was special somehow!" Ruby exclaimed as Ozma twisted his cane like it was a large key and the lock snapped open.

"You see why I held onto this for so many years now." Ozma said as he took a step back. "While special to me, it was also the key to the Vault of the Relic of Choice. It was part of the reason I never returned to Vale until now." He directed that statement to Glynda mostly, but kept his eyes locked on the students. "Now, that is all you are all going to need me for, for now at least."

Ozma closed his eyes and exhaled. His skin tone turned darker, and his hair shifted back to the color black. When his eyes opened again they were blue, and Hector gave them all a smile as he returned.

"That's so cool." Nora whispered loudly.

"Right, what Ozma failed to mention was that only two specific kinds of people that can enter this vault at a time. The Fall Maiden and then of course there's himself. But since he's pretty much a part of me at this point, I will be able to go in there." Hector explained as he shifted the cane back into its smaller form and returned it to his back.

"Oh, of course he would leave that out." Yang muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Whatever, we'll wait out here for you two." She added quickly, and with no objections Hector assumed that everyone was okay with it.

"Be careful." Ruby all but begged, stepping up to him quickly and grabbing him by his hand and squeezing tightly for a moment.

"I will," Hector said as he squeezed her hand back, then turned to the Fall Maiden. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready." Rhea said with a determined look on her face. "I've been waiting to do this for a long time."

"Then let's go into this dark staircase that leads to God knows where." He joked as he grabbed Rhea's hand like she was a small child and started leading her down into the vault. She even played the part and whined, saying that she wasn't _that_ young and didn't need to be babied, not that it would have stopped him anyway.

"What's down there?" Ruby asked her old combat professor.

"I don't know." Glynda answered honestly with a shake of her head. "I've never been down there before, the Relic of Destruction was the first relic I've ever seen, and Ozpin was very careful not to share anything else but the knowledge of their existence."

"Damn it…" Ruby said as she crossed her arms, surprising her teacher with her choice of words. That was pretty much a curse, considering who it was coming from.

"I really hope everything goes well down there." She added as she looked down into the vault, seeing nothing but the dim orange light coming off Rhea's flame. It must be even darker in there, since they were only down about ten of the steps and were already beginning to disappear from her sight.

Right as the previously locked floor door slammed shut behind them and locked itself once more.

* * *

 **Currently finished this right before I was going to go see Detective Pikachu at the movies today with my sister. So that is all good and well now. I did** _ **think**_ **about making this chapter much longer and have the claiming of the Relic of Choice right about where I ended the chapter. But then that would have probably overshadowed the whole first half of this chapter or so, I didn't want to take away any value of what I wrote down before to disappear. Not to mention that Deus was only just claimed about... two chapters ago? So yeah, here we are. Next one however, is going to get pretty meta, and powers are going to be more... explored. Just you wait and see.**

 **I am actually interested to see some of your guy's theories on what this story is going to have included now that we are in like a super fanfictiony Volume 10. The final volume in all honesty. Just a little fun request I have for you guys in your reviews. Take your best guess, and create a fan-theory for this story.**

 **And hey, if you happen to be right. I might even confirm it for you in a PM.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the chapter. If you would like to keep up with me on the progress of every chapter of every story that I write, you may follow me on my twitter!**

 **T witter . com (slash) genatools**

 **And thank you again to my very first Patron!**

 **JamesFames**

 **P atreon . com (slash) Genatools**


	71. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 71

**Welcome back everyone again to another chapter of this story! As some of you already know, this story is in its final arc. I won't say how many chapters we have left, but be sure to be ready for the climatic finale chapter, that one is going to be** _ **massive**_ **.**

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 **Tigervolcano5000: I gotta pull those emotional strings when I can. Adam really turned himself around, it just sucks that he died right when he retrieved that self redemption. Meta is what I do best, I think. I honestly do not know what I consider to be my best trait as a writer. You have some interesting theories, some are partially correct, others are not even close. Don't worry, you know how cryptic I can be, the shockers are what I am known for. If you ever think of more, feel free to share it.**

 **Oblivious IJ: Well, at least you tried Oh High Priest of the GT (Genatools) cult. Do not fret, you are not the only one who had trouble.**

 **Justus80: That one I must say is a strong possibility.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Thanks. The movie was pretty good, and yeah puzzle doors are always a classic.**

 **FifiCici: Mmm, gotta say man. That ain't it chief.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

 **Now let us get back to the show!**

* * *

Chapter 71- Choice

"Damn it… of course this would happen." Hector said as he beat on the trap door from below, the thing didn't even make a sound as he slapped the back of his fist into it, it simply rang out with a dull thud that didn't even echo within the spectral staircase. Rhea stood behind him offering light as he tried to find some way to open the door back up, even using Ozma's cane to try and unlock the door from below, but couldn't find the proper key hole to stick the end of the cane through. After a few minutes with no lack of trying to get it open again, he gave up and sighed.

"Maybe this is one of the trials?" Rhea suggested with a shrug as he turned back around.

"Maybe. Dues, what can we expect here?" He asked the sword.

" _ **You'll never believe it…**_ " The relic of Destruction started, trailing off as he spoke in an awed tone.

"What is it!?"

" _ **I just checked, and nowhere on my sword does it fucking say Jinn**_." Deus said, and bursted out into laughter as Hector groaned and walked down the first few steps further into the darkness.

"What did he say?" Rhea asked as she followed him.

"He doesn't know," Hector lied. "Ozma, what about you? You created this place right?"

" _I'm afraid that I can be of little help, I did create this vault, but I only helped create it. The relic of Creation made it clear that Choice wanted her own additions to her vault. I am almost as blind as you are."_

"Well shit," Hector shook his head and pressed. "We're on our own from here Rhea, be careful."

"Should you really be telling a Maiden to be careful?" Rhea countered playfully. "I should be saying that to you, I reckon even I can beat you as you are now."

"Yeah, well, you can shut up." Hector shot back. But couldn't hide the amused smirk on his face as he descended further into the vault with Rhea acting as a sort of lantern with her flames. He considered the possibility of using Deus against her, but that may be a little overkill considering the fact that with a good swing of the sword one can destroy a mountain. He thought his Kaioken was overpowered before, but the relics are just on a whole other level.

The spiral staircase felt like it was going down to the center of the planet. Hector just kept pushing forward, finding a rhythm in the way he took steps down the stairs. Each click of his boots the temperature began to get warmer and warmer. Not because of Rhea turning up the heat too much, but because they were going so far underground. He was reminded of the hidden door somewhere in the middle of a similar staircase back in Vacuo when he was going to get the Relic of Destruction, and so kept a hand dragging against the wall just in case there was a lip where the door stuck out at. For what felt like an hour, there was nothing yet. Not even a light, no wind, and the air was getting thicker and harder to breathe in.

"You really went all out with this place." Hector commented as he kept going.

" _Considering what I was up against for many, many centuries. I thought that this would be a good way to hide the Relic of Choice from Salem. I know for a fact however, that the vault itself is not that far away."_ Ozpin explained.

Hector didn't need to respond, not verbally anyway. He felt like he was using Kaioken again with how hot it was. Rhea seemed to have noticed, and he flinched when a handful of ice was suddenly pressed into his back. It did the job of cooling him down, and rather quickly at that. But also woke him up so much that he kicked a foot out into the wall. Not being as strong as he was before, he cursed and winced when his toe felt like it cracked against the wall. Rhea giggled, and Hector swore to get back at her for that.

She was oddly very calm, he noticed. Almost too calm when he thought about how close they were to the vault. Whereas Natsuki was a bit cocky when opening the Destruction vault, and Yang was a little nervous when she opened the Knowledge vault not too long ago, Rhea was almost completely calm. She even seemed to be giddy about getting to the vault doors. It was good and bad, bad because he didn't know if this was a good reaction for when the Fall Maiden reached her assigned vault, and good because Rhea was usually a nervous person.

He didn't need to think too much on it luckily, because soon her light became obsolete when the spectral staircase finally started getting some color into it. Then the temperature started to get much more comfortable instead of the blistering heat that went up the rest of the stairwell. Hector sighed mostly out of awe as the stairs itself began to glow as well, and an orange color at that. Rhea's eyes began to flame completely on its own, one eye was orange, and the other was a snow white. He didn't know what that meant, but it was nothing to worry about since he has seen it happen before when she made the choice to not be like her predecessor and use her powers for healing others instead of injuring them.

He made the choice to keep going down. The stairs began to get smaller and shorter. Until eventually it became a hill rather than steps, the ceiling started to get higher, and soon enough to entire cavern opened up into a massive underground facility. Hector looked at the vault, and he found himself finding this to be the most decorated he has ever seen so far. Similar to the vault of Knowledge, the vault of Choice had quite the massive tree seemingly connected to the vault doors themselves.

But what really blew his mind was just how beautiful this vault really was. The sky, or what at least looked like the sky, was a perfect light blue color with even a few clouds within them. It clashed with all the logic he has known all his life as he remembered that they were underground, and not on the surface. He didn't even realize it until he felt a crunching underneath his feet that there was actually dirt and red grass that he was walking on.

Rhea flew off, finding this place beautiful and rightfully so. Hector spun around to look all around him. The entire vault looked like a forest. With so many trees that he couldn't even count them, all of them just like the massive one in the center with crimson red leaves. He laughed giddily as he kneeled down to one knee and scooped up some of the leaves that he was stepping on. It felt just like a normal plant, bu somehow even soother and a little more moist than usual. Not only that, but it was bright in here, as if there was a sun. Not that there was an actual star in the underground sky here, but he saw no shadows. He didn't even cast one himself, he noticed.

"Dad!" Rhea called out as she landed beside him and grabbed his hand with her own, wearing the most excited look he has ever seen on her face. "This place is so pretty! Can we come back down here one day?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Hector said as he patted her head.

The Vault of Choice was truly beautiful, unlike anything he has ever seen. He had an amusing thought that Ruby might have a problem with him thinking that. But compared to the surface breathing down here was much easier. It could only be better if there was animals here as well, but it made it no less pretty to feel the wind blow against his face. Again, he felt like the more logical side of himself saw this all to be impossible. There was no way that any of this could be possible without some sort of magical intervention. He chose not to look into it any further however, there were here for a reason. So when his eyes locked on to the vault doors, and the gravel path that lead to it. He took the first steps to the next relic.

" _ **Master, snap out of it.**_ " Deus said suddenly, stopping Hector in his tracks as he heard actual _worry_ in the relics voice.

"Why? What's wrong?" Hector asked as he looked around the vault again. "There's no threat here, we haven't been attacked. All we have to do is let Rhea open the vault, and I'll become the owner of three out of the four relics."

" _ **That's the problem,**_ " Deus snapped. " _ **You're choosing to see how easy this is, you're choosing to think that this is all so easy and nothing can go wrong. You're choosing to see this vault in the rose tinted goggles that my sister is choosing to let you wear.**_ "

Choosing, choosing, choosing. Those three words echoed throughout Hector's mind. His happy expression faltered for a second, but it resumed when he chose to keep looking around the vault. It was so pretty, almost impossibly so…

"Daddy, what's the matter?" Rhea asked him oh so innocently. Wait… did she just call him _Daddy?_ "The vault is right there, just let me open it and we can get you the relic.

"I… okay." Hector said, his heart warming and the sound of her voice.

" _ **Now you are choosing to see your daughter as a little girl, when in reality she is also trying to get you to snap out of this illusion**_."

"What do you mean?" Hector said as he stepped forward again with a goofy smile on his face. "It's just like she said, the vault is right there. I don't see any illusion in this."

" _ **Ugh, now you're choosing not to listen to logic,**_ " Deus sounded slightly more frantic than he would have intentionally let on. " _ **Listen to me master, listen to the sound of my voice.**_ "

"I'm listening." Hector said as he took more steps forward, seeing Rhea skip happily ahead of him and started to play with the piles of red leaves. He felt something tugging at his pants, but he ignored it in favor of getting closer to the vault doors. Besides, his friends were waiting for him to get there as well, he could see Ruby beckoning him over, Yang with her new robotic arm. The rest of his friends had happy expressions on their faces, and even Adam was there. He survived his fall, and he was waving for him to come over as well, a fond smile on his face.

"I'm almost there guys!" Hector said as he felt emotion well up inside him. He broke into a jog, though it felt slower, and more restrained. Something was holding him back, he just didn't know what it could be. "Why am I so slow?" He muttered as he looked down to his feet. He tried moving his legs, but it felt incredibly hard. "Just a second!" He called out to his friends. "I'm almost there! I just gotta figure out how to move my legs again."

" _ **Master… swing your sword.**_ " Deus said, his voice drowning out the sounds of his friends.

Hector stopped for a moment, panic filling his mind. "Why should I do that? I don't want to hurt my friends."

" _ **You're friends aren't down here! If you keep moving forward, you will walk into your death.**_ " Deus snapped, and the tugging on his back became even harder as Hector's mind was torn between logic and the blissful feeling of naivėty. " _ **Think about it Master, you had to fight the Spring Maiden to claim Jinn, I nearly killed you when you went to claim me. Throughout your life on Remnant, when has anything ever been this easy? Also, didn't you say that only yourself and the Fall Maiden could enter this vault?**_ "

"I-I did?" Hector asked. His head started to feel weird. He did say that earlier, right? Now that he thought about it, how did his friends get here before he and Rhea did?

" _ **Because that is what you choose to hope for**_ **.** " Deus answered for him, reading his every thought.

Slowly, and tentatively. He started reaching for the hilt of the Relic of Destruction. His hand was shaking, and the vision of his friends looked terrified as he started to slowly slide the sword out for one of the first times ever since he claimed it. He started thinking, all this life down here, the trees, the grass, the sky and clouds and even the wind itself. How could all this exist underground? There was no sunlight, and with no one to tend to the forest all these plants should have been much larger and longer.

And besides… this _was_ too easy. He remembered clearly that nothing was quite as easy as this before. Hell, Tyrian, Cinder, Hazel, Watts, Salem. The names of his enemies kept being listed out within his mind.

His eyes looked directly into Adam's silver, he was calling for him to sheathe his weapon now. He looked scared, and frightened. Adam Taurus _never_ looked scared or frightened before, he never looked terrified, and he wouldn't just sit back as a threat was endangering the ones he cared for.

But most of all… Adam was dead. He couldn't possibly be here, he just _chose_ to believe that he was still alive. He felt guilty for being the one to send him to Beacon to slay the dragon, which lead to his death. More guilty than he ever cared to admit. He just wanted to have the chance to thank him personally.

Then there was Ruby, Yang, Blake, Neo, Team SSSN, and the old members of JNPR. Even Weiss was there, but how could she be? She was still in Atlas, working at getting them all on his side for when the assault on Salem was commenced.

"This… isn't real." Hector said as he gripped Deus' sword hilt with both hands.

" _ **Correct. You just want it to be real, you choose to believe that this impossibility might be real.**_ " Deus… was right.

"Then…" Hector rose the Relic of Destruction, using the training from Ozma's muscle memory to get into a form. Rhea appeared in front of him, screaming for him to stop this madness. The visions of his friends were also waving their hands no, but as for Adam… his vision faded back into a much more clam expression. His mouth moved, but no words were said. But somehow Hector still understood them. Adam nodded to him, and he slowly became transparent, and slowly disappeared.

"Then... I _choose_ to not fall for this trap!"

Hector swung the Relic of Destruction for the first time. The sword glowed a deep red color and a _massive_ shockwave that but even buildings to shame in terms of size came out. The slice of red and black cut through the air, the trees, the ground… his friends and loved ones. The destruction was on a massive scale. All around him the area shook so violently that he fell over onto his back. The sky turned black and rocks fell from the ceiling of the cave that he was suddenly reminded that he was in. He shut his eyes tight, the last thing he remembered seeing was the destruction of everything he chose to believe was real. Now he could hear Rhea's voice, she sounded frantic, and afraid.

"Dad? Dad!? Are you okay!?" Rhea asked in such a way that he has never heard before. He opened his eyes a blinked a couple of times. His legs felt weightless and he felt like he could see sounds. But he reeled back in shock and sudden fear when he realized that his legs were actually dangling over the edge of a cliff. The bottom was nowhere the be seen, and he nearly just walked right over the edge straight into it.

"W-what happened?" He asked Rhea as she helped him up, he was a little dizzy. But he was able to see what was happening around him again.

The beautiful landscape that he chose to imagine before was now gone, and instead was replaced by a dark creep cavern with a set of spectral orange doors in the middle of the darkness. Gone was the red trees and grass, gone was the wind, sky and clouds. Gone was the possibility of him walking straight to his death.

"I don't know!" Rhea cried as she hugged him, her face buried in his side. She must have been really worried. "I was really worried! You didn't listen to me, and you just kept walking to the edge talking about things that didn't make sense! I thought you were going to kill yourself, and as much as I tried to stop you I couldn't." She sobbed into his chest as he moved to face her. "I thought I was going to lose you."

Hector hugged her back and held her tightly, he muttered that he wasn't going to be leaving her anytime soon, and apologized for worrying her so. Once they both recovered from what happened, they both looked around what was _actually_ the vault of the Relic of Choice. It was a dark cave with intricate designs of ancient humans long ago. There were early carved pictures of Grimm, and how the humans fought them without the power of aura. This must have been the humans after the Gods eradicated them all after Ozma's and Salem first ever battle.

He pushed such thoughts aside as he looked back to Rhea, who still seems to be shaken after what she perceived as her step-fathers attempted suicide. "How weren't you effected?" He asked as they slowly started making their way toward the vault door, being careful of the darkness so that they do not end up walking off a cliff like he very nearly did.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rhea said, and he could sense no lie in her words. "You just started walking around with this goofy look on your face, and then you started walking toward the cliff. I don't think I can be affected by whatever got you to think our friends were on the other side."

Hector nodded his head in understanding, it made sense. She was the Fall Maiden, and might not have been capable of being affected by whatever the relic was doing to him.

"Thank you, Deus." He said next, patting the sword on the scabbard. The Relic of Destruction saved his life, ironic for a being like Deus whose main function is to destroy anything. But that didn't change the fact that he was the one who ended up snapping him out of whatever illusion Choice was making him see.

" _ **I am sworn to keep you alive. My force of destruction can destroy anything, even illusions**_ **.** " Deus said with a huff. " _ **Do make sure it does not happen again**_ **.** "

"It's like I said before," Hector smirked. "I choose to not fall for it again, at least that's what I hope as I walk toward the actual set of vault doors."

" _ **Then unless you want me to destroy the doors themselves and doom all of humanity, go right ahead and swing me once more.**_ " He hoped that Deus was just messing around, but he couldn't be sure about anything of the Relic of Destruction just yet. " _ **It has been so long since I got warmed up**_."

Destroying an illusion and whatever energy of the Relic of Choice that kept him in some kind of trance was a warm up for him!? If so, he was going to be even more careful when it came to who could touch him. As he looked around, there was a bright purple and red arc slashed into the wall of the cavern. It was so wide that it nearly wrapped around the entire cavern. It lit his path ever so slightly, but it was mostly a testament to how powerful Deus really was. He reckoned that if Deus really wanted too, he could have destroyed him back in that vault easily. Rendering him into dust particles with a single wave of his hand. Luckily, he impressed him enough with his own past of destroying his enemies it seemed. He just hoped that he is making the right decision in keeping on with his plan of collecting the relics.

Rhea broke off from him and let her eyes flame on again, only this time her flames were bright orange unlike before when one of them were white. That must have been the first sign that things were going south. If only he thought more about it then. She illuminated the rest of the path with her powers, and it became much easier to see the drawings and carvings in the path before them.

Stories, it seemed like. Ancient stories and legends. Such as the God brothers, the maidens, a lonely witch in the woods. A man with two souls, and ancient depictions of great battles against the Grimm. It was strange to know what all these legends were true. Especially the one with a young man with an army at his back, a sword in his right hand, a staff in the other, a crown on his head and a lantern strapped to his hip. They were all up against an endless tide of Grimm, with a white skinned woman with snow white hair and red eyes leading them. He had a feeling that wasn't just a legend, but a prophecy. One that had yet to come to fruition.

Thankfully the rest of the path to the vault was not littered with any traps or illusions. He didn't know if the cavern could handle another slash of Deus' blade. He kept walking up to it until he was just a few short feet away, with Rhea at his side already preparing to press her hand against the orange set of doors.

Just in case this was another illusion, Hector took out the sword and gently pressed the flaming tip against the doors. It bit into it slightly, but it seemed like this wasn't a trick. With a nod and a deep breath, he slid the sword back into its scabbard.

"Go ahead." Hector said with a nervous swallow.

Rhea nodded her head and took a deep breath. She stood up straighter and reached her hand up, pressing it against the doors gently. After a few moments, the door reacted to the touch of the Fall Maiden. It cracked open and some sort of steam flowed out of the vault. Rhea and Hector jumped back, remembering the way that the vault doors opened when they getting the Relic of Destruction. They didn't want to get blown back, and so entered strong stances to prevent being launched backward by any sudden force like Natsuki was before back in Vacuo.

Hector let out a relieved sigh when he wasn't blown backward by a strong force, and instead relished in the cool comfortable feeling of the mist that exited the vault. Squinting his eyes, he could see a pedestal with a small red pillow sitting on top of it. On top of that pillow was a golden crown with multicolored jewels in them. It almost looked like every color known to man was in those jewels, and even some colors Hector has never seen before. He couldn't even describe the other colors that he saw, it was just so different, so vibrant and probably divine in nature.

He looked to Rhea, and she looked to him. With a shared nod, they both relaxed, and slowly made their way toward the vault before a voice stopped them and put them on guard.

" **You have made the** _ **choice**_ **in coming to my vault. The** _ **choice**_ **to come and claim me, but the question is…** " Another divine being, orange in color with eyes to match her skin color. Like both of her other siblings, she had black instead of white, similar to a Grimms, but very different. They looked human. She was about Jinn's size, with a crown on her head amidst a heap of golden blonde hair. She wore no clothing, but any sign of reproductive organs were vague in appearance at best. However, she did also wear a necklace, and two bracelets. Each plated in gold and jeweled with the same multicolored jewels that Hector couldn't hope to describe.

" **Will** _ **I**_ **make the** _ **choice**_ **of selecting you to be my master?** "

Without him answering in time, Deus left the compounds of the sword itself. He was much larger and much more intimidating than the being of Choice. But he saw her as an equal, and smirked at her when he noticed her surprise. " _ **Hello Amphelia, surprised to see me?**_ "

" **Deus…** " The Relic of Choice whose name apparently is Amphelia looked to be gritting her teeth as she crossed her arms and looked her brother in the eyes. " **I should have expected you to claim this human as your owner, considering the string of choices he has made, and the destruction he has caused.** "

Deus in turn, shrugged his shoulders as a response. " _ **He impressed me, Jinn saw him fit enough to become her owner, and he is strong not only physically, but as a will of steel**_ **.** _ **I deemed him worthy of my services, now will you make the choice of joining me?**_ "

" **Perhaps if the human makes the choice to ask me himself, I might just choose to answer that question.** " The Relic of Choice looked to Hector, and hovered around the pedestal and closer to him. She had that divine beauty to her, just like Knolly does. The kind of beauty that seemed impossible to ever touch. But she also had an edge to it, she didn't seem as friendly as the other relics. Perhaps he would have to be even more careful with her than he was with Deus. _She_ was the one who had the potential to become the most dangerous out of all four relics after all, Deus was just the most destructive on his own. " **And please, do calm the maiden down before I choose to do it myself.** "

Hector shook his head and looked back to Rhea, who had a determined look in her flaming eyes. Her hands balled with flames, and she looked like she was about to attack. At least until Hector jumped in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Rhea, calm down, we need her to work with us." He told her.

"She nearly made you kill yourself!" Rhea argued.

" **Correction: I merely chose to see what he so desperately desired. It is hardly my fault he chose to take steps toward his own doom.** " Rhea gritted her teeth, and looked the angriest Hector has ever seen her. He forced her to stop looking the relic in the eyes, and pulled her into a hug that burned his skin. He didn't have the same heat resistance he did before, but the last thing he needs is for Rhea to try and fight the relic of Choice. He didn't know what the outcome would be, but he didn't like Rhea's odds.

"Please Rhea, let me handle this. I'm come to find myself pretty good when it comes to talking to relics." He practically begged as he continued to hug her.

Rhea started to calm down, her heat dying down along with her temper as she leaned into his touch and began to hug him back. "Okay…" She nodded against his chest. "If you think you can do this, I trust you. Like I always have."

"That's all I ask." Hector said as he pulled back, winked at her, and then turned back around. Being sure to place himself between Rhea and Amphelia. The relic noticed, and smirked out of amusement as he stepped into the vault, hands balled into fists at his sides as a clear sign of how tense he was. He knew how powerful the Relic of Choice was, but pushed on anyway.

"My name is Hector Rivers," He began when he stopped right before the Relic of Choice. "I am the most recent carrier of Ozma's reincarnation, I won't bore you with the details since you most likely already know about him. But I am the one in control, and I need you to become mine if we want any hope of defeating Salem."

" **You've chosen a foolish goal, the Gods of Light and Darkness cursed her with immortality.** " Amphelia pointed out, looking down at him condescendingly with her orange eyes.

"Probably," Hector agreed, to her mild surprise. "But it is _my choice_ to make. It is either she falls in this generation, or she wins and she wipes out all of humanity. There isn't any middle ground."

" **And so you've made the choice to gather the relics in hope that will somehow be able to defeat her.** " Hector nodded his head at her. " **Do you know if it will?** "

"I… never asked Kno- Jinn, that question. I was afraid of her response." Hector admitted with tense shoulders. "But I know that we won't find out until we try. Jinn has been captured by Salem, your sister. I have Deus on my side, and after I claim you I aim to go after Creation. But none of what I have planned will be possible without _you_ , I can't go into this battle with only three out of the four relics to support me."

" _ **He may not look like much, but his goals are righteous. Besides, what else are you going to do with your boring life?**_ " Deus asked with an amused grin. Amphelia did her best to ignore him, but the grimace on her face was caught too quickly before she was able to snuff it out.

Amphelia gestured toward the crown on the red pillow. " **Then make your choice, Hector Rivers, and we will see if you truly are worthy.** " She said with a grin that did not fill him with any kind of hope.

With a deep breath, he stepped forward deeper into the vault. Passed Deus and Amphelia, and up to the pedestal which held the Relic of Choice. He was so close, and yet he felt so far at the same time. He made his choice a long time ago however, he was going to see this war to the end no matter what.

He raised his hands to grab the crown, and behind him he could feel the gazes of the two relics and the Fall Maiden. His hands shook slightly as he reached toward it, memories flashing with the spikes that injured his hands once he grabbed the relic of Destruction by the hilt.

With a deep breath, he lunged toward the crown and grabbed it. Immediately feeling power overwhelm his mind.

He screamed and lurched over himself, and nearly fell to his knees as the crown became glued to his hands. He couldn't drop the crown even when he wanted to, and staggered about as an orange mist flowed around his arms all the way up to his shoulders and neck.

Rhea cried out and tried to intervene, but Deus stopped her by catching her by the wrist. He then pulled her to his side and lifted her up into a one armed bear hug. Given his size and power ability, she was no match for his raw strength and was forced to watch as Hector struggled to stay standing and screaming in pain as a foreign magic invaded his body.

" **When the God of Light created the relics with his brother, he made the choice to pay extra attention to myself and my other brother, Creation. We were given a… defense mechanism, if you will.** " Amphelia said as she kneeled down into a sitting position and watched with a smirk on her face as Hector groaned and shouted in pain. " **Since you're going to be like this for quite a while, let me go on about the importance of choice. Throughout all of history, choice has always been the catalyst for all creation, and destruction. Ever since the birth of the God brothers of Light and Darkness, they chose to create a planet together, and chose to constantly bicker with each other as their creations suffered for it. Eventually, the God of Light chose to end the feud himself, and forced his brother to choose between a millennia of exile, or to align himself to his elder brother. As you must know by now, the God of Darkness chose to swallow his pride and worked with his brother. Together, they chose to create your entire species. Humans. Oh how they** _ **thrived**_ **under the guidance of the Gods, the kingdoms of light and darkness. Of Archaea and Drachaea. Humans were powerful creatures, but why all had one major flaw.** "

Amphelia cupped Hector's chin and forced him to look up at her. " **They were** _ **greedy**_ **, and it only took one human seeking the usurp the power of the God of Darkness herself to ruin everything for her whole race. A lonely witch in the woods with no family, inheritance, or allies. Ended up one of the most dangerous creatures known to mankind.** "

"S-Salem." Hector just managed to grit out, already knowing the story.

Amphelia looked surprised. " **Ah, you know the story. Perhaps you are not as stupid as most, though you** _ **are**_ **cursed with the most recent reincarnation of Ozma, so that balances things out considerably.** "

"Why- Agh!" Hector cried out as he went limp, being held up by the Relic of Choice. He caught his footing, was forced to lest he choke himself out on her hand. He continued to grip the crown of choice however, his fingers clenched tighter around it then anything else he has ever gotten his hands on. His fingers started to crack and pop, and the orange energy tightened around his neck and started creeping up his face. He felt like he was choking.

" **Why should I** _ **choose**_ **to give fealty to a feeble human like you!?** " Amphelia asked as she gripped his face harder, her large fingernails digging into his rapidly draining aura. Rhea screamed out and tried to attack her, but Deus chopped her on the back of the neck, knocking her out instantly.

Hector hurt in a way that he never felt before. It was like he was being electrocuted, except that this suffocated him with power. He felt his insides were being redesigned and moved around, and the vein visible underneath his skin began to glow a faint orange. His eye color seemed to being to get corrupted by orange, and the bionic one in his left eye socket crackled and threatened to burst within his face. His groans were reduced to whimpers, and the power resonating from the crown crackled even harder.

"I-it's because…" Hector growled. The relic of Choice leaned him to hear him better. "B-because I want, peace."

" **Peace you say?** " Choice rose an eyebrow. " **A vague goal, one many of you humans hope to gain but peace never lasts long. I'll need a better answer for you to choose.** "

Hector glared back with his blue eyes, slowly getting corrupted with orange. His teeth were so hard he felt them begin to crack and move out of place. His veins were glowing orange and it looked like his head was about to pop any second. Even then, he made his decision way before any of this. "I want to _kill_ Salem."

Miraculously, he started getting back on his feet. His eyes full of a certain kind of hatred that made the Relic of Choice raise an eyebrow. She raised the other one as the orange crackling energy started turning blue, and a radiant aura of what almost looked like frost glowed about the upper body where her power was and was not. He slowly was able to stand on his own two feet again, and his grip on the crown didn't lighten in the slightest.

"I made my decision long ago… I don't know how I got here, I still don't, but if you care about choice so much, why don't you look back at the decisions I have made my whole life?" Hector challenged, his blue glow growing brighter as he felt a foreign power well up from within him. He couldn't see it, but Deus smiled as he watched on in silence. "My whole world was turned upside down and I chose to make the best of it almost without questioning it at all. I am gifted with power I _still_ to this day have no idea where it came from. I made friends, loved ones, and I pressed on to a path that I never thought I would have ever found myself on. I have people relying on me… probably the whole _goddamn_ world at this point. I'll be damned before I at least give the world a fighting chance against these near impossible odds." He ended his rant with a scream, and a burst of blue power burst from his body as the relic's power was dispelled from his body. He had a new aura, this one small, calm, and blue in color. Yet it felt cool, and warm at the same time. With a deep breath, he let one of his hands let go of the crown. The relic of Choice still awestruck before him.

"I don't want to claim you and take you away from your vault for some pursuit of power over others." He continued. "I need you to help my allies and I save the world, now it is _you_ I leave the choice to. Join me, or don't and doom us all."

" **How did you…?** " Amphelia trailed off, orange eyes wide as the trap she had set and planned for millenia was dispelled just like that. No regular human could have hoped to survive that, much less push through it.

" _I'm with her, how did I do that?"_ Hector asked Ozma as he looked down to his own aura. " _I thought I lost all my dark magic."_

' _You did,'_ Ozma confirmed. " _You have no more dark magic left, but Salem did nothing to the light magic you still have within you."_

Hector's eyes went wide as he remembered a past conversation he had with Ozma, he had both light and dark within him. He couldn't believe that he forgot about that. With everything going on, it must have slipped through his memories. It made sense in a way, throughout his entire time on Remnant he has only used dark magic for pretty much every single situation he has been in. He knew that Ozma had a decent bit of light magic himself, and that was probably where he got it from in the first place now that he thought about it. To think that he has never used light magic before, and yet it still just saved him now? He felt like he owed the power some training at least. Despite it not being nearly as powerful as his old Kaioken ability.

Now was not the time to think about that, however. He had a relic to convince to join him. The one called Amphelia looked conflicted, it was obvious she didn't really expect him to survive that, and she seemed caught at a crossroads.

" _ **I told you he was worthy.**_ " Deus remarked as he set Rhea down, who has just began to stir again.

" **Silence, brother.** " Amphelia snapped, and looked away. " **I am aware of the choice I must make.** "

" _ **It really isn't much of a choice… do you really want to be cooped up in here for the rest of eternity? Or do you want to go wreak some havoc on that witch queen?**_ " Deus asked next, throughout the sentence he started off sounding sane before quickly going back to how he usually spoke. Which was maniacal in the most polite sense.

" **Tch,** " Amphelia crossed her shoulders, and bent one knee down to get closer to Hector's level. " **I suppose you have proven yourself worthy after that speech of yours… very well, I shall make the choice to claim you as my owner, just as my sister and brother had.** " With a flash of her orange eyes, any assault the crown made on him was dispelled. Filling Hector with relief as his shoulders sagged almost instantly.

"Thank you… Amphelia." He said, voice thick with restrained emotion.

" **Hmph, one of us has to keep an eye on Deus anyway.** " She pointedly turned to glare at her large red brother. " **He was always one for temperment issues.** "

" _ **Suck a cock Amphy**_ **.** " Deus hissed as he retreated back into the sword.

" **So immature…** " Amphelia rolled her eyes as she started fading away, her essence returning to the strange jeweled crown as she looked back to Hector. " **As the ritual goes, I am now yours to command, Master.** "

Hector felt stronger already as the power of two relics flowed through him. A red flame around the Sword of Destruction, and an orange aura around the Crown of Choice. It nearly overwhelmed him to the point of passing out, he couldn't imagine what it would have been like if he still had Knolly with him, he might have actually passed out because of the sudden power boost. Against his hopes however, he did not feel any trace of dark magic within him. And the light type he had used without thinking about it also retreated back into his body. He couldn't care less about that though, he now was the owner of three out of four of the relics. All he needed was the Relic of Creation… and then Salem.

His journey felt so close to completion, and yet so far from the finish line. Hector turned back to Rhea who just sat up and started rubbing her head. He jogged toward her and helped her up. Once standing she gave him a curious and worried look.

"What happened?" She asked, still a little dizzy after Deus' neck chop.

Hector couldn't help but smirk as he held the crown above his head, and let it settle around his head. It was almost a perfect fit, though the only bad side was that him wearing a crown didn't look very good. "I got it." He said as he placed a hand on Rhea's shoulder, eyes glassy and a goofy smile on his face. "The Relic of Choice, Amphilia, has been claimed."

Rhea quickly shared in his happiness with a tight hug. He spun her around a few times before setting her down before him. "Three owned, one to go." She added with determined eyes. "Atlas is next, right?"

Hector felt his heart skip a beat as he thought again about how close they were. But Salem at this point had to know that something was going on, she wouldn't just sit tight and let him get another relic, especially when he only needed to claim one more. She might come after them again, and she would be even stronger than before because of her sucking out his power the last time they met each other in the field. Not to mention that there were still other enemies to consider. Hell came to mind, and Hector made a mental note to make sure that their next meeting would be their last.

"Yeah," Hector said, cursing himself for how desperate he almost sounded.

"Just one more to go."

* * *

 **And there we go, three relics claimed, one more to go. Now let me tell you right now, the time difference between relic claiming is going to be much longer this time. Not as long as it was for Hector to get the Relic of Destruction, but longer than it took for him to get Choice right after Destruction. This makes him the owner of the Relics of Knowledge, Destruction, and Choice. I know I said that this chapter was going to be a little meta, and I really don't know if I nailed it or not. Hopefully, I did.**

 **For the first time in a while, I wrote a whole chapter in just one day. Though this chapter is probably going to come out on Saturday instead of Friday like I wanted to. Oh well, can't have everything.**

 **Those of you who are curious, this story is about 75-80% completed.**

 **It's break time now however, I am turning 20 in two days (May 27th is my birthday) and I feel old already.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the chapter. If you want to keep up with me on every story that I write, you can follow my progress on twitter!**

 **T w itter . com (slash) genatools**

 **And thank you to my Patron(s): JamesFames**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	72. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 72

**And here we are back with an early chapter this week. Like I said, I am working to finishing this story. So chapters are going to be pumping out much more quickly than before. It may slow down my other stories, but once this story is finished I'll have so much more free time on my hands it's not even funny.**

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 **Tigervolcano5000: I saw your review on A Tale of Two Heroes! I gotta say, I wasn't expecting that so abruptly. You could have warned me! I'll respond to that one properly when I write that story again. Amphelia actually means Choice in another language, I don't know** _ **what**_ **language. But that's neat. I don't know if it's going to be** _ **that**_ **destructive, but we'll see what happens. Apparently meta means some kind of fourth wall break, and I didn't know that was what it actually meant. So I will be staying away from that word for now Lol.**

 **Soul109: I welcome you back! Emerald and Amphelia had a similar ability, I didn't even realize how similar it was at the time. But don't worry, that isn't the only power the Relic of Choice has at her disposal.**

 **Oblivious IJ: Imagine how I feel! I started this story when I was 18, now I'm 20. It is amusing to know that I am realistically your senpai, but I feel like even if I wasn't older than you, you would still call me that.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Thank you!**

 **pookiebearriley:Thank you as well!**

 **Uchia lover: Don't worry about it, I didn't see anything. Wink wink.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

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 **Beta: CrowSkull**

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Chapter 72- The Next Step

Nora smashed her hammer against the puzzle door angrily, the ringing sound of metal grinding against metal echoed throughout the once desolate school. The closest ones around her had to slap their hands on their ears in an effort to stop them from ringing for a damaging amount of time. When the echoe stopped, her friends were horrified to see that Nora was preparing for yet another slam.

That was until her hammer suddenly slipped out of her hands and was too heavy for her to lift. Ren looked to Glynda with silent gratitude after seeing the telltale aura of black and purple wrap around Nora's arms and weapons. She nodded back to him, and Nora groaned as she gave up.

"Why won't that thing open!?" She asked.

"That trap door has been here for the better part of a century. Even if it was found, Cinder Fall would have had no way to open it even with the powers of the Fall Maiden. I am also certain that Ozpin would had made the door to the vault strong enough as to not be smashed in so easily with a mere greathammer." Glynda explained as she slowly dragged Nora away.

She had to do the same to Ruby, and even Yang. They kept trying to find ways to open it and none worked. Once that door slammed behind Mister Rivers and his daughter they naturally feared the worse. That it was the last time they were ever going to see the two of them alive. They only stopped once the trap door shone a bright orange, and shifted slightly. Yang struck it one more time just in case with her one arm, and that caused her to be reflected and thrown back into one of the buildings where she has been lying since. Too exhausted and done with the world to care about keeping the fight going.

Ren tried to pick the lock, Jaune tried prying it open with Crocea Mors but ended up with a warped blade, Sun Wukong nearly broke his weapon trying to help him. Neptune stupidly tried to electrocute it and it all ended up with Nora trying to smash through the incredible strong and durable door. Glynda sighed for what felt like the hundredth time as she paced around the entire fountain. Ozpin, or Ozma or whatever he wanted to call himself would not get away from her that easily. He wasn't about to fall to the Relic of Choice on her watch.

"How long have they been in there, two hours?" Sun asked as he rested completely sprawled out with the warm sun beaming down on him. "It's definitely felt like two hours…"

"That's because it has only been an hour and a half Mister Wukong." Glynda answered for him. "Have faith in your comrades, I believe that they will come back out in time."

"Me too!" Ruby exclaimed, not sitting crossed legged directly in front of the trap door itself. Her silver eyes never left the trap door, waiting for the very moment it would snap open so she could scoop up whoever came out of there first. Then be the first to beat on them for making her worry. Even if she knew that collecting a relic was not easy business. Gods, why couldn't every relic been like Knolly? All they had to do was walk into her vault, let Hector grab it's little ring thing, and then bam. He was the owner of the Relic of Knowledge. But no, Destruction had to be difficult, and now Choice is being even more difficult. She now hoped that whatever being resided within the Relic of Creation was more forthcoming then the previous two relics.

As they all waited, the trap door kept changing colors. It alarmed them at first. But the alarm faded away as the door only did that. Change color. From the color of Yang's eyes the first time to laid eyes on it, and then orange, red, blue, orange again, blue, and then red again. It kept going like that as if it was a pattern. Whatever was happening down there must have been causing the color shifts in the material of the trap door. They once feared that it was some kind of battle, but Hector has never had to fight a relic before. Not even the one of destruction, and that one seemed to be more temperamental and likely to attack than any of his siblings. So they did what they found themselves a lot these days, waiting on Hector for the important stuff.

Finally, a sound that reminded each of them of a snap and a crack resonated from the door. The color shifted back to a light purple color, and after Ruby called for her sister to wake up from her nap and come back the door reverted back into a regular black color. Ruby watched giddily and with wide eyes as the trap door suddenly snapped open. A stream of steam crept out of the edges of the floor door, and in the center of the dim darkness of the staircase that lead down into the vault itself, there was a dull light of orange, quickly growing brighter and brighter with each passing second. Ruby wanted nothing more than to run down there and meet them mid way, but something kept her from doing that. She didn't know why, but she just chose to sit there eagerly like an excited puppy seeing their owner after a long two hours of not seeing them. She got crowded around as all of her friends, and the strange relationship she had with Neo, all tried to peek their heads in at once. Once it became clear that none of them were going to be able to fit, they did what any normal group of friends would do.

Try harder.

Eventually they all backed away as Rhea came flying out. "Fresh air!" She shouted to the sky as she took in lungfuls of air and kneeled down with her face and fist pointed towards the heavens. Yang and Jaune broke off to go see how she was doing, and a few seconds later a young man with tan skin, black hair, blue eyes with familiar clothing and the looks of Hector Rivers stepped out. A crown adorning the top of his head with strange jewels, and the sword of destruction still in its scabbard wrapped around his waist.

At that moment, it took even Ruby a few moments to completely take the new appearance of her lover in. He still had the smile she loved to see on his face, and he didn't _seem_ any different then he did before besides the crown on his head. The jewels _were_ strangely colored however, she had no idea what to call those colors, she has never seen them before.

With an awed gasp, she stepped forward and cupped his cheek with one of her hands. His smile grew as he looked down at her. She smiled as well as she fully took him in. He was stronger, he felt stronger. Not ridiculously so like she was able to sense from him before. But claiming the Relic of Choice gave him back some of that monstrous strength as a result.

"Is that?" She asked as she rose her other hand to touch the crown. He let her, eyes never leaving hers even as she looked to the top of his head.

"Yes," His voice sounded a tiny bit different, as if there was two voices speaking at the same time. Except that one of them was a woman's. It was strange to hear, but she couldn't pretend that she understood divine artifacts and their effects on mortal men. "This is the Relic of Choice, the name she has chosen is Amphelia." He looked around to his friends and allies. "With this, we are three quarters of the way finished with our journey, our next goal: Collect the Relic of Creation."

As he spoke, the crown shone a brighter orange, and the magic it gave off also seemed to flow through Hector's veins as a bright white color. Contrasting well with his darker colored skin. Ruby was unafraid however, and neither was anyone else. Instead, she just snickered. She thought he sounded funny.

To her utter amusement, Hector couldn't hold in his own expressions of amusement. It started as a snigger that barely showed on his lips, and then it was forced to puff his cheeks and take a deep breath as a chuckle bursted free from his mouth. Until finally, he just started laughing along with her.

"You didn't fool me mister!" Ruby said as she jabbed a fist into his chest as she stepped back.

With a sigh, the bright light and aura faded away until it was gone. Hector took off the crown, and hooked it onto his felt opposite of the Relic of Destruction. Once he wiped a tear of joy from his eye, he looked back to his friends. "I definitely got some of you with that-"

He was cut off when Nora bopped him on the back of the head angrily and playfully at the same time. "I thought you were possessed or something!" She exclaimed once she landed and pressed her hands to her hips. "You came out all glowy and stuff and spoke weirdly, don't do that again or else we're riding Grimm again!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Hector said as she hit him again.

After that was all settled, everyone gathered around to welcome Hector and Rhea back into the group. Rhea was smothered with affection by Nora, while Hector was interrogated for questions. After giving them a brief explanation of what happened down there in the vault of Choice. They all were all understandably shocked. Never before has a relic ever tried to actually kill Hector before, not Jinn, not Deus, but with the Relic of Choice. If he didn't have traces of light magic within him coming from both Ozma and the Relic of Knowledge, who gave up a piece of her own life force to save his life. All that light magic he never used before came back to save his life. He didn't know how to will it back again, but he felt like he didn't need to until Creation was in his path. It would come back to him when he needed it to, not when he wanted it to. That was the first major difference Hector was able to see to distinguish the two magic types from each other.

He cut off their small reunion short unfortunately. They had to all go back to Atlas as soon as possible. Find Qrow, Mercury, and Winter. Then the Winter Maiden and the Relic of Creation, and convince them both to join in on this war of theirs. It all sounded much easier than it really was, but then again, so did every other aspect of Hector's plans. Go to Vacuo to recruit the Summer Maiden and their forces, and claim the Relic of Destruction? Salem herself came in to interfere with that. Go to Atlas and speak to Ironwood, the Winter Maiden and get the Relic of Creation? They didn't even get to the latter parts before there was a sudden massive attack of Grimm lead by Hell with Jacques Schnee himself dooming half his kingdom to death by Grimm. The whole mess of plans that was the battle of Haven didn't make anything easier for Hector to say that his plans worked out okay most of the time and this is not even including all the unlikely allies that they made on the way.

Now there was the return to Atlas part of his master plan. The part which lead to the Winter Maiden, and the finding of the Relic of Creation with her making a grand return to his plans.

Only then and with a put upon sigh did Hector finally stop speaking. His throat felt dry, and he was still cold. It was hard to believe that they came this far. If Salem simply killed them back in Vacuo when she had the chance instead of letting time do the work for her, none of this would be possible. He still wondered why they were spared in the end, did she _want_ him to return to a vengeance like she must of _known_ he would? Was it just on a whim? Was she more tired than she let on? Hector didn't know, he figured that he could just ask her when the time came and they met each other face to face again.

Plans were made, and they were going to leave the next day early in the morning. Team SSSN and Neo agreed to stay behind in Vale to make sure things weren't going to go south and Glynda was going to make sure they were welcomed. It took some time to convince Neo to do what he asked of her, but with a subtle use of the Relic of Choice, she listened. Nicholas Arc was coming with himself, Jaune's team, and Ruby's team. He wasn't going to leave his son alone, no matter how strong his friends were. Rhea and Yang were originally not part of the plan to come with him to Atlas after he got Choice. But they were needed once he lost his dark magic, and by extension Kaioken. He needed their strength. Yang was powerful, as strong and if not stronger than Raven was when she was the Maiden. Rhea had time to get stronger, and got plenty of experience from the battles she had prior to that moment. Even at such a young tender age of fourteen years old, with the powers of the Fall Maiden she was as strong or slightly below the level Cinder was. Both were stronger than him if he didn't use the relics against them. He wouldn't of course, but he couldn't rely on just the relics to get him out of every tough situation he then found himself in.

Right now, Hector, Rhea, Ruby, Yang, and Blake were all able to sneak back into Vale without getting hounded by fans. Luckily, Hector wasn't recognized by the general populace. It was a minor change from the last time he was seen on TV, but having no coat on, and with much different clothing made him difficult to point out right away. Since they have another day in Vale, they chose to spend it together. This city was fought hard for, and they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity they had to enjoy what the city had to offer.

"You're still shivering." Ruby pointed out as she looked down to his left hand, it was shaking lightly. Most likely from the cold.

"Yeah," Hector admitted, not finding any good reason on why he should lie to her about it. "After being comfortably warm in nearly every aspect of the word ever since Ozma was reincarnated within me. Suddenly losing that heat and being in a cooler place is quite the sudden change." He explained as he rubbed his hands together before stuffing them in his pocket.

Rhea appeared on his right side and grabbed onto his arm, she had better control of her powers now, and so was able to warm him up without burning him to death by accident. Hector nodded to her his thanks, and stuffed his other hand in his pocket. Or rather, that was where his hand was going to end up before it was stopped by Ruby's hands. She caught his hand and brought it up in front of her eyes. Hector looked to Yang and Blake for any kind of assistance but the simply gave him amused looks in response. Typical girlfriends teammates…

Ruby seemed to find what she was looking for when she looked to what Hector was currently wearing. A red shirt that was capable of withstanding extreme temperatures, it was thin however, and snug to his body. His pants weren't much better. The white dragon design he once had on those black pants was faded away and could be barely seen anymore, and the pants was torn in places and obviously not in the best condition. And his boots… Jeez, they could barely be considered footwear anymore with being ripped up the way the were. All the battle damage caught up with those boots, and Hector found himself with a set of clothes that might make him look like a beggar if he were homeless and asking for money.

An idea popped into her mind.

"You need warmer clothes." Ruby decided.

"Agreed," Rhea said before he could even voice his own opinion about it. "You've been cold ever since you lost your powers, it amazes me how you don't complain about it at all even though you shiver almost all the time." Hector winced as he felt himself caught by four sets of eyes. "Yeah, _Dad_ , don't think we haven't been paying attention."

"I know a good spot for some warm clothes around here," Yang said with an all too satisfied smile on her face. "Since we're headed to Atlas, you're going to need it, trust me. You might not have felt the cold as bad as we did, but that doesn't make it any less freezing. It's brick titty up there."

Blake sighed. "Did you have to add that last part?" She asked, though there was a barely visible creep up at the corner of her lips. Evidence to the fact that she just didn't want to admit just how amusing she found her partner at that time.

"You know me," Yang winked, and left it at that. As if that should have explained every little thing that she has done over the course of her life, and in a way it did.

"New clothes again, huh?" Hector mumbled to himself as he remembered his old set of clothes. Green pants, red coat, black shirt. It was a far cry from what he was wearing now, and not in a good way. Back then he had a much better care for fashion sense. "I don't think it's a bad idea, Vale is probably nowhere near as cold as Atlas. So I could go for some warmer clothes."

"Good, then follow me, I'll show you where to go." Yang said as she sped ahead, breaking into a light jog and forcing her friends to quicken their pace to catch up and match their speed.

Follow her they did. It took about ten minutes but they eventually all came up on a clothing store plainly called in big neon lettering _The Wearhouse~_. Hector rose an eyebrow at the establishment. The outside could hardly be considered exquisite, with only dark tinted windows and a classic circular neon sign that was red and blue and had the word 'Open' flickering on and off in a colorful fashion. He tried to peer inside of the store, cupping his hands around his eyes and pressing his face up on the glass until his nose was squished against it.

He was able to see the beginnings of each aisle, some for women, some for men. Tops, and bottoms. Before suddenly, dark blue eyes covered by a mass of dark hair stared back at him.

"Ah!" He yelped as he fell backwards, jumpscared. Yang caught him with a laugh.

"That's what you get." She said between giggles.

"I don't want to go in there." Hector said with a shudder. He didn't know why, but this clothing store did not sit well within him.

"Oh, did you see Daisy?" Ruby asked, snickering. "Don't worry about that, she just does that to her new customers. She likes to get a feel for them, she doesn't have that many."

"I can't imagine why." Hector said underneath his breath.

Luckily, they didn't hear him. "This is where I got my first combat uniform." Yang said with a fond smile as she stepped up to the store and waved through the dark tinted glass. Hector shivered internally as he saw the silhouette of a hand wave back at her.

" _ **What's wrong master? How can you feel afraid when you are one of the most powerful mortals on the planet?**_ " Deus asked with a snicker.

" _You wouldn't understand."_ Hector snapped back. " _It's a human thing."_

' _No, that is just a young person thing. Don't rope me into this.'_ Ozma countered.

Somewhere within his mind, the newest occupant sighed exasperatedly. " **Here I am, Amphelia the Relic of Choice, stuck with a gaggle of foolish and easily frightened men.** "

" _ **Excuse me?**_ "

Hector tuned out of the impending argument. Ever since he claimed Amphelia they have been going back and forth with each other for God knows how long. Ozma apologized for him and went to try and handle damage control. He couldn't hear what the relics were saying, but he could sense whenever they had an argument. Which was easy to pick out through all the other shared feelings that he and Hector share because of their soul bindings with each other. The feelings of the relics were just much too obvious, Ozma would like to see the look on a doctors face when they did a brain scan. The activity chart would go literally off the charts, they would think him some kind of superhuman.

"Alright, let's get in there." Hector said as he took a step toward the ebony wooden door, stopping when he didn't sense any of his friends behind him. "You coming?"

"Store policy." Ruby simply explained as she pointed to the door he was holding on to the handle of. He looked to a piece of paper on the door which he could have _sworn_ wasn't there before. He didn't think much else of it as he squinted to read the smaller lettering which read: _One person from each group at a time, we will know._

Well that wasn't ominous at all. "Of course, so I have to go in here by myself then?" He asked without any need to, Ruby and Yang nodded their heads in sync before he even finished his question. He looked to Rhea and Blake for some kind of help, only to get helpless shrugs in return. With a roll of his eyes, and a deep breath. He entered what he assumed to be some kind of lions den.

The heavy wooden door _slammed_ shut behind him, and he was met with a brighter light than he was expecting as he stepped into the store. He instinctively gripped the hilt of Deus and half expected to be attacked. But calmed down once he looked around the innards of the store.

It looked like any other clothing store, with aisles stretching all the way to the back of the store with numbers and signs to tell what kind of clothing each aisle had. Except that the clothing was much more extravagant than any other pieces of clothes he has seen before. Some were armored, others were thin and flexible, some had weapons attached to them. They were all special in their own ways, but he wasn't here for something special like that. He didn't need any special gadgets or anything like that. All he needed was a simple set of warm clothing. He could keep his shirt, but he needed a new set of everything else.

Cautiously, he looked around for the pair of dark blue eyes he saw before. Eyes much darker than his own were. Only to see nothing. It was a wonder how this place was still standing in almost perfect condition considering what happened not too long ago. With the fall of Beacon and the recent battle to reclaim it, it was impressive that the owners were able to take such good care of the building.

"Hello?" Hector called out to the store as he took more steps forward. Looking over his shoulder, he could see that the windows were almost completely one way. He could see the snickering girls outside of the windows, watching him walk into some kind of prank. Rhea had an apologetic look on her face, as if she could sense that his eyes were on her at that moment, but she went back to snickering as Yang told her some kind of joke and gave a thumbs up to the window. They must have known that he was there looking back at them. Rolling his eyes again, he turned to the men's side of the store, lit up by a different shade of light than the women's.

He looked around for any other person in the store, but he couldn't see any. His heart started beating slightly harder as he slowly realized that he was _almost_ alone in the store, and that the owners were probably the weird kind. What _kind_ of weird, he had no idea. But after reassuring himself that he could handle mostly anything the world through at him at this point, he stepped into one of the aisles.

He decided to look for boots first, since that was the article of clothing in the worst condition. It didn't take long to find a decent pair that was his size of fifteen, which was surprising because not many stores had a size fifteen pair of anything. Looking both ways in the aisle for any kind of worker, he shrugged and sat down on one of the provided stools to try it on.

"Hello sir."

Hector yelped and jumped back, knocking the stool over as he accidentally threw both of the old boots he had just taken off, and jumped back seven feet in a fighting stance. The blade of Deus flamed red and black as he unsheathed it.

* * *

"You think she got him yet?" Ruby asked her sister curiously.

"Soon little sis, soon." Yang said, looking anything but kind with that malicious grin on her face.

"I'm more worried if he has any money to pay for his stuff."

"Eh, he'll put it on his tab. That's what I did."

"Is it really okay to bring him to a place like this?" Blake asked. "We may be leaving tomorrow, but he is going to have a lot on his mind after what happened."

"Why do you think I brought him here?" Yang asked as she flicker her hair to her back. "We have a rare break where we just have to wait for other people to get ready for once. I don't want him thinking about the weight on our shoulders like he does most of the time. Everytime he looks at my arm, I can see the guilt in his eyes. This should be a good distraction, at least for a little while." She explained.

"That, and he really needed new clothes." Rhea added.

"Absolutely,"

"Agreed."

"He started to smell bad."

Through the thick glass pane, they heard the faintest sound of a yelp. Yang smirked as she instantly realized what had just happened. "Looks like he met Daisy, now all we gotta do is wait."

"Hehe," Ruby giggled. "This should be fun, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he comes back out."

* * *

"Who the hell are you!?" Hector asked as he lowered his sword, not wanting to cause an incredible amount of damage for no other reason than he was startled. The woman with hair over the entire upper half of her face made no indication that she was intimidated, and simply stared into his soul through her dark black hair. Even blacker than his own.

"I am Daisy," The owner of the store introduced herself with a polite bow. "I am the owner of this establishment, and that is my brother."

"Hello sir," Hector yelped again as he realized he was now stuck in between two siblings that looked so alike he couldn't tell which was which. "My name is Daisie, how can I help you?"

"Daisy and… Daisie?" Hector asked out loud, to which both siblings nodded their heads in perfect sync.

Somewhere somehow, he felt like he was being laughed at.

"Okay…" He said, taking the situation for what it was. "I need some new clothes as you can see," He gestured to his obviously ruined pants and boots, his red shirt being the only thing that wasn't in bad condition. "I like the boots I chose over there, but I am going to be visiting Atlas soon, so I am also going to need a jacket of some kind, and some warmer pants."

"Hmm, understood sir. Wait right here." Daisy, or Daisie, he didn't know which was which, but both of them disappeared into the aisle itself. Literally through the side of the aisle through the clothes and racks. Hector eyed them with a undecipherable expression on his face that flinched as he nodded his head in understanding. This was just his life now.

About thirty seconds later, they returned. Hector reckoned that by the time he sat down they already found what they thought would be good for him and was already on there way back. He was sat for barely fifteen seconds by the time they returned, one of them with a thick black coat made of a material Hector has not seen before, and the pants baggy and tough. What amazed him was that it looked like they would fit him as well.

"We had these ready for you 'Hero of Two Kingdoms'," Daisy said, he only knew that it was the woman who spoke by the way her voice sounded.

"We have been expecting your visit, and have prepared accordingly." Daisie added, a very small smile just barely creeping up from the corner of his lips, Hector didn't think much of it, he was used to such treatment. Even if he felt like he didn't deserve any of it.

"Right…" He replied as he stepped closer to the one with the coat, which was Daisy with a Y, as he would now refer to her as. She handed him the coat and even let him try it on, it felt like leather, but it didn't have that skinny texture that Hector expected. Instead it looked to be a specific kind of cloth, Ozma informed him that this was specially made for Huntsman in cold weather, the material that is. He slipped it over his arms and yanked it into place. It fit wonderfully, comfortably. He was happy with it. No more silly dragon designs, he was perfectly okay with plain black. It meshed well with his blue eyes he could imagine. "I love it." He said with a smile, and felt somewhat safer as Daisy smiled as well. She backed up without a word, and allowed her brother Daisie to come forward, offering him the baggy pants most likely made out of a similar material.

He looked to both the siblings, and as if reading a silent message they nodded and turned their backs. That wasn't exactly what Hector had in mind, but he took it for what it was. It wasn't like he was going to get completely naked and he wasn't much for modesty at the best of times.

A few seconds later, his ruined pants from all the way back in Atlas was left discarded on the floor. He looked down and rose a knee up to his chest. The pants really was baggy, but not incredibly so. He still had freedom of movement, which was perfect for his fighting style, and while he might have preferred the pants to be slightly less baggy he was not a picky person. It did the job, and that was all he needed to accept it. It even came with a belt, dark brown and with a silver buckle. Along with some metal clips he could attach the scabbard of the relic of Destruction to, and somewhere to clip the crown of Choice. Even better.

When he started to take it off so that he could pay for it, the two sibling owners stopped him. "There is no need to take it off if you are just going to put it back on anyway." Daisy explained and handed him some handheld device with a keypad on it. He thought he had to pay for it, so he was going to fish in the pocket of his old pants for any lien, but the device beeped once and accepted something. "Your transaction has been paid for,"

"By who?" Hector asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Weiss Schnee of the SDC sends her regards." Daisie told him.

Hector looked above his head and around the corner, seeing Ruby pressed up against the glass with the front of her scroll pressed into the glass. He couldn't see what was on it from where he was, too far away. But the heavy implication was there. Weiss Schnee had friends in high places, and she seemed to be able to get anything done even half a world away.

"I'll have to tell her thanks when I see her again." Hector noted with a fond smile on his face. "And thank you both for helping me, this all went well quicker than I thought it would." He made sure to leave out the part that they both still scared him in ways he didn't think possible.

"Our services are adept,"

"To those that deserve it."

And now they were finishing each other's sentences, Hector thought. He has seen enough for one day. With another thank you and a soft handshake to each of them. He made his way toward the exit of the store, only to stop when Ruby was seen paying for something with _Daisy who was already at the counter_. He wasn't even going to dignify that nor question how she moved from one place to another instantaneously and quick enough to accept money from Ruby. When they spotted him, they waved in greeting.

"Hey Hex!" Ruby cheered as she ran up to him, a deep red bag with something in it bouncing around the whole way. "I thought I'd get something extra for you." She said, all smiles and red cheeked as she offered him his apparent gift.

Hector was surprised, and he did not hide it well. Which only made Ruby more embarrassed as he gently took the bag from her. He looked into the bag and saw the deep red cloth that was within it. For a second he thought it was a cloak, but when he reached in a grabbed it he felt that the material was much too soft for a cloak.

When he took it out, the bag was left forgotten at the base of his feet. It was a scarf, a deep red scarf that was slightly darker than the color of his shirt. He smiled and chuckled good heartedly as he wrapped the scarf around his neck in such a way that left him bundled up, his neck mostly hidden from the world. Using experience from Ozma's muscle memory, he tied it so that there was a tail hanging off to the side. For a moment he looked down to his gloved hand, the silver rose emblem on it made him get red as he saw the implication this gift brought with it.

Ruby and her deep red cloak, himself with his crimson scarf and glove with the silver rose emblem on his left hand. It was as if it was another sign that he belonged to her.

"I love it," He said whole heartedly as he sniffed deeply into the fabric. "It's very warm, I'm sure it'll help save my life in Atlas."

Ruby's eyes lit up, and she smiled ear to ear as she leaned up on the tips of her toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He smiled back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

 _SNAP!_

And another snap followed that, one from Yang in the opening of the exit, and the other from Daisy from behind a counter Hector could have sworn wasn't there before. He had no time to go for either, for they both disappeared the second he looked at them.

"I hate them, I hate them all. I really do." Hector said with an amused shake of his head.

"Psh, no you don't." Ruby said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the exit. "You wouldn't be here if you did."

"Guess you're right, I'm stuck with you all." And he wouldn't have it any other way. Not that he was going to say that, he didn't need to.

The rest of that day was spent having fun, each moment filled with rest and play. All of their friends came around by the end of the day. All of the stress that occured earlier with the knowledge of Adam's death and the losing of most of Hector's powers was all but forgotten as they laughed together, drank together, and converse throughout most of the night. Even Neo had her moments where she would steal Sun's staff and laugh silently as he tried and failed to catch her. He could see what they were trying to do, they were trying to distract him. It worked to an extent, but he could hardly forget what it was that they all had to do. He wanted nothing more than to keep hanging out with his friends, but alas life was not that simple for him. Not anymore. Tomorrow they would leave for Atlas, and begin the search for the Winter Maiden and the Relic of Creation. They would probably run into Qrow, Winter and Mercury, and they would doubtless join with them. After Creation, there was but one more relic left to conquer. Salem.

They were in the endgame now, and even as the night came and Ruby snuggled up beside him. It was all he thought about as sleep took him over.

* * *

Summer was acting strange, stranger than Qrow has ever seen her in the past couple of weeks. She looked much more panicked and stressed than she did before and this was _after_ she told her new guests about the magical and time travel relationship she had with a certain hero they know. Qrow asked her what was wrong, and was glared at before she even thought to open her mouth to speak. She honestly looked like she was on guard in a way that he has never seen before.

"We have to go." She said as she grabbed Qrow by his bicep and with unnatural strength pulled him along with her as she stalked over to Mercury and Winter.

"Woah Sum, what's wrong?" Qrow asked, his arm now sore and he barely caught his own weapon which was thrown at him.

"He's coming." Was all Summer needed to say.

Qrow's eyes went wide as he realized exactly what she meant. The crazy Grimm guy who looked like Hector was getting close. For a moment he hoped that it was actually Hector but that would have been too idealistic. Hell must have sensed her magical power, or the relic. Since relics attract Grimm. He hasn't spoken of it yet, but the staff of Creation, one of the relics they all needed before going up against Salem, was in Summer's possession. That was good and bad, for obvious reasons.

"Right." Mercury and Winter quickly woke themselves up using the ice, and geared up all in a manner of two short minutes. Once ready to go, Summer gestured for them to get ready to fly. She was going to fly them out and create a harsh blizzard behind them. One that would flood their previous hideout, and bury the mountain itself. They packed as much food as they could, and grabbed on to some harness' Summer had ready for them.

It was all for naught, before Summer could take off, a blast of red and black struck the side of their hideout. Straight through the already weak walls of the ice cavern. Summer was forced to strengthen her stance and drop everything. She pushed the Relic of Creation into Mercury's hands, and looked into his eyes.

" _Run_ ," She snapped at him. "Run, and keep running. Try to get out of here, I'll stop the blizzard for you. Get back to Atlas, and find Hector Rivers. Give him the relic."

Mercury shook his head. "And leave you all to fight against that guy? No thank you, who's to say he wouldn't just catch up with me afterwards anyway?"

"This is _not_ a discussion Black!" Summer hissed, pushing Mercury closer to the edge. "I'll hold him off, you run."

Mercury felt a foreign fear wash over him as he stared into the one remaining silver eye of Summer Rose. He glanced over to Qrow and Winter, who gave him sad smiles and a nod of their heads.

With no more words to fail, Mercury nodded back and turned around. Running and jumping into the soft pillow of snow that laid beneath him. Taking the Relic of Creation with him.

"What are our chances?" Qrow asked as he loaded is weapon.

"I can't kill him." Summer said right away, shaking her head when Qrow looked at her with wide eyes. "It's not what you meant, it's not that I _can't_ kill him. It's just that I won't. It's not his fate to die here Qrow. I would ask you to go with the kid, but…"

"Yeah, not going to happen Sum." Qrow said with a sigh. "I left you behind once before, and we all saw how that ended up."

"He's a stubborn fool," Winter added. "Everyone has a hard time convincing him of anything these days."

"Yeah, yeah, keep your flirting."

"I'm not-" Winter snapped her mouth shut, unwilling to give him the satisfaction.

"Well," Summer's eyes flamed a snow white color. She started to hover in the air, her powers of ice and cold flame flowing around her. "Then let us fight together, and I promise you that you _will_ survive this battle."

Hell's blood red glowing eyes glared into her own as he stepped through the hole he created. His skin was whiter than ever, his hair the same color. The purple veins in his face were throbbing, and the whites of his eyes flickered back and forth to black and white and gray. He looked angry, yet happy to see her at the same time. In a very threatening way.

"Yes…" Summer said as she blew back Qrow and Winter, forcing them through the same exit hole Mercury went through. She wasn't even able to hear Qrow cry out, it happened so quickly. "I am here, Hell."

" **S** o **I** s **e** e." He replied, his voice sounding as if it was two, and incredibly labored. "I' **v** e **b** e **e** n **h** o **p** i **n** g **t** o **s** e **e** y **o** u **a** g **a** i **n** a **f** t **e** r **o** u **r** p **r** e **v** i **o** u **s** b **a** t **t** l **e**. **I** w **i** l **l** f **i** n **i** s **h** w **h** a **t** y **o** u **s** t **a** r **t** e **d**."

"No," Summer defied, aura and magic flowing even faster. "It is not my fate to fall here, as it is not yours to end up killed by me. Turn back now, and I won't freeze you in place again."

Hell smiled at her.

Summer sighed. It never went the easy way, but it couldn't hurt to have at least tried.

* * *

 **PLEASE READ THIS: And there we go with another set up. Something I feel like I REALLY SHOULD point out to you guys to try and prevent any confusion for next chapter. Is that that transition line between Hector's and Summer's part of this chapter is** _ **WEEKS APART**_ **. So after that little line, presume that it has been weeks. I did this because I don't have anything in the way of plans for the whole Bullhead ride from Vale to Atlas. They may stop in Mistral for a few hours, but that's it and there's not really much else to go for this late into the story. So when the next chapter comes around, they are going to be close if not already in Atlas.**

 **This wasn't entirely a complete filler chapter, since something important** _ **did**_ **happen at the end, but I know most of you, including myself, are probably going to consider this filler. But hey, if you guys read my other story, A Tale of Two Heroes, you know where Daisy and Daisie came from. A little easter egg there for you guys.**

 **One last thing, Hector is now wearing that outfit you can see in the cover art I drew for this story. Just in case you actually want to see what he is wearing now to Atlas, and probably for the rest of the story. I forgot to put the glove on his left hand, I know.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far. If you would like to keep up with the progress of every chapter of every story that I write, you can follow me on my twitter.**

 **T w itter . com (slash) genatools**

 **And thank you to my Patron!: JamesFames**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	73. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 73

**I bet you're all quite surprised with how quickly another chapter came out. I can say that I am surprised as well. I was going to write the next Blind Huntsman chapter, but as I said before I am putting special attention back on this story since it is close to completion. I know some of your fears are going to be that I am going to be rushing the store, but fret not. Each chapter will still be evenly paced, and thought out. I won't be pulling a GoT season 8, I promise.**

* * *

 **Zeldawolffang: Soon my child, soon ;)**

 **Oblivious IJ: Yeah, I hate it when that happens. Sometimes with me it does a whole paragraph that I spent a few minutes writing and I get frustrated. But hey, I got an undo button thankfully. So no harm is ever really done.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Fair enough, you did a great job surprising me. I wonder if you'll do it again? Remember, Hell has been traveling by** _ **foot**_ **while Summer was able to carry QWM and** _ **fly**_ **. It should have taken longer in all honesty, he only made it that quickly because of his powers. Don't worry if you've been missing some action however, you'll get some this chapter.**

 **Uchiha lover: Thank you! I hope you stay until the end!**

 **Thank you all for your reviews!**

* * *

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

 **Now let's get back to it!**

* * *

Chapter 73- Second Coming

The ride to Atlas was long and tiring, Hector was impatient. With every passing day, he paced a little harder, the grip on his hilt became more frequent and tighter. The crown of Choice constantly jingling against his side with each step. Rhea and Ruby did their best to calm him down, and to their credit they did a great job at that. But no matter what they did Hector always had that inkling in the back of his mind. The stress of what he had to do never left him, and it hardly would with just words and comforts. However, once the pilot told him and his comrades. The reinstated members of Team RWBY, and his old team of Team RNJR plus Rhea and Jaune's father all breathed a sigh of relief from the news.

Weeks, they've been flying. Weeks. Hector never thought Bullhead flying would become so stressful. Even Jaune's' nausea and puking habits became less and less amusing with each time he took a trip to the bathroom. He never took off his warm clothing once they entered Atlesian airspace, the scarf tucked warmly underneath his chin, his glove tightened and now with another one to match it on his right hand. He zipped up his coat and tucked his baggy pants into his new combat boots. Ready for action.

The only reason Hector didn't make a beeline toward the Relic of Creation which he could sense many miles out into the icy forests of the Atlas mountains. Was Weiss Schnee waiting for them at the landing pad, a bright smile on her face, making the bags she had under her eyes less obvious. Not that it would have bothered anyone anyway. Being the new owner of the SDC with all the power her late father once had took a lot out of her these past months, almost a year now that he thought about it.

Predictably, Ruby, Yang and Blake were ecstatic to see her. Jaune and the rest of his team joined the massive group hug that nearly squeezed the life out of the former heiress. Hector came in last, but only when his name was called out, giving Weiss a gentle hug with a deep sigh.

"You look…" Weiss started, looking him up and down trying to find the right words to describe him. "You look different, not in a bad way. But a curious way."

"Thanks, I guess." Hector said as he patted his newfound relics.

"Are those…?"

"Yes," He said, answering her unasked question. "The Relic of Destruction." He added as he patted his sword again. "And the Relic of Choice." He held up the crown that was still hooked onto his belt on his hip.

Weiss looked at them with awe in her eyes, she has never seen a relic in the flesh before, not one other than the Relic of Knowledge, at least. James Ironwood, the General of the Atlesian military and the Headmaster of Atlas, was standing not too far away from them all. With a final nod towards Weiss, Hector strolled up to him and offered a hand to shake. Ironwood took it gladly, and exchanged a firm and tight handshake.

"Atlas will be with you, when the time comes." The General said with a nod.

Hector breathed a sigh of relief, and secretly removed his other hand off of the Relic of Choice. It was a necessary use of the relic, he found. He couldn't afford bickering with the councils of each kingdom when they had so little time left until Salem made her next move. By now she must have heard that he was on his way to Atlas, and sensed that he claimed two of the other relics already. Luckily, he only needed to convince one man in Atlas. Weiss was already with them, so the SDC was also with them by default. Vale was a slightly harder affair. When everyone went to sleep, he had to put on the crown and telepathically search for them. Eventually, not without a lack of many mental hours of trying, he found each of them. When the time came, they would also be with them. Vacuo was already with them thanks to Natsuki and their wild way of politics, so that made things much easier on his mind. With literally the world at his back now, Salem would have a much harder time dealing with them. None of them even knew it yet, but the world was all united already. Even if it took a little bit of manipulation with the Relic of Choice. Thankfully Amphelia was all too happy to help him out, briefly explaining to him the basics on how to use her powers.

His friends didn't know, but he was going to tell them when it was the right time. Preferably after he claimed the Relic of Creation and rallied the world behind him. When he becomes the owner of all four relics, perhaps that may give him the edge he needed to take Salem down. He still doesn't know how strong Salem was exactly, but there was no way she was weaker after what happened in Vacuo. She also lived for many millennia so far, she had more experience than even Ozma. No matter, even if she was immortal, she was going to lose. He just knew it somehow.

"Thank you, James." Hector replied, Ozma's memories made him consider James a close friend, and he might as well be for what he had just did for him. "The world will thank you for it."

"I'm sure they will." Ironwood smirked and sighed. "You should go back to your friends, Mister Rivers. I am sure they are all awaiting your next orders."

Hector's demeanour shifted to one that befitted more of a young man his age. "We had an incident in our travels, Yang lost her arm again. Do you think you could provide her with a new bionic arm? One strong than the last?"

Ironwood nodded his head, expressing just how happily willing he was to oblige. "I am sure Doctor Polendina already has one made for her. It is already more than possible." he smiled back and went back to his friends, all of whom were waiting for him to finish his brief conversation with the General.

"Good news?" Yang asked, leaning on one hip looking at him.

"Yeah, you're getting a new arm." Hector said right away, looking to the side of her body where her stump of an arm hung. Yang showed her shock well, recoiling back before laughing happily to herself and smiling.

"Wow, you work fast. Thank you Hex, really. It means a lot."

"That's exactly why that was one of the first things I asked him."

"That reminds me," Weiss said, catching his attention next. "Doctor Polendina has been awaiting your return, he thinks he made a breakthrough and wants to share it with you."

"Already?" Hector asked, surprised. He didn't think that progress would be made that quickly, there was always a morbid thought that Polendina was never going to figure out exactly what was in his blood, and what made him different from the rest of the humans of Remnant, and what made him capable of the things he was able to do. Some of those questions were answered by the magic he found out that was within his body. But he was curious about what he discovered, because it could help him figure out what he was. If he really was part God, and compare the difference between his blood back than and the way it was now since he lost his dark magic to Salem.

"Alright, tell him I'll be on my way. Yang, you wanna come with? He should have an arm already ready for you, he was the one who made your old one after all."

"Yeah, sure." Yang nodded her head.

"Can I come too?" Ruby and Rhea asked at the same time.

Hector shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see why not, I went alone last time and you guys were worried that I was being killed. Don't want to run that risk again." When Ruby threw her hardest punch into his chest, which wasn't really that strong considering her thin and light build, he chuckled to himself.

Rhea hovered to his side and landed next to him. It was a completely unnecessary use of her powers, but he couldn't muster up the guts to tell her that as she grabbed onto to his hand. Fourteen year old girl or not, his twenty-one year old self — his birthday passed over the Bullhead ride — was still her step-father, and she could be so clingy at times. Not that he had anything to complain about, she was just adorable that way.

"While we wait I think we're going to go see our family." Nicholas said as he clasped a hand on his son's shoulder. It would have hurt if Jaune hadn't already used his semblance on himself to heal his nearly broken arm. "The girls have been worried ever since we left for Beacon, now that I'm sure the news has had time to spread around, they're going to want to see if their little boy is okay."

"Daaad!" Jaune whined, blushing out of embarrassment.

"Of course, go ahead." Hector said with a smile, ignoring Jaune's whining. "I don't have any problem with it. It's doubtful that we're going to go out so soon without any sort of rest prior. So for the rest of today at least, everyone should sit back and relax."

"Yeeesss." Nora cheered, falling into Ren's arms and somehow forcing him to pick her up bridal style. "Finally, I thought we were going to go out right away, I've been so tuckered out Renny."

Ren looked to Hector for help, but the latter pretended he didn't see or hear anything in that entire general direction. Leaving him to deal with that.

* * *

The walk to Polendina's lab was much easier than the last one he had to take. Hector already knew the way this time, and the halls were much more clear of officers and scientist's than before. It was a sunday, so most likely most of the workers and security was off. He followed a familiar path all the way until he came to another familiar set of doors. He felt like he stepped out those doors an eternity ago, and yet here he was now. A different man. With the weight of the world ever pressing on his shoulders.

Ruby's shoulder bumping into his reminded him that he wasn't the only one holding up that weight, and Yang came to mind at that thought as well. She was the Spring Maiden, cursed to only live until the age of fifty, and was probably the strongest out of their whole group at that point in time. Rhea was a close second, probably above even himself since she was the Fall Maiden and he no longer had the powers of Kaioken. He could win against the maidens if he used the relics, but as he thought to himself before, he wouldn't use the relics against his friends or allies if he could help it. After placing himself at third because of the relics, Ruby easily came up either tied with him or slightly weaker. Her silver eyes were valuable, and while placed at third with him, she could very well be the one that ends up slaying Salem for good in the case that he can't.

Polendina's doors opened automatically, and they all stepped through without a worry in the world. The scientist was all too pleased with seeing them.

"Ah! Mister Rivers, and who are these beautiful young ladies?"

Rhea flushed as she introduced herself. "I am Rhea Rivers."

The doctor hurried to grab her hand gently and shake it. "Ah, the young stepdaughter of a young man. What a good story that would be for a writer." He bowed his head respectfully toward her, and then moved on to Ruby Rose. "No need to introduce yourself Miss Rose, I can never misplace those eyes anywhere in any situation after what you did to that dragon that attacked this city."

Ruby squirmed in her place, muttering "Stop it you," in an embarrassed way. Even older, she has always been one to squirm at the first sign of praise coming from someone she isn't already familiar with.

"And you!" Polendina had to look up at Yang she was so tall. "You are the one I made the arm for! I've heard what happened unfortunately, but luckily I had already predicted such an incident." He sped away into one of his many closets, and dug through all the gizmos and gadgets he has invented over the years. Before finally, after a few minutes of scrounging about his workspace. He pulled out an identical, yet stronger prosthetic of Yang's arm, only this one was already painted black and yellow just like the old one did. "For you, my fair maiden." Hector wouldn't be surprised if Polendia meant to use that specific word to describe Yang, and he couldn't remember if he told him or not. But most likely, he did know about the maidens, and he wouldn't put it past Weiss to have told him about what was going on in the world.

"Heh," Yang took the arm, and undid the knot on her other sleeve to unveil her stump. "Can't say I've ever been complimented like that before, thanks old man." She said with her signature smirk as she attached the arm, felt it lock on, and twisted it into place. Within seconds, the arm was fully functional and operative.

"Of course!" Polendina dashed up to Hector in the blink of an eye. "And let us not forget Mister Rivers himself, oh how I have..." Hector rose an eyebrow as Polendina looked away from his eyes and sighed. "I have… _interesting_ news that you have to listen too."

"I myself am curious as to what you found out. Do you want to tell me right away?" Hector asked.

"Of course, of course. Come, follow me."

Hector did just that. Ruby, Rhea, and Yang with her brand new arm all followed him. The news and things that Polendina told them was shocking, sad, and relevating. Hector didn't know how to react, or even how to stand. His legs failed him and he fell back in his seat. Even with less dark magic within his body, a second blood test told a much more similar result. Which would yield the same end.

Ozma backed the doctors claims, and the relics stayed silent, yet he could feel the shock they also had within their divine minds.

When they all left the labs, Hector broke off from the group quickly. Ignoring Ruby's cry for him to stop. She could have caught up with him easily, but Yang stopped her. Wrapping her new bionic arm around her before she could speed off in a flurry of rose petals. When her little sister turned to her with tears threatening to spill from her eyes, she shook her head no.

"Let's just go see Dad, it's obvious Hector wants to be alone right now. Let's not make it any harder for him by pestering him when he's not ready for it." Yang said as she kept an eye looking over her little sisters head. When she saw Hector round the corner, she gently pulled her sister away. Tai was still in the same room as he was in before, and even Zwei was there with him. When the time was right, they'd go look for him and bring Zwei with them. That was the silent agreement the sisters and Rhea made with each other.

What they had just learned… What _Hector_ had just learned, he would not be willing to talk about at the moment.

The time Polendina had to look at the blood test for, revealed that not only that Hector was apparently biologically around _three years old_. His aura even was different than anything the Doctor has ever seen. There was still the traces of dark magic he mistaken for Grimm blood before, as well as the G-cells that he now refers to as light magic. He discovered that the human blood he _thought_ was human… wasn't human at all.

But Hector could care less about what his body was made of, it was the lack of an understanding for what he was born from. If he was born naturally at all.

He once thought that he might have actually been part God, but now?

He now knew that the answers he desperately wanted wasn't going to get answer by mortal men. If he really wanted to know who he was, what he was, and where he came from. He would have to turn to the _Gods_ for the truth.

Which made him want the Relic of Creation all the more.

Hector looked out a window, towards the frozen mountains and icy landscapes. He sensed something out there. The Relics sensed their last remaining sibling. Ozma sensed the Winter Maiden and… something else. The relic was close to the Maiden, and trying to get closer. While the Maiden was slowly weakening, and the feeling of _darkness_ began to settle in.

As a burning sensation welled up from behind his eyes, his aura frosted a blue color. Light magic coming forth. He needed it now more than ever, and with the memories he inherited from Ozma, using this kind of magic was like stretching an old muscle for him. He was the former king of the bright kingdom of Archaea after all.

With a deep exhale, he leaped from the open window, and disappeared before he ever hit the ground.

* * *

Summer cried out as she smashed through many walls of ice she has created over the many years she has spent in hiding. She coughs up blood as she fell to her knees, the effects of her age catching up with her. Hell got stronger while she was sitting and waiting, that proved to be a mistake now that she finds the situation she has herself in. Hell somehow got more powerful, his dark magic was practically _seeping_ out of his body. His eyes were a brighter red than she has ever seen before. Traveling through all that snow on _foot_ was admittedly impressive. He must have been able to heat himself up along the way, or just survived the journey through sheer willpower. Whatever it was, Hell was here now, and she had to hold him back long enough she that her allies could escape.

She gritted her teeth and with an icy spear, thrusted it into the offending fist that would have taken her head off had she been a second too slow. The skin on Hell's pale fist ripped off, and the flesh revealed underneath, only for it to steam an unbelievable amount and heal up before her very eyes.

 _He can heal now…_ Summer noted in her mind as she pushed a ball of magical power into his stomach. Hell roared in pain and frostbite as he was blasted away. But not too far, only a few feet. Whatever level of Kaioken he was using, it was beyond anything she has ever seen.

"Surprised?" Hell asked as he tore off what remained of his shirt, leaving him bare except for his pants. "I've had quite a lot of time to think in my time traveling here. It was then I realized; I'm fucking immortal." As if to prove his point, Hell clenched his fists and with a roar, powered up even further. His black and red aura flaming every which way as his version of Kaioken climbed higher and higher. Up to the point where it matched even Hector in strength and power. "Anything that clone _Hector_ can do," He said his name with such bitter hatred and disgust. "I can do better!"

"You will still lose!" Summer shouted back, floating into the air as she gathered her power. Her hood was off, nearly ripped entirely, and the mask she had on before was reduced to ash when he first surprise attacked her with a move she has never seen before. Her scarred eye was revealed to the world, and the small amount of wrinkles she had on her face was now shown to the world. Her red and black hair looked thin, and aging. She was coming to the end of her cycle, but that didn't mean she was any weaker than she was before. She was the Summer Rose, the Winter Maiden, and she would _not_ back down in the face of a great threat. "That is your fate; your _destiny_. Even if you defeat me now, you will face a loss that will end even you soon after. Mark my words on that _pretender_."

Hell's eyebrow twitched, and then his other one twitched as well. Much more _violently_ than the first. She seemed to have struck a nerve, and was amused by his anger as he roared and dashed toward her once more, this time much more ferociously and with a wide sloppy arc of a hand that wasn't even clenched into a fist.

The journey to her hideout must have been taxing on his mind, to the point that it was nearly destroyed. He fought with anger and akin to how a Grimm would fight. She was right to send Qrow and Winter away, they would have been killed in front of her if she let them stay. With the Relic of Creation, they can escape, get back to Hector, and fight against Salem. Save the world. Just as she intended to back when she was his age just shy of thirty years ago.

With the back of her forearm, she hovered into Hell's wide and sloppy attack, and stopped it before it could gather enough strength to do anything remote to damage. His eyes widened angrily as her eye flamed white, and with the palm of her other hand, she pressed it into his chest. The creature screamed as frostbite instantly settled in his chest, just below his liver.

Summer cursed as she was forced to jump back before Hell was able to grab her. He keeled over slightly and kept a hand to his side where she attacked him. He rubbed it and used his powers to an even greater extent for a moment. The frostbitten black skin that was once on his side faded away to snow white. She wanted to get one of his lungs, so that his body was forced to pass out as his other lung would have to work double time in order to keep up the pace. She wasn't sure it medically worked like that, but it was worth a shot. Her attack just missed its mark, and she figured that her frozen flame didn't even get near his actual liver. It just hurt him to no end.

She couldn't mull over it for too long, she had to keep fighting. Hell suddenly dove forward and wrapped his hands around her waist. Too fast for her to keep up with. But luckily, with the use of her speed. She was able to slip out of his grip before he was able to snap her spine in half. She flew as high as she could in the cavern she created for herself, but she couldn't get as high as she could because of the ceiling. If they were outside, she might have been able to play a game of keep away as he constantly tried to catch her like she did before. If they were outside, this would barely be able to be considered a fight. But Hell knew that, and he kept on pushing her deeper and deeper into the massive cave system she created. She was kicking herself in the butt for that now, even she didn't know where the outside world was anymore. So the option of creating a blizzard so thick and massive for him to traverse through and freeze him in place was no longer a possibility.

As the Winter Maiden, she was the second most powerful of the four season maidens, and she had as lot of time to train. That training was what was saving her life right now.

"Stay down!" Summer shouted as she fired a thin beam of frozen flame into Hell's right leg. He tried to dodge left, but the attack proved too fast for him. The ice rooted him to the ground, causing him to trip down to one knee. He looked down to his foot to see that the ice was rising up his body. If he didn't act now, he would be frozen on the spot.

"Kaioken times fifty!" He shouted, his aura _exploding_ the ice off of his body. Summer was forced to cover her own face as the ice shards was sent flying in every which direction. She only stopped flying back as the waves of black flames washed over her body when she smacked against the icy cavern again. In the midst of the dark red flames, Hell stood up. Shaking his leg of whatever flakes were left on it.

Summer had a scarce couple of seconds before she was able to properly react in time to haphazardly block a ranged attack with her forearm. Even with her incredible freezing powers, the flames of Hell proved to be too much. Her aura flared as her forearm was scorched. The clothes burning away until an old bionic arm was revealed underneath. She lost her right arm during in a training accident while learning how to use her Maiden powers for the first time. It went out of control, and she froze all the blood she had in that arm. She had to get the prosthetic surgically attached in secret, and she just so happened to meet a scientist willing and capable of doing it, and with parts that allowed for her to use her aura in that arm. Something that was unprecedented back then when she didn't have any gray hair.

It was a secret she didn't care to share, but now part of her prized white cloak that she has had with her for almost her entire life missing a big chunk out of it. The edges were scorched black, and her metal arm glowed a soft red as the heat quickly cooled down to the freezing room temperature within the cave itself. Hell didn't notice, or just did not care for the sudden reveal of a bionic limb. He saw weakness, and he lunged for it.

With a muffled curse, she used her bionic to block a hand from chopping into her neck. While that might have knocked someone out if it were any other person, someone with the strength of Hell it would have either broken her neck or removed her head from her shoulders. The metal arm dented slightly but did not waver, and with her fleshy arm she stabbed a spear straight into Hell's midsection. He still didn't stop coming after that, so the next thing she did was grab his face with her robot arm and _smashed_ him into the icy floor of the cave. Hell coughed and hacked, but the weapon stabbed in him melted away and the wound healed. He sat back up and exhaled a plume of steam, keeping up his assault.

Summer was getting tired, it was showed by how she moved on only when attacked to defend herself. She knew that even if she used all of her power in a single attack now in an attempt to try and immobilize Hell for hours. It probably wouldn't even work. With heat like his, his flames would most likely overpower hers.

She coughed out blood as Hell was finally able to land a hit on her, right in the middle of her stomach. Her aura flared, but the force of his punch was so strong that it rattled her insides, causing an irresistible rench as she nearly fell to her knees in a choked gasp. She clicked her mouth shut tight as she spun with the momentum of Hell's next strike which was a slap to her face. She minimized the damage by rolling with the force, but spun uncontrollably and slipped on the ice. Hell lunged for her like beast would it's prey, but she rolled out of the way in time and heard him groan as he smashed his head into the ice wall.

She scrambled her way back up to a standing position and weaved her hands into a quick spell. A fog of mist flowed out of her fingers and filled the room quickly. Hell roared and swiped away at it, only to no avail. Summer ran around in the mist quietly. Snow started to pile up on the ground from the mist, just enough so that it made her footsteps more silent. With decades of living in Atlas, she knew how to be quiet, and stay quiet.

With an ice blade she used her speed to slash Hell behind the knee. He fell to one knee and growled, swiping wildly behind himself and hitting nothing but air. Before he was even able to retract his arm Summer struck again. A deep gash across his chest this time. Again, Hell tried the same thing and got punished for it dearly. This went on for about a minute until Hell finally had enough of it. His wounds healed in seconds, and he clenched his fists together and allows his flaming aura to explode once more.

Summer slipped against the ice as her mist was melted and blown away. Droplets of water fell from the ceiling, making it look like it was raining. Summer tried to stand back up, only for her to cry out in pain as her ankle flared up with hurt. She must have twisted her ankle in the fall, she could focus aura in that area to heal it but that would leave the rest of her body unprotected. With an explosive sigh, she pushed herself back up to her feet and into a shaky stance. If this was what her fate had planned for her, then so be it.

"Oops," Hell taunted as he noticed her favouring her left foot. "Did I do that?"

Summer grit her teeth and refused to show her frustration and give him that satisfaction.

"All this time, Summer Rose," Hell said with a taunting chuckle. "You've been hiding from my queen and mother. From everyone who ever cared about you, and for what? So you can whisk away the Relic of Creation and end up getting killed anyway? I dare say that the relic would have been safer in Atlas."

"It would have been." Summer replied, willing to use this opportunity to buy as much time as she could.

Hell looked a bit surprised. "Then why did you steal it when I attacked Atlas?"

Summer smiled. "Because that was what my guardian angel would have wanted, and that was what Jinn told me to do."

Hell was confused now. "You speak in riddles Rose, guardian angel? There is no… is no… such thing." Memories that weren't his came flooding into his mind again, he gripped his head and pinched his nose as black-red blood started to bleed out of it.

"You know that there is such a thing," Summer added, stepping _closer_. "You were him you know, my guardian angel. You might not share his body, but you share his memories. Old and new. Whether you like it or not, you can keep calling yourself Hell, but deep inside you know that you are also Rios."

"No!" Hell roared, taking a step back before realizing he had the advantage and taking two steps forward. "Stop trying to fill my head with lies, I know what it is I must do, and nothing will change that!" He chopped an empty space of air as his dark aura flared up.

Summer smiled sadly, and sighed. "I tried, I don't think words would have ever made you listen, but I tried." The white flame coming our of her one silver eye died out, along with whatever aura she had up on guard.

"You're just going to give yourself up, just like that?" Hell asked, bewildered.

Summer did not respond.

"Hmph," Hell regained some of his sense, and opted to finish the woman off with a blast. Just like his mother would have done if it wasn't for his- Hector's interference. "Very well."

Summer awaited for a death that did not come, she looked into Hell's face and found a conflicted expression. He hesitated to kill her.

That hesitation cost him the chance to kill her.

Summer couldn't help but smile when she saw the content hesitation on Hell's face turn to shock and a degree of fear as in a flash of frost blue. Hector Rivers successfully used the light magic part of his genes to teleport to her. He would have failed if she didn't use her own light magic in being the Winter Maiden to guide him, latching on to his searching power as it searched for her. He landed on his two feet, a red scarf moving about with the wind pressure. He shivered in the sudden coldness, but when his eyes met hers, he stopped and smiled.

"H-how!?" Hell stammered, looking on his disbelief at a mirror image of himself. Hector's smile shifted into a thin line as he heard his voice. He slowly turned to him, a soft blue aura surrounding his body as he unsheathed the Relic of Destruction.

" _ **Finally, a worthy opponent!**_ " Deus cheered. " _ **Our battle shall be legendary!**_ "

"Simple, really. I turned to a different part of myself and used that to my advantage." Hector said as he aimed the tip of the sword in Hell's direction. His frown deepened as red eyes met blue. He didn't have Kaioken, so Hell had the speed and strength advantage, but he didn't know that. And considering how their last battle went, he was going to be cautious around him. "What sucks for you is that I just got some life changing news, and it has left me not in a good mood."

Hell growled at him and powered up one last time.

"Hector…" Summer called his name, the only voice he was able to hear throughout all the chaos that were the elements of the outdoors. He looked over his shoulder and saw her, the woman he spent a very weird amount of hours looking over, while hours to him. It was a big part of Summer's life. While he hasn't seen her in months, she hasn't seen him in years.

"Don't worry Summer," Hector said, not even surprised by the fact that she was the Winter Maiden. In a way, he thought he already knew. He always had a suspicion. "I'm here now."

He got into a ready stance.

"And I won't be leaving you a second time.

* * *

 **And there we go, chapter 73 of this story coming close to an end. Hah, I can't believe we've come this far guys, and I can't believe I wrote this so damn fast. I just didn't stop writing after the last chapter was finished.**

 **A quick explanation, some of you may find it odd that Hector was just able to teleport to Summer. But I never said that the dark or light magic of this story** _ **didn't**_ **have any other powers. What, did you think that the** _ **only**_ **use for dark magic was just Kaioken? That type of magic can be used a few dozen different ways, and light magic can as well. Remember how Hell managed to escape from Atlas after he was defeated the first time? Well, I implied that he was brought back by Salem. She has a huge reserve in dark magic reserves. Ozma was the former king of the kingdom of light. So he also had a MASSIVE amount of light magic. He was stronger than the king of the kingdom of darkness, and fought against a Salem that was stronger than him, and let still put on a great fight that destroyed a continent. You think that was purely out of strength? Nope, as of right now, I shall confirm that magic in this story is just that. Magic. So things that** _ **should**_ **be impossible, can become possible.**

 **And really, after the whole Tyrian clone fiasco, this shouldn't be that big of an issue. I will never let myself live that down.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story. If you want to follow me on the progress of all my stories and chapters, you can keep up with me on my twitter.**

 **T w itter . com (slash) genatools**

 **And thank you to my Patron!: JamesFames**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	74. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 74

**Yup, I did it again. Three quick chapters in a row. Remember the good ol' days when I was able to do that so easily? Hah, now I a wondering how I was able to do like five chapters a week. Probably because I literally just wrote anything that came to mind and had little to no plan beforehand. Nowadays things are different, and while I could have gone on a thirty chapter side adventure before I even get Hector to Atlas, bring Oscar into the story and all that fun stuff that would bring a whole other arc and extend the stories like fifteen chapters. I feel like that would go a little too far. No worries though, like I said on my twitter the other day. This story has about ten chapters less. Maybe more, maybe less, and they are going to be** _ **long**_ **when we get to them.**

 **Be prepared for the cliffhanger, I warn you.**

* * *

 **Oblivious IJ: Don't you worry, I'm only going to post** _ **another**_ **chapter right away. What's so bad about that? Even if it is in the middle of the night and I've been bothering my beta nearly every day now. Also, love that reference.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Get excited! A fighting chapter is among us!**

 **Arctech: I remembered this time! Memes are the greatest of things, and none shall take it away from us, the common folk. As for stories for you to read, I think I might have some for you in my favorites section. Try looking there because I have too much on my mind atm to try to answer your question with good thought behind it.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

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 **Beta: CrowSkull**

 **Third chapter in almost as many days, let's GO!**

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Chapter 74- Death of Character

It started almost just as it began. Hector staring down his mirror image, except with snow white hair, fair skin and red eyes. The only difference to the last time he saw Hell was that he had a soul now. He could sense it. The soul within his enemy's body. Gifting him with the power of aura - _true_ aura, and not whatever guck protected him the last time these two clashed fists. Another difference was that Hector did not aim to fight with his fists this time, but with a blade. A blade sharper than any other, one of a kind, the Relic of Destruction itself. Hell didn't seem to comprehend exactly what kind of weapon Hector held in his hand, and he was honestly surprised to see that Hell did not recognize the relic. Being servant of Salem gave way to many benefits, and such benefits should have included the knowledge of the relics and what they looked like. No matter, Hell would soon find out for himself just what kind of situation he has found himself in. Up against an enemy of equal standing. Or at least that was what Hector was going to let him believe.

Summer made the wise decision to hide away from this battle. She was too weak to run, but she still had enough magical prowess to hover and fly. She wanted nothing more but to stay and help her long lost friend, but she knew that as she was now. She would only get in the way. " _Win."_ She whispered to herself as she disappeared into the blizzard. " _I know you can."_

Hector sighed through his nose and lowered his stance. He has never used a sword against a human opponent before, and for that matter he has never even used it against a Grimm either. He has only ever fought and trained with his fists and feet as weapons, and at rare times he would use Ozma's cane as well. The one tool that followed him through every life and reincarnation.

With a smirk, Hector thought to use every weapon he had at his disposal. With his off hand, he reached behind his back and gripped Ozma's cane. He whipped the cane to it's extended form, and got into a wider stance to better benefit a dual wielding kind of fighting style.

" _You've never fought with two weapons before."_ Ozma pointed out.

" _Does that matter? You have before, we share most of our memories, remember?"_ Hector countered.

" _The point remains is that one of those weapons is much more powerful than the other. My cane was a weapon to deal with Grimm with, and the occasional human opponent which required my attention. Not… Not him."_

" _ **What is the hold up? Attack him already!**_ " Deus shouted, urging Hector on to initiate the fight. It took a great deal of restraint and willpower for Hector to refuse against the urge.

" **Oh brother, you clearly have not thought things through this far. A poor choice.** " Amphelia sneered.

" _ **How so dear sister? Please, humour me.**_ "

" _Now is not the time for arguing."_ Hector butted in, stopping an argument between the two siblings before it could get started. He still refused to initiate the first attack, and opted to let Hell make up his mind and attack first. He had the element of surprise up his sleeve at the moment, which was the Relic of Destruction. The cane was simply to put him off, to make him think that the two weapons he has in each hand were in fact of equal standing of power. Because once he slashed with the Relic of Destruction, and _missed_ , he would lose that element of surprise, and Hell would know not only that he no longer has Kaioken, but that the weapon he has in his hand is not a weapon to be hit by.

" _ **You could have just said that, master.**_ " Deus pointed out, and Hector could feel the pout that the relic had on his metaphorical face. " _ **We can hear your ever thought, just to remind you.**_ "

" _Quiet time, now."_ Hector thought back with a roll of his eyes. He couldn't bother to be embarrassed at the moment, not when any mistake could lead to his own death.

Hell and he circled one another, each looking for an opening in the others stance. Each waiting for the other to attack first, and each coming up with dozens of ways to counter attack or dodge each other. The frosty blue aura Hector had on his body acted as a sort of decoy Kaioken power level, much smaller than Hell's flaming black and red aura, but much less wild as well. Much more focused. To Hell, he might as well be safe and just assume that he _was_ using Kaioken, and to a power level so high that the red aura turned blue. Just as he did when they first fought and he eked out a win against him.

If Hell knew just how massive of an advantage he had at the moment, this fight would have already been over. Hector kept that thought deep in the back of his mind, and never forgot it. Teleporting away now was not an option, not when Summer's life was on the line, and not when the Relic of Creation was so close by either. Probably with Qrow and his crew. They would no doubt be killed too. Hector couldn't allow that. He _wouldn't_ allow that. Hector and Hell had to fight now, and only one of them will be able to leave this icy cave. While the other lied dead on the ground.

Hell narrowed his eyes at him, his aura flaming and flaring in every direction. Hector began to sweat in all of his thick heavy clothes, a feeling he hasn't felt in quite some time. The cold was all but negated at this point. The source of heat at the moment was much more powerful than what mother nature had in store.

Hell took a step forward, and nearly dashed at him. It took everything in his willpower for Hector to not take a step back and defend himself from a feint in response. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at his clone, and kept his patience. A patience quickly wavering.

If Hell was looking for an opening, he apparently saw it in his hesitation. In a flash, his eyes could barely keep up with his speed as he suddenly lunged in and threw a fist aiming toward his neck. Hector leaned back out of pure instinct, and with his off hand jabbed the end of Ozma's cane into his side, pressing it down until the entire thing folded up until the hilt. Once the lever on the side of the hilt came to a stop, Hector squeezed it with two of his fingers. The cane violently extended out again, stabbing itself just under the skin of Hell and causing no small amount of pain as he found himself being pushed away from his prey.

Hector flipped backward on one hand and landed on his feet with a twist. Dodging another blast attack he predicted was coming. Flowing like water, not wasting any movements, he stepped back and twisted his feet in such a way that allowed for him to defend much easier against Hell's next sudden fist. He couldn't dodge in time, but he rolled with the attack, nullifying most of the damage but making him dizzy and disoriented after he spun with the provided force tenfold in a single second. His legs landed in a low angle, but his eyes were somewhere rolled in the back of his head.

Hell lunged again with a ferocious howl and tried to claw his eye out with his hand. Hector fell forward and used his dizziness to his advantage to prevent getting his one good eyes removed from its socket. Though he could not hope to dodge the knee that so gracefully jammed into his face. He felt something crack in his nose and his aura flaring as it stopped his entire skull from being cracked open like a melon. He gritted his teeth so that he wouldn't bite his own tongue off, but had to cover his head with his weapon so he wouldn't do more damage to himself as he smashed straight through a pillar of ice that was holding up the roof of the icy cave. His aura flared again, but he ignored the pain he felt through his aura and kept his stance up.

Already, Hell was on him again. A trail of red following his eyes as he made to kill Hector in his next strike. Hector knew he wouldn't be dodging this one and he damn well knew that he couldn't block it either. So he used magic of alteration combined with Ozma's shield technique and created a smaller and more combat shield that covered only the front of his body. It was his first ever spell that he created on the spell.

"What the hell was that!?" Hell asked as he whipped his hand to try to rid it of the pain he felt.

"A simple spell," Hector smirked. "But quite unbreakable… literally."

Hell reared back and roared in pain as he clutched his shattered hand. The blue crest shield that protected Hector from certain death held strong and true. Remembering his training, and with the use of Ozma's skills. He moved forward to attack while Hell was clutching his hand in pain. He jabbed the cane into Hell's stomach, pulled back, and jabbed him again in the shoulder, pulled back, and attacked once more. He picked up the speed and before he knew it he was moving as fast as he would if he was using Kaioken. His hands and arm left behind a flicker of blue as well, signifying the use of his light magic to improve his combat skills and technique.

On the hundredth jab in as many milliseconds. Hector finished off the combo with one more powerful strike, aiming it between two of Hell's ribs and creating a blue shockwave that cracked the ice all around them. Causing some of the spikes on the ceiling to fall and stab themselves into the ground.

Hector saw the opening he created himself and prepared to slash the Relic of Destruction with as much power as he could muster up. The blade flamed red and black for a moment but seared away as Hell came bursting out of the dust of ice. Hector cursed to himself and decided to use his greatest weapon as a tool of defense instead. Hell's other fist smashed clean and flush against the flat of his blade, creating a shockwave that shook Hector to his very bones and organs.

He wavered, he didn't have the strength to completely block his attacks. While his blade could handle it, his body couldn't. With a cry of pain, Hector let the attack push him back. The heels of his feet digging into the ice floor until they caught against a lip. He fell backward but kicked his foot up into Hell's stomach. He had a subtle amusement in his eyes as he thrusted his foot up to the low sky that was the top of the cave. He may not have Kaioken, but he did have his immense amount of base physical strength.

Hell grunted as his back hit the top of the cave, a thousand little naturally made ice spikes dug into his back. But none did any serious amount of damage and he let gravity do the work and let himself fall back to the ground. Aiming right in front of his prey. Hector rolled backward and pushed his hands as he felt himself go upside down. He flipped onto his feet again, and stayed where he was. Heaving for air but keeping his hands ready to direct his weapons to counter and redirect Hell's attacks. It was a miracle he has lasted this long already.

When Hell stood up with a manic smile on his face however, his blood cooled within his beating heart. Then he began laughing, and his face paled. He's been found out doubtless.

"Why aren't you using you dark magic _brother_?" Hell asked, referring to him by that same word he called him the first time they met what felt like so long ago now. "Your attacks are weak, nothing like how they were the first time we battled. You're using the insurmountable version of magic, the insufferable light type. I will have you know that if you hope to defeat me with such underhanded tactics, you will die in seconds."

"How do you know I'm not just holding back just to fuck with you?" Hector challenged, hoping beyond all hope that his bluff isn't called out.

Hell only smirked at him. "Because I no longer sense that dark presence within you as I did before." At that, Hector had no retort. "When we first clashed, I sensed the power you had within you, the overwhelming amount of magic that pumped through your veins. My, there was so much of it that I thought that your heart would have exploded before you ever lasted as long as you did."

"Now however, you're as weak as any maiden, and maidens are what I was literally _born_ to destroy."

"Oh yeah?" Hector flourished both of his weapons, stalling for as much time as he can so that he could catch his breath. Moving that fast without Kaioken sure was taxing on his body. "Then maybe I _should_ stop holding back." the grip he had around the hilt of the sword of Destruction tightened, and he shifted his stance so that his dominant arm was pushed forward instead of his off hand. He had one shot at this, and he had to take it.

"A bluff, surely." Hell snapped, chuckling madly. "You have not the _speed_ to keep up with me."

Hector taunted him, raising his left hand with the cane in it and using what fingers he could to beckon Hell to come at him. This was his last shot, he knew an attack was coming, and he wasn't going to risk attack on his own with what slow speed he knew he had.

Hell didn't rise to his bait, but after a considerable amount of seconds he realized that he was the one who was going to have to initiate the attack. He inched himself forward, and this time Hector slowly slid backward on his back foot. Keeping his eyes locked on Hell's form and looking at his muscles to see which arm he was going to use to attack him with and which leg he was going to use to lunge at him with. It was a delicate and grueling method to use that was straining on the mind, but he needed to use every little trick he had in his arsenal if he wanted to survive this day, or night. He couldn't what time of day it was, but right now that did not matter.

Then, it happened. He moved. Hell moved like a blur of black, red, and white. His eyes couldn't keep up with his movements, but the muscle memory in every inch of his body could. His arms moved on their own, and he closed his eyes out of fear that he was going to lose them. He dropped Ozma's cane, thinking an apology to the old man as he gripped the Sword of Destruction in both of his hands. Hell was already in mid air, and thus could not dodge. But he would only still be in the air for a fraction of a second. If he so much as took the time to open his eyes, it would lead to his death.

The Relic of Destruction flamed with a dark red fire and quickly turned to bright purple. Hell had time to widen his eyes, and only that as the blade soared through the air. Realization set in a matter of milliseconds, and he tried to divert his path so that he didn't get struck by the blade. Something in his instincts told him that if he went through with his attack he would get killed, and his instincts did not often lead him astray.

It was too little too late, the sword grew bright, and it slashed through his arm as if it was a scorching hot knife through already partially melted butter. Hell didn't even have the time to scream as a _roar_ of power _exploded_ out of the blade in an arc of power larger than a mountain. Larger than the very mountain they were inside as of at that moment.

Hector cracked open his bionic eye, and saw the absolute _devastation_ that he has caused. There was a massive hole open in the side of the mountain before him, he was standing on the edge of a mountain that once was where it was. The clouds above him and for miles ahead were cut in two, revealing the morning sky above him. But that isn't what shocked him. What shocked him was how _far_ the damage seemed to extend. The Relic of Destruction with just two of it's other siblings could very much be considered a weapon of mass destruction capable of killing thousands in a single slash.

He looked down to his shaking hand still holding the blade, it still flamed purple, and for a moment he was hesitant to even be holding the blade. He looked a little lower, and saw an arm cut off just above the elbow and in the middle of a bicep. Bleeding black blood and melting away into a mist of blackness. He… won?

Then a fist was struck directly into his face during his moment of distraction.

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"MOVE!" Qrow screamed as he tackled Mercury and Winter to the ground. Out of the way of the bright purple arc of power that nearly killed them on the spot. They tumbled and tumbled in the snow but came to a stop as Mercury wrapped himself around a tree, leaving one of his metal legs slack so that his comrades could hold onto it for dear life.

"What the fuck was _that_!?" The silver haired teen shouted as the tremors slowly began to die down. Upon hearing the silence in response, his eyes cracked open and he prepared himself for the worst. To his relief, both Qrow and Winter were still alive and in one piece. But their eyes were wide and stared passed his face behind him.

Mercury turned his head around and matched their expressions of wide eyes. Not even a meter away was a perilous drop of a hundred feet, the chasm between the edge he was at now and the other was ever larger, and it got even bigger the more it went down the mountain. Looking further down the path of destruction, somewhere in the middle the attacks seemed to shrink down again, but didn't fail to cut through a mountain on miles down.

"How did… what?" Mercury muttered in his shock.

"I don't know kid…" Qrow answered him. "But whatever is going on up there, maybe Summer was right to toss us."

"Yes…" Winter agreed with him for one of the first times ever. "I believe you are correct on this one."

Qrow couldn't even find it within himself to tease the Ice Queen about it. Instead he stood up, helping Winter up next and then Mercury after that. Once they were all standing he took a few steps closer to the edge, he fully took in the mass amount of damage that was just done to the entire general area in the shame of a very long diamond. He has never seen any kind of destruction like this before.

"There's no way that was him," Qrow said, shaking his head in denial. "I refuse to believe it. I've seen him and Hector fight before back in Atlas, and the collateral damage was nowhere near this intense at that time, and that wasn't even _that_ long ago."

"Well, you better believe it man." Mercury said as he grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the edge. "Because as far as from what I can see, there's a couple of miles of destruction and there's only one person nearby strong enough to do damage like that. I don't want to be near that someone at… the moment." His eyes went wide as he looked down to his feet, seeing snow slowly trickle down the mountain they were standing on, some of it piling against his heels as he stood completely still.

"We have to move." Winter declared as she looked up the mountain, wearing an expression that confirmed Mercury's sudden fear.

"Avalanche."

As if on cue, another massive and strong vibration was felt throughout the mountain. They all shook where they stood and held on to each other for balance as more and more snow started falling down the side of the mountain they were living in for so long. Mercury cursed and gripped the Relic of Creation even harder as he started running down the mountain at an angle, followed my Qrow and Winter as they desperately tried to find a way to get out of the way of the massive blanket of snow rolling down the mountain toward them. No amount of aura would save them from being buried alive by snow. Even if they survived the initial impact, digging up from underneath the snow would be nearly impossible unless they somehow found a way to stay at the top.

Out of desperation, Mercury threw the Relic of Creation at Qrow. "Turn into a bird and get out of here Qrow."

Qrow shook his head. "I can't just leave you two here to die."

"Qrow we don't have time to fight about this!" Mercury exclaimed, stopping and gesturing all around themselves. "Look at the situation we're in man. We're surrounded by snow for _miles_ , and we're not Ruby. We can't outrun _that_." He pointed to the avalanche, and shoved the staff even more roughly into his hands. "You're the only hope right now, get that thing to Hector, that's what we came for here in the first place." His shaky and raspy voice betrayed the way he felt. He was fearful of death, but then again, who wasn't? He worked with Cinder out of fear, and now he was sacrificing his life out of fear of Salem. "Heh… just think about it this way, maybe Ice Queen here has a glyph that will let us jump really high."

By the sound of Winter's amused snicker, that wasn't something she was capable of doing. She could create speed glyphs, but even though Mercury mentioned Ruby's speed, they would just end up slipping on the melting snow and risk knocking themselves out on one of the trees further down the mountain. There was no glyph she had at her disposal that could save them here, but she was going to try anyway.

Stabbing her sabre into the ground, she started summoning the largest Atlesian Knight that she has ever summoned.

"Kid… I…" Qrow trailed off, his hands shaking and not just from the cold as he looked into Mercury's eyes. "I…"

"Don't say anything, we both know I've done enough to deserve more than a snowy grave." Mercury chuckled bitterly. "Get out of here."

Qrow cursed himself for the burning feeling his felt behind his eyes, he didn't cry. But he didn't want the Mercury's last memory of him being him crying like a little bitch. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he bumped his fist against Mercury's chest.

"Are you boy's done or are you going to kiss now?" A new voice asked as she landed in front of Winter Schnee. "If so, let me take a picture of it."

"S-Summer!?" Qrow exclaimed, looking at her back with wide eyes.

"In the flesh." A Summer who was much more battle damaged than the last time he saw her, but she was there. Her face was on display for the world to see, as well as her robotic right arm. The smile on her face brought more comfort to everyone as she turned her head to face the avalanche. Smile disappearing in favor of a flame of white bursting from one eye. "You might want to huddle up behind me."

Qrow, Winter, and Mercury did so without hesitation. The knight Winter was trying to summon before was left forgotten and allowed to get swallowed up by the snow mere moments later. Qrow shoved the relic back into Mercury's grip with a grunt, and placed a hand against Summer's back.

"If you're here with us, who's up there fighting Hell?" He asked loudly.

"Why, none other than Hector Rivers of course." Summer said with no real amusement in her voice as she focused her powers into her arms and hands, a pale blue flame surrounding them like an aura. She was exhausted, but she still had a large portion of her magic left, and she had more than enough to stop a petty avalanche.

Qrow's face scrunched up in a strange mixture of confusion and hope. "W-what? How is he here!? We're like two hundred miles away from anything!"

"Magic." Summer answered vaguely.

"Listen, however he got here, I'm not about to complain about it. If he wants to deal with that thing up there, let him." Mercury said as he huddled tighter to Summer's back. "Let's ask all the questions we have _after_ we survive this, eh?"

"Agreed." Winter said.

"Whatever." Qrow added.

Summer smirked. She didn't say anything else as she willed the snow apart from them. The snow seemed to be moved around an invisible force in the shape of a V, and it kept being pushed farther and farther apart as she focused more and more of her power into the redirection of the snow. Living out in the wilderness of Atlas like this for so long while being the Winter Maiden was a cause for a lot of practice like this. Avalanches were common, and while this one was much larger than the ones she was used too, it didn't take much more effort to split it apart completely dozens of feet before it even got close to them.

They were going to be safe for a time, and she could keep this up for a while. But she couldn't help but think about what could be going on up there. She recognized the Relic of Destruction in Hector's right hand, and so could safely assume how this all happened. But is it over now? Did Hector just win? If so, she was probably going to be doing this for a while.

 _C'mon Rios. Now would be a good time to make another dramatic return._ Summer thought to herself as she gritted her teeth.

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Hector cried out in massive amount of pain as he gripped the thin spear of ice that stabbed through his back and out his hip. The ice snapped as he lurched forward, but he was now bleeding and weaker. Even through the pain, he opened one of his eyes and looked toward the now one armed Hell. Also screaming in pain as he clutched his bleeding stump of an arm even after he just smashed his fist into his face just a second ago. Black blood mixed with red squirted out of his arm, and out of desperate hope he tried to pick his old arm back up. It was steaming as it tried to heal, but he couldn't regenerate his limbs back. That much was obvious with the way his skin slowly melded over the stump like it would after having months of time to heal.

He looked around to see that Deus was lying on the ground several feet away from him. The shock of the amount of damage he had caused was all but gone now in favor of all the pain he felt. He felt like he had a few chipped teeth, and his two reserves of aura were working overtime to try and close the wound he now had on his stomach. With a groan, he threw himself forward toward the blade, and whined when a foot beat him too it, sending the blade clattering away with a kick.

"No more!" Hell screamed as he kicked him in the face, making him rolled away into a pile of fallen ice. Luckily, his aura was able to protect him this time. "No more surprises!" Hell screamed again as he made his way toward him. Half his body was covered in black blood, and he was crying tears of black as he held his stump and squeezed it in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "No more of _you_! I've had enough of your _bullshit_ comebacks!" When he got close enough to grab him, he didn't resist as he was picked up by the scarf Ruby gifted to him, not even when his face was mere inches away from a mirror image of his own, only corrupted with dark magic. Dark magic…

"How!? How do you keep beating the odds!? How has a single man such as yourself cause _this_ much trouble!?" Hell shook him, and Hector winced, as he felt himself being choked by his own weight, and his wound flaring with more pain. "How can I be _literally_ fifty times stronger than you, and yet you can _still_ do this to me!? Well!? ANSWER ME!"

Hector laughed in his face, squinting as he opened one of his eyes. Somewhere in the clash, his left eye, the bionic one was damaged. He was forced to keep it closed as he opened his right blue eye, traced with a golden magic as he locked glares with Hell.

"The answer is as obvious as one can think," Hector claimed. "I have the power of friendship on my side."

"RARGH!" Hell roared as he threw Hector behind himself. He slid on the ground and nearly fell off the edge, stopping himself by grabbing a crack in the ice and forcing his fingers into it, he winced as he felt his shoulder nearly pop out of it's socket as he came to an immediate stop. "Enough of this." Hell continued as he stomped toward him, a drip of black falling from his face and severed arm as he made his way toward him. "It doesn't matter what you've done in the past, it doesn't matter that you are somehow the owner of two of the relics, and it doesn't matter what you or any of your pathetic friends do now. Because today, one of us dies, and I don't see that being me at all."

"What?" Hector said in a whisper quiet enough that Hell did not hear him. He was the owner of _three_ relics, not two. That meant he didn't know about the crown… Could it be possible? With him?

Hector forced himself back onto one knee, he spat blood out of his mouth and with a fist helped push himself back to his two feet. Bleeding from a stab wound in his side and whatever internal damage he has received in this fight so far, he still stood up against an impossible to defeat foe. Just as he does all the time. It was practically a hobby of his by now. His fingers grasped the Crown of Choice hooked to his hip, and secretly unhooked it.

"And still, you stand against me and refuse to accept your fate." Hell said with a shake of his head.

"I'm not the one being someone I don't want to be." Hector fired back, standing up straight with one hand behind his back. He had to be careful with his next move, Hell was still fast enough to kill him in a fraction of a second.

Hell's eyebrow visibly twitched. "Stop that, you won't fool me with your lies."

"Is it a lie though?" Hector asked with a cocky smirk. He continued before Hell could snap back. "You and I are literally the same person, even if you were born from my DNA and Salem's magic. We share memories, even if yours is a bit behind. You weren't able to see my friends as friends before, but once you gained a bit of soul… you started thinking you were making a mistake, didn't you?"

"Shut up!" Hell shouted, his voice so loud that it shook the very mountain they were standing in. Thin cracks went through the ice as a result. "You don't understand anything that goes through my head, just because we may share some memories doesn't mean that we are the same person." He slapped his one hand against his chest, and with pride, he stood up a little straighter and with pride. "I. Am. Hell. I am darkness. My body is literally made up of mostly dark magic. Your DNA just happens to be a part of it."

Hector tilted his head and smirked and invisible smirk. "Is that so?" He asked, an orange color seeping into his eye.

Hell nodded his head. "Yes- What is that on your head?" He asked out of confusion, he has never seen such a crown with such strange jewels before.

"The Relic of Choice," Hector said as an orange energy crackled throughout his body, his one eye grew more and more orange, and in the next second Hell widened his eyes in realization and shock, and in the next he was moving to kill him.

"And you will make the _choice_ to stop fighting."

Hell stopped right before his fist could clash with Hector's smiling face. "Take five steps back, that is your decision." Hector demanded. Hell followed his command to the letter, all with a strained look on his face. "Now get down on your knees."

Hell whined incoherently as he was forced to do his bidding. He got down on one knee slowly, before falling down on his other. He stared with fearful red eyes as Hector gained an aura of orange and blue. "Now stay there." He commanded as he walked around him and went to go pick up his lost sword. Deus slid back into his sheath with ease, and Hector walked back in front of Hell, looking down at him with a victorious smile on his face.

"The Relic of Choice, a very powerful relic, arguably the most powerful out of all of them." Hector explained simply as he saw Hell's eyes staring above his head. "You see, I noticed that we don't share _all_ of our memories together, that should have been obvious before, but you were never someone I was worried about. I didn't know if I could control you with this relic, but it was well worth the try." He flicked his nose. "I mean, damn, you literally can't do anything of your own will, can you?" When Hell didn't answer, Hector laughed.

"I can tell how some mortal men could lose themselves with such power, though the relics wouldn't _all_ choose to be owned by one. You see, I gave it a lot of thought, and I never did ask Jinn if she could _lie_ to her owner. That came back to bite me in the ass. But no longer will I be blind to my own biology." Hector raised himself back up, Hell was helpless to do anything. He could barely even breathe of his own will.

"I mean, think about it. We must have the same early childhood memories. Does it really make any sense that an _earthling_ with very little experience with experience in fighting and none in magic would just randomly wake up in the woods of Mistral in a different dimension? Answer honestly."

"N-No." Hell croaked.

"I feel the same way." Hector said with a nod. "Anyway, I am going to get my answer very soon. I'm afraid that you won't be getting any, and I won't allow you the chance to convince me otherwise." Hell whimpered, and Hector could tell that he was desperately trying to resist the control that he had over him, but it was all to no avail. The manipulation potential Hector had with the Relic of Choice was much too powerful to resist. "I may be merciful, but there is a limit to my mercy. I can tell that you have conflict within you, and while I _could_ force you to work with us with the Relic of Choice. I don't know that if at any time my influence over you will meld away and you kill us all in our sleep, and I can't and will not accept that risk."

Hector stepped closer to Hell, and placed his left hand on his shoulder, where his stump of an arm was held tight to his own side. "Luckily, I just got the most perfect idea. While you won't help us willingly, and I can't force you to work with us permanently, there _is_ something you can do that will aid us indefinitely…" Hector looked into Hell's eyes.

"You can give me back the dark magic that I lost."

When Hell's eyes widened, Hector began to explain. "You may not remember just yet, but Salem ambushed my friends and I back in Vacuo. Long story short, I gave up my dark magic and the physical connection I had with the Relic of Knowledge. She thought me powerless, but she made the mistake of assuming that I was just going to give up the fight against her. She must have realized by now that I have two more relics, and am very close to collecting them all… or can you see me right now?" He looked deeper into Hell's eyes, as if he was trying to find something.

"Can you see me right now Salem? Can you see the mistake you made? If so, know that after this, I am coming after you next. You know just as well as I do that collecting all four relics can give someone powers of a God, and, well… I am not very far from that state, am I? No wonder you tried to control me so many times, I couldn't see why then, but I can now. It wasn't just for my physical prowess. If you can see me now Salem, know that you will not be immortal for much longer."

"And now, you get to watch as the power you stole from me returns." Hector leaned back, and prepared his right hand to do the same thing he planned to do to her months ago.

"Hell, you will make the choice to give yourself up, and will not resist when I steal the dark magic from your body." Hector chanted.

Hell was forced to choose to follow his command, his muscles relaxed, and his eyes turned half lidded as he puffed his chest out in offering.

"For what it's worth, Hell, I _am_ sorry that it has come to this." Hector shut his eyes, and thrusted his hand into Hell's chest, and gripped his beating heart.

A dark magical power flowed out of Hells chest and insides, flowing into his arm and by extension into his own body. It hurt a tremendous amount, but slowly his red aura returned to him. His eyes flashed red when he opened them, and he was surprised to see that his own bionic eye popped out of it's own socket, and a new fleshy one was in its place. He gritted his teeth as every drop of dark magic Hell had within his body was sapped out.

Just a few seconds later, Hell was completely drained, and lifeless. When Hector ripped his hand back out, Hell's dark lifeless eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fell to his side. His body began to melt away and evaporate much like a Grimm's would. Hector looked away from his dissipating corpse, and looked down to his own body.

His skin was paler, not nearly as much as Hell's was. He could still see the tan in his own skin tone, but as he looked into the ice to see his own reflection, he could see that his eyes were now red. The same color of red that he had when he murdered Cinder so long ago. His hair was also no longer black, but a dark grey inside, almost like Mercury's, but darker still.

He's done it, he could feel Kaioken was back in his body. But for some reason, he also felt… incomplete.

" _Hector… What have you done?"_ Ozma asked, barely able to recognize the man he reincarnated into.

"What I had to." To his relief, his voice was still the same. "I am still Hector Rivers Ozma, I'm just a little… darker looking."

" _If you mean like a Grimm, than I agree."_

"I won't argue about this Ozma, I needed this power back. Only a person with dark magic can steal magic from another dark magic user. Besides, you've always been the kind of person who thought that the ends justify the means."

" _That is different Hector!"_ Ozma shouted. " _Not once did I ever sacrifice my own humanity for-"_

"You forget that I am _not_ human!" Hector shouted back, cutting him off. "You don't even know what I am, and you feared that I was a monster before. But we will _both_ get our answers very soon."

" _If you contact the Gods through the relics, there won't be a world to save anymore."_

"And how do you know that?" Hector challenged.

" _Because unlike you, I have actual experience with the Gods. The Gods of Light and Darkness are not ones to make demands of. Even by someone other than yourself."_

"You fail to consider the fact that the last time you spoken to one of them was three thousand years ago." Hector pointed out. "Things are different now, I know they are."

" _It may have been three thousand years for me, but they are God's Hector. Three thousand years may not be enough time for a God to change."_

"Well," Hector clenched his fist together as a dark red aura flowed over his body. "There's only one way to find out then, is there?" He cut off Ozma from his thoughts as he turned around and walked toward the ledge he created with destruction. He removed the Relic of Choice from his head, and hooked it back onto his belt. He looked down and to where he sensed Summer and the Relic of Creation.

His red aura turned to a frost blue as he used light magic to teleport to her, he could hear the exclamation of shock from Qrow and Mercury as he placed a hand on Summer's shoulder, and beckoned the others to join him. Once they were all wrapped up around him, Hector thought of a place that was _away_ from there where the avalanche was that Summer was holding back on her own.

With a dull thud, each and everyone one of them fell into the snow just a few hundred feet away from the walls of Atlas still in repairs. Hector let out a deep breath and fell to one knee, his new ability of teleportation was going to need some practice. With a deep inhale, Hector stood back up and rolled his shoulders, helping up Summer in the process.

She wasn't even surprised to see his deep red eyes, and smiled at him like he was the son she hasn't seen in decades. "It's good to see you again." She said with a smile as she grabbed onto his hands, and held them for a few moments.

Hector smiled back and hugged her, only letting her go when Qrow coughed to get his attention.

"Since when could you teleport kid-" He recoiled back in shock for a moment at the sight of his much darker look, but regained his composure quickly. "What happened up there?"

"Long story short, Hell is no longer going to be a threat to us. I stole his dark magic and absorbed it into my body." Hector quickly explained, and nodded to the older Huntsman. "Good to see you Qrow, and the rest of you too for that matter."

"Yeah, you too I guess." Mercury said as he laid back in the snow outstretched. The Relic of Creation lying on the ground beside him. "Isn't it weird how I feel hot all the way back here now?"

He went ignored. "I am also relieved to see a friendly face." Winter nodded to him as she stayed sat down. They were all exhausted, but there was still one more thing they had to do.

"Are you ready to fulfil your destiny?" Summer asked him as she went over and picked up the Relic of Creation. It was a silver staff with flowing gold energy around a spearhead shaped diamond embedded at the top of it. It was simple looking if he was being completely honest. With no special designs or strange jewels in it at all. But the magic he felt from it was palpable.

"Yes." Hector said as he stepped closer to her.

Summer smiled at him as she held out the spear with both of her hands, offering it to him. It was much easier than all the other relics he has had to collect over the years. He killed Cinder and fought Raven at Haven for the Relic of Knowledge, he fought the Summer Maiden and Salem in Vacuo for the Relic of Destruction, he nearly died collecting the Relic of Choice in Vale, and yet now, he was literally just be handed the Relic of Creation in Atlas. By the once presumed dead Summer Rose no less, and the same woman he went back in time for.

With a nervous gulp, he reached forward and grabbed the staff. Instantly, he felt its power run through his veins, and the immediate acceptance of him as its owner. He didn't even hear the voice that belonged to this being, but he didn't think that it even spoke to him. It might have just automatically selected him because of him being the owner of the other relics. Not that he was going to complain about it at all, this was a very welcome change of pace.

He suddenly felt a spike of power well him from inside of his body. Overwhelming, overflowing, _godlike_ power. He has never felt this strong before, and all this combined with Kaioken, and he doubted that even Salem would be able to defeat him. His body glowed with a golden aura, but around him he could see that the falling snow was frozen in mid air, Summer, Qrow, Mercury and Winter were also all frozen, unmoving. Qrow was stuck in an odd state of forever falling as he aimed to lie down against the ground.

Time was frozen, he could easily tell. Not even the relics were being responsive to him. He looked all around him, and saw that everywhere was frozen. Not just that patch of land they were on. He could see Bullheads in the sky unmoving, he could see a Bullhead in the middle of taking off. He could even see Ruby and the rest of his friends making their way toward him, they must have seen him and everyone else he teleported suddenly appear in front of Atlas, and he snickered at the thought of anyone trying to stop them from getting to him.

However, he looked away from them, and up into the sky.

His suspicions were correct, the Gods _were_ summoned by the relics all coming together, even if he didn't physically have the Relic of Knowledge with him. He just had to be the owner of all four.

" _As I expected,"_ The God of Light began, his voice was deep and gentle. Body golden with the horns of a stag atop his head. " _I knew this would happen, yet I am still pleasantly surprised."_

" **You mean you thought for a moment that this** _ **wasn't**_ **going to happen?"** The God of Darkness asked with arrogant laughter. This God had was a dark purple with twisted horns akin to that of a goats and contrast to his brother he had dark purple skin, or at least what appeared to be skin, Hector had no idea how to describe it. " **We created him specifically for this to happen, and now that it has..."** The God looked into Hector's eyes with his vague expression, he had no eyes, and no visible facial expression, but Hector was able to make out a raised eyebrow. " **Is there anything our creation wants from us, now that we are here?"**

Hector looked at both of them, barely concealed anger restrained in his facial expression. These two beings started this all, and the dare come back like this?

"I want answers." Hector declared, looking up at both of the Gods as they both touched down on the ground. Even then, they were a good eight feet taller than him still.

"I want to know what I am, and why I am here."

* * *

 **And there's a cliffhanger for you all to enjoy! I'm not even going to say much else, this entire chapter was supposed end like 2k words ago, but I decided that ending it here would be a much more powerful point to end it at. So many important things happened this chapter, and now the Gods are here. What could** _ **possibly**_ **happen next?**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far, if you would like to keep up with me on the progress of every chapter of every story, you may follow me on twitter!**

 **T witter . com (slash) genatools**

 **And if you would like to support me directly, I also hav treon.**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	75. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 75

**Hah, a lot of you guys seemed to be in a state of distress after last chapters cliffhanger. No worries, you will all get your answers now. The mystery that has haunted this story since it's' very beginning will finally be solved. It took me a** _ **Looong**_ **time to plan this scene out, trying to figure out if it was okay to put it** _ **before**_ **the final battle rather than** _ **after**_ **. But hey, you know me. As one of followers once said to me, I slapped a bunch of shit together, and thus RWBY: Oh Gosh was born, and then later grew up to be An Unlikely Hero. And this is only the beginning.**

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 **Oblivious IJ: The future is here, and the answers you desire shall be so…**

 **Zeldawolffang: Hurt no longer my friend! Chapter 75 is among us!**

 **Arctech: Oof, I actually thought you were being serious there for a second Lol. But if you want the manager that runs this story, here I am. The scene that I teased you guys with will come this chapter, so don't get your torches lit just yet.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. And Hector did the do. Yang's new arm** _ **does**_ **have a new trick, I admit. But it won't be revealed just yet, there's a slightly more important plot point going on at the moment. The answer to your second question will be provided in the story below. I** _ **think**_ **the last time Hector and Hell fought was like 30+ chapters ago, so pretty much half a story ago. Sadly, not everyone is safe from death, I did say a while back that I wasn't afraid to kill some main characters, and Hell was only the first. The power of the relics are only just now being delved into, so if you think they were strong now, just you wait!**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Wow, this story is so close to 400 follows. Thank you all for the support! Special thanks to those who have been there in the beginning, you know who you are.**

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Chapter 75- Gods Among Men

" **You wish to know what you are, and what you are here for?"** The God of Darkness remarked, snickering to himself at some unknown inside joke Hector didn't care to try and understand.

He kept staring up at them, the owner of all four relics would immediately summon the Gods of this world. He had the Relic of Destruction in his right hand, and the Relic of Creation in his left with the Relic of Choice atop his head. Even though the Relic of Knowledge was not there physically, there was still a spectral presence he felt around his finger, the ring that Knolly turned herself into so he could better fight with her on his person.

There was an age old prophecy that never left his mind even after all this time. At any second, even if on something as insignificant as a whim. Either of these Gods could kill him in an instant, he wasn't so arrogant with his newfound power to believe that he could actually stand up to these literal Gods. If Ozma's memories told him anything, the Gods were Omnipotent. They could literally do whatever they wanted and no one would be able to do anything about it if they didn't like it. Not even him.

"Yes." He confirmed with a nod. He felt a hatred that wasn't his, Ozma's hatred for the Gods was more than justified. Given the fact that they exterminated almost all of humanity for apparently not meeting their expectations, only to let Ozma and Salem roam the planet as immortals for three thousand years with impossible orders and only coming back because someone who wasn't even human to collect the four relics.

" _An interesting choice in particular."_ The God of Light commented, sparing a glance toward his fellow God and brother.

" **Truly?"** The God of Darkness asked.

" _No, not particularly."_ The golden God sighed. " _Expected, predictable even. I suppose I shouldn't be too disappointed for a result I knew was going to come into fruition."_

Hector had enough, he let his aura burst out of his body. It didn't mean much to the Gods but it caught their attention again. "I want my answers. I collected all the relics, I became the owner of all four relics. Relics that the _two of you_ created, and somehow I think I have an inkling that you wanted me _specifically_ to own them all."

If the God of Darkness was smiling, Hector could barely tell that he was. His facial expression was vague at best, and the features that the deity _did_ have were little more trivial to spot. " **Ah, you** _ **are**_ **smart. Very well, you are the owner of the four relics, and now are in possession of a fraction of our Godlike powers. Both of ours."**

That was what the Light and Dark magic both being within his body meant, then. It must have been why Ozma was never able to claim the Relic of Destruction, never having a single ounce of dark magic within his body even over the course of thousands of years prevented him from _ever_ collecting the four relics. He realized that Ozma was doomed on a quest that he couldn't hope to complete, and that was something truly terrible. No wonder Ozma hated these two so much. Salem for that matter also couldn't hope to ever bring them together, strictly being a vessel of Dark magic. It made sense, she had thousands of years to conquer humanity, yet was never able to. Ozma was a powerful man, but even he wasn't ever enough to defeat Salem. Battle her for some time, yes, but there's just no way he battled her in each and every one of his lives, even if he did manage to get some help for some of those attempts to kill Salem. Since he was the only one to _ever_ have _both_ Light _and_ Dark magic within his body, he might just be the only one in the history of Remnant to ever be able to collect the relics, and that only rose even more questions that needed to be answered.

" **As you already know, you are not human. Despite you believing that you were your whole life, we simply** _ **let**_ **you believe that by putting a few memories into your head that never quite truly existed."**

Hector's eyes went wide and he felt a lump whell up in his throat. He had memories that weren't real… what the God of Darkness had just said may as well have confirmed it.

 _Have you ever thought that Earth was never real to begin with?_ Salem's taunting words from the past came back to terrify him even more. He never wanted to believe it, but the God wouldn't bother with lying to him, he had no reason too.

Earth… was never real… and if that were true… his _family_ were never real to begin with.

He fell to his knees, and felt tears begin to fall out of his eyes and land on the thin layer beneath him lightly.

" _No, a being such as you has no need to shed tears."_ The God of Light said, raising his hand up into the air beside him, and as he willed it Hector began to stand as well. Wiping his face of the tears that escaped from his eyes. Suddenly, Hector felt the heartbreak fade away instantly, and he found his eyes dry when he even wanted to cry.

" _You have no need to feel such an emotion when your memories weren't entirely fabricated. There is no `Earth` true, but somewhere out there, an `Earth` may just be born after we are done with this project of ours."_ The God of Light explained.

" **Ah ah ah,"** The God of Darkness wagged his finger. " **Let's not reveal any of our future plans just yet. What is important now is that our creation have done what we created him to do, his purpose is fulfilled, and as such, he has earned the right to ask a few questions. I believe we haven't even finished answering his question just yet, and I can imagine that he has many more for us."**

"You… you keep referring to me as your creation." Hector started after recovering from the shock of having his very sorrow erased from his body. He didn't know if he could ever feel sad again now. "Why?"

The Gods of Light and Darkness spread their arms, and after a few moments, the world _instantly_ shifted to a black void with trillions of stars all around them. Hector panicked for a moment, but was relieved to see that he was still able to breathe. After getting his bearings, he looked back to the Gods who had just taken him there, asking them the most obvious question with his glare as he floated helplessly in what he hoped to be an illusion of space.

Before they even made to answer his question, he felt himself _flying_ backward. Screaming helplessly as a mirage of colors invaded his vision, some of the colors he saw were the same colors of the ones on the jewels in the crown of Choice, and even some that were even more indistinguishable, he felt his eyes hurt just by looking at them as he flew through the empty void that was the realm he was currently being sent through. He saw the world around him transform and shift again, this time with colors he more easily recognized, the green grass of the soil, the brown bark of a tree, branches, a clear blue sky with puffy white clouds in the sky. It took a moment for him to realize that he was lying on his back, and he pushed himself up to see where he was.

His eyes widened when his memory jogged at a familiar scenery he hasn't seen in years. This was the earliest memory he had of being on Remnant. The location of his awakening.

This was where Hector first woke up.

He looked down to his now shaking hands and feared the worst, was he sent to the past again? Like he was when he was stuck with Summer? His thoughts were answered when he saw _himself_ lying on the ground just a few meters away from him. His eyes shook along with the rest of his body as he looked at the old clothing he was wearing, the blue pajama pants, the dark blue wrestling shirt.

" **Familiar scene?"** The voice of the God of Darkness asked him, appearing many feet above his other body.

"Why am I back here?" Hector asked as the shock began to fade away.

" _You aren't,"_ The God of Light told him. When he tilted his head in confusion, the God continued. " _Yet you are,"_ He gestured to his other, much weaker body. " _We simply brought you back to a scene nearly forgotten, to where it all began. What you see before you now is yourself, but you are not yet alive."_

"H-how is that possible?" Hector asked, pressing a hand against his heart and sighing out of relief when he did in fact feel it beating.

" **We are Gods,"** The God of Darkness said to him, like it was all he needed to say. Yet, he continued anyway. " **Anything is possible when you are Omnipotent."**

" _Even if we allowed your empty body here to simply rot in the Mistralian sun, you would no cease to exist. For you will always exist."_

"That doesn't make any sense!" Hector shouted at them. "I don't understand what you are telling me, just what the hell am I!?"

" _ **Our creation."**_ Both of the Gods said at the same time, and as they said that Hector watched as they aimed their hands forward his past self and transfer something into his body. Two trails of magical energy entered his past self's body, and shortly after, the God of Light took a third trail, a green one this time, and pushed it into his body as well.

"T-that's how Ozma was reincarnated into me…" Hector realized, then watched as his past self began to stir and wake up.

He watched as his past self sat up, a hand holding his head while the other propped himself up into a sitting position. After a few seconds, he looked around and said a familiar line.

"Okay, why and _how_ the fuck did I end up outside on the grass!?"

It played out exactly how it did before, every memory was perfectly recreated. Hector, the past Hector, waking help, hearing Ozma in his head for the first time, running into Grimm for the first time, discovering he had superpowers, and then the quick resolve into going to try and find Qrow.

After rewatching it, he realized that he accepted the revelation much too quickly back then. He just woke up in the middle of a forest, fought monsters he thought were complete fantasy beforehand, and then just agreed to listen to the voice in his head to go and find Qrow? No, it didn't make any sense, it felt much too easy.

" _I admit, you were a little naive and childish in the beginning."_ The God of Light said with a sigh. " _I suppose I only have myself to blame for that."_

"W-wait a second." Hector stammered. "You two are the reason I got these powers? _You_ are the reason Ozma was reincarnated into me?"

" **More like we manipulated him into thinking that you were the better vessel to be born into."** The God of Darkness corrected. " **He had a choice presented to him, be reborn into a boy of a fourteen year old weak child, or be reborn into a stronger, older body. The former choice would have lead down a path we have seen a thousand times, literally."** Hector believed him, he has done his fair share of looking into other time branches as well. " **When he selects the boy, the one appropriately given the name Oscar Pine. The same chain of events always happen, they go on to that silly school of Haven, proceed to do nothing for months, save the school from doom, and then go on a foolish quest to collect the relics knowing that it would mean the doom of the world, and in many scenarios, he just ends up summoning us and has us destroy the world so he can finally die. So very boring, I might add."**

" **In many of those timelines, we leave Ozma trapped in a perpetual hell in a trapped state of infinite life and unpreventable death in the vastness of the void of space. It's more than he deserves, honestly. Very rarely does he and his little group of girls actually manage to defeat Salem."**

" _Which was why we were pleased to see that our plan worked on the first try."_ The God of Light continued for his brother. " _One look at you and Ozma chose your body without hesitation, and, well, you know the rest of that story."_

Hector listened to it all with his head hung low. He took in every drop of it, every word and bit of information was taken and burned into his memory. He would never forget this, no matter what.

" **But, when you started to fail on us at times, that was when we brought** _ **you**_ **into this."** The God of Darkness said, and before Hector could reply, the world changed around them again, and this time it shifted into something he recognized immediately.

It was Haven, during the Battle of Haven. This was after his first fight with Cinder which he lost, with everything seeming so dire at the time. Raven, Cinder, and Vernal all just took the elevator down into the vault of the Relic of Knowledge. He looked around and found his past self again. Covered in pints of his own blood. Now that he was looking from the outside, losing that much blood should have been the death of him. This was where Jaune saved his life though, he could see him working his semblance on him now.

" _It is not quite as simple as that, I'm afraid."_ The God of Light said, reading his mind.

Hector didn't even ask what he meant, he could already see it for himself, and remember exactly how it felt. Salem mentally attacked him here, almost killing him or taking him under control. He remembered the feeling, she almost took him there, but Ozma stopped her, her also remembered that clearly.

But… something was different here. As he watched scenes he wasn't conscious to see at the time, he saw his past self stop bleeding, and his aura flicker out and fade away. He saw as Jaune panicked and tried to revive him, but to no avail. The past Hector didn't wake up, and the battle took a turn for the worst.

He… died?

No, that wasn't possible. He survived that, he remembered getting back up and attacking Hazel, breaking his arm, confronting Adam with Yang and sending her after him. Then he jumped into the vault, killed Cinder and fought Raven. He remembered it all clearly.

So why was he dead here!?

" _This is what happened in every timeline without intervention."_ The God of Light said. " _Every time we didn't do anything, you did the same thing, over and over again. Dying, over and over again. Until we decided to do something about it, your journey was not allowed to end here."_

In a sudden burst of force, Hector was shoved all the way until he was standing over his own dead body. Looking down into its lifeless eyes. He tried to look away, but he couldn't. He was stuck.

" **So, I gave you a loan of magic."** To his relief, he watched as his own body flickered to life for a moment, but began to panic again when he saw his own aura flicker away once more. The reason being that time was rewinded. " **And now it is time to pay back that loan."**

"W-what do you mean?" Hector asked, panicking as he watched his younger body die.

" **Must I devolve myself so much so that you understand?"** The God rolled his unseen eyes. " **Pay back the power I leant you, or you will be stuck here for eternity until you do."**

He had no real option, and he was more than willing if it meant saving his own life, and by extension the rest of his friends lives. There was just one problem… "I don't know how!" He exclaimed.

" _Yes you do."_ The God of Light interrupted him. " _By mortal standard, you are a Demigod, but we all know that isn't what you truly are. Something as trivial as lending power comes natural to all deity's, all you have to do."_ The God of Light was suddenly beside him, he grabbed his hand, and pushed it forward until he was down on one knee. He watched as the God set his own hand down on the chest of his younger self. " _Is try."_

A flash of red and blue shone from Hector's eyes and body, and suddenly he felt some of the Dark magic he had take from Hell leave his body, and enter himself from the past. Seconds later, he saw his younger self open his eyes, though this time they were red instead of brown.

" **And thus, you survive for another manner of weeks."**

Hector barely heard him, though he thought that this was deus ex machina if not anything else. He could only watch as the same events from his past played for him like a move trapped in the fast forward function. He watched as he killed Cinder again… his past self's red eyes glowing brightly. So _that's_ why he seemed so much stronger and brutal when he woke up, he had more Dark magic than he did before, and it corrupted him temporarily into brutally taking his first life, and then not even feel bad about it afterward. After that, he watched himself battle Raven again, and got his answer on how he was able to match her blow for blow like he was able to before. Simply put, the burst of power he gave his past self was what gave him that edge.

 _Wait…_ Hector thought to himself as he thought about the God of Darkness' previous words. _I only survived for a few weeks more?_

Another scene hit him hard, he floated in the air as he watched a train rail be exploded while a train was traveling over it, and then watched through the train windows as his past self created Ozma's shield around himself and the old Team RNJR. Saving them all in the process.

He instantly knew where this was going, and choked back a sob as he saw himself face down on the ground, bleeding from a dozen wounds. Tyrian's new and improved venom going to work on his body and blocking out Kaioken from being activated, and again… he saw himself die.

" **You died here again, not every single time mind you. Sometimes you were able to avoid being stung, but most times… you weren't."**

" _You know what you must do by now, don't you?"_

" **I had to loan you more of my power, now it is time to repay the debt you owe.**

Hector nodded, he placed his hand on his own past body, and gave him even more of Hells Dark magic, feeling himself get weaker again and just as he remembered. The past Hector stood back up, and forced a neon violet Kaioken activation, and fought back with great force, and in the end, he watched as let himself get stabbed by Tyrians tail again, and then electrocute him with Ebony and Ivory, then proceeding to strangle the clone to death until his neck snapped.

Salem attacked him here again, tried to usurp control of his mind. Another question of his answered, she was only able to contact him again because of the burst of Dark magic he had in his body again. It almost took him, and it would have if he didn't rip out his own eye.

Upon witnessing that memory again, he traced the area around his newly reformed eye that healed after he stole Hells magic. He hardly even registered it's return, he was worried about what that said about himself.

Again, without any further dialogue, he was sent further and further into the future. He saw himself adopt Rhea all of again, run into Oscar, mess around with Jaune, Ren, and Nora, all the way until Raven sent them all to Team RWBY in Atlas. Right where the Battle for Atlas quickly started upon their arrival. Everything went on the same, and he watched on in silence beside the two Gods who supposedly created him. He has gotten a lot of his questions answered, but the main one still wasn't answered yet.

Why?

Then it happened again, Hell beat the past Hector, and was about to kill all his friends in front of him. He had to give his past self even more power, and then he activated Kaioken times sixty for the first time. Luckily, Hell had an overwhelming amount of Dark magic within his body, he was literally made up of more Dark magic than anything else, so it made sense that he would have a lot to spare.

After that, he never had to give himself power again. Again, like a movie stuck on fast forward, he watched the same events transpire. Him and Ruby getting together, Ozpin's betrayal, officially adopting Rhea, recruiting Adam and Neo, sending half of his friends to Beacon while he went to Vacuo with the maidens, Ruby, and Neo. He asked his next question when he saw himself go into the past and save Summer, becoming her guardian angel of sorts.

"What happened to me here?" Hector asked the Gods, expecting an answer from them.

" _I am afraid that we did not have any involvement in this particular turn of events."_ The God of Light said. " _I dare say you were the one who managed to do this on your own, with the help of the Relic of Knowledge, of course. The vast amount of Dark magic you had in your body must have clashed with the light, making you noticeable in a realm where you were not supposed to be seen. The reason Summer Rose is alive is because of you, and she is needed in order for the ending we desire to come into fruition. So we allowed your own divine intervention that resulted with you saving her life where she was fated to fall."_

Hector wanted to argue that what the God said was not enough to explain everything that happened during that time, but he thought against it. He couldn't expect to understand the dealings of Gods when he himself has very little expirience in the matter. Instead he continued to watch his own life play out up until Salem bested them all, and stole his Dark magic.

"How did I survive this?" Hector asked as Salem _ripped_ her hand out of the past Hector's chest.

" **Simply put, you had much constitution. You were tough, and we haven't had to give you power since the Battle for Atlas."** The God of Darkness said, and Hector didn't even react as the world changed around him, and he was right back in Atlas. Time was frozen still, Summer, Qrow, Mercury and Winter were all still next to him, completely ignorant of what was going on.

Hector fell to his knees again, and this time all the way down to the point where he had to hold himself up with his hands as well. Traveling through different times like that and giving away so much power was exhausting for him, and although his body was recuperating quickly, for a few moments he felt like he was dying. His heart couldn't stop pounding. Only the fact that he was the owner of all four relics was the thing that prevented him from passing out.

"What about…" He coughed and hacked. The Gods waited patiently for him to recover himself. "What about what happened just a few minutes ago, why didn't you show me that?"

" **There was no need to,"** The God of Darkness said. " **We all know what happened, it had just happened under an hour ago, and there was nothing to show you that was of importance. Unless you wanted to hear yourself speak that little speech of yours."**

" _All there is left to see, is the present."_ The God of Light added.

"Why…?" Hector whispered, and sat up straight on his knees. He felt so powerful, but oh so weak at the same time when he compared himself to them. They just pulled him through time itself and tossed him back out with half the power he had before. But out of all the questions he still had, one of them ruled out through them all. "Why do all this? Why did you create me? What is the point of all of this!?" He desperately shouted at them, anger raising with each passing second. "WHY!?" He screamed at last.

The Gods looked to each other for a moment, before looking back to Hector. It seemed like they shared some kind of silent message between each other. After a few moments, they answered his question.

" _ **Over the many millenia,"**_ They started at the same time, and continued in perfect sync. " _ **We have learned that humanity will never ever learn from their mistakes. No matter how many of their own kind that they kill. We gave goals to both Ozma and Salem, one to unite humanity together, and the other to end it. Even with many thousands of years, they have still not completed either of their tasks."**_

" _ **So it fell upon us to make the impossible, possible. You were never intended to become the hero of the masses, you were simply supposed to either unite humanity, or end it. We flipped a coin, you could say, and now humanity is united against a common threat, lead by quite the unlikely anomaly that is yourself. Your very soul was made by the hands of Gods, and your body designed for the specific purpose to handle the power your soul had. Yet, it seems like we've made your body too strong, your soul seems to have suffered for it at times."**_

They hit it right on the head of the nail again, because sometimes when he really pushed himself, his soul _does_ suffer for it.

" _And now you have the power of Light magic…"_

" **And the power of Dark magic…"**

" _You are the third God among us brothers…"_

" **You have overcome the impossible many times…"**

" _Would you care to overcome the odds just one more time?"_

" **Defeat the immortal, Salem."**

" _And you shall be free."_

He was speechless, he had no idea how to reply to any of that. First, Earth wasn't ever real to begin with, then it has been revealed that the whole time the Gods have been the thing that has kept making him push forward, not his own will and power. He always thought that some things were strange, and as his body and mind grew older, he matured and became more self aware. He was able to see the things that didn't make sense, hence his demands of answers from the Gods. Like his tendency to survive the impossible, the power to claim relics and resist the bindings of magic, his strength, stamina, _everything_ about him always seemed so… unnatural.

He always had an inkling that it _could_ have been divine, like Ozma suggested months ago. He should have believe him then, he had first hand experience on what the magic of a God felt like. He always denied it, seeing is as impossible, because there was just no way that _him_ , a mortal of another world, could come to Remnant and suddenly have the powers of a God. It made no sense, and it _still_ doesn't make much sense. He was created by the God brothers of Remnant, for the purpose of either uniting humanity, or causing their destruction. That explained having both Light and Dark magic within him, and it answered hundreds of the questions he had.

But as he looked around to his friends, his second family, the family he has been with for years. Was that all real? Did he _really_ feel for them the way he thought he did? Did he _really_ fall in love with Ruby, and her him of their own free will? Or was this all some game for the Gods to play in their boredom, and every single event of his life was all just some plan influenced by the Gods themselves. It was soul crushing news, and yet he still couldn't even feel and iota of sorrow within his mind. Now they've stolen his ability to feel an emotion because `someone such as him has no need to shed tears`.

Another question popped up in his mind, and it ate away at him so much, he had to force himself to ask it. No matter how much the answer would torture him so.

"Are they real?" Hector asked, gesturing to Ruby and her group, and then to Summer and the others. "Is what I feel real, or is everything that I have ever done just been a part of your plan?"

" _Admittedly, some of what you have done in this life was influenced by us."_

" **But not all,"** The God of Darkness went on. " **We did not force you to fall in love with a mortal, or consummate with her. We did not force you to adopt a child — who is actually older than you, by the by — and we did not force you to become a figure of heroism among humanity. Humanity** _ **is**_ **real also, so do not fear the worst."**

" _The only things that we did influence, are the goals you chose to take. However, I do not believe that you would have not done them anyway if we did not do anything. Besides the obvious of saving your life at time, we really did not do much in the way of forcing you to do what needed to be done, you did that all on your own. I was quite proud to watch you slay that abomination Salem created from your genes. That was what you would have become in the very beginning if I didn't balance the Light magic with the Dark."_

He figured that already, and the answer was thankfully something that made him feel relieved, and smile. So they were real, his love for Ruby was real, the love he had for his friends were real. It might make his relationship with Rhea a little more weird because of her actually being a dozen more years older than him in reality, but they could get passed that and make it a joke in the coming decades. Out of everything he found out today, this revelation was the most relieving.

"What happens if I managed to best Salem?" He asked next.

" **Then you will be free, as we said before."**

"What is your definition of freedom?"

The God of Darkness groaned in agitation, which worried him admittedly, but he seemed to be more annoyed than angry. So he would yet live to breathe a spare few moments.

" **You will have the choice to live the rest of your life however you want, and once your final battle is either won or lost, we shall return to this world to lead it to a new golden age. One where the greed of humanity will not impede any longer."**

Hector grimaced at the thought. He wins, and all of humanity is practically enslaved to the Gods. He gets his happy ending, but would it _really_ be a victory? Then again, if he lost, humanity would most likely get destroyed again, perhaps every living human this time, perhaps just 99% of them again. Then the cycle would continue, and everything he has ever done would be all for naught. Another damned if he do, and damned if he doesn't kind of predicament. Of course it was.

"I don't think we're going to need you two if we win." Hector said slowly, and hesitantly.

" _Elaborate."_ The God of Light demanded, his voice was suddenly a lot more cold, and piercing. It made his heart skip a beat out of fear.

"I may be a creation of you two, I may be… a God." He accepted it, finally. "But out of us three, I believe that I am the most human, I still believe myself to be human even though it has been proven otherwise. Look at what we have accomplished in your absence?"

Humanity was united, the White Fang demolished back into its old peaceful ways, Ghira Belladonna saw to that himself. Beacon saved, Haven saved, Atlas saved, Vacuo saved, and all were now preparing to launch an attack on the Grimmlands. Sure, it took the use of the Relic of Choice to really drive the point home, but that was the speed up the process of what was already going to happen.

" _None of it would have happened if you were never born."_ The God of Light argued.

"No… I think it would have." Hector argued back. "It might have taken a few more centuries or millennia, but eventually humanity would have been united."

" **How could you possibly know this?"** The God of Darkness asked him. " **Before the end of the first golden age of humanity, the mortals were ever so greedy, and prideful. All seven deadly sins could be described as what they were like. Even in the great time of peace, the kingdoms of Light and Darkness were still separated, a balance was kept, but a unity naught. The only reason they did unite was to stop a common threat, which was Salem."**

"You could have killed her yourself, though. Couldn't you?" Hector countered. "You two have infinite power, if you really wanted Salem gone so badly, why didn't you just erase her from existence or something?"

" _It would not have been the right way to end the conflict."_ The God of Light said. " _Gods should not interfere with the conflicts of man, we simply did what had to be done in the end."_

Hector caught his contradiction. "Yet you created me, another God, a Demigod to meddle in the conflicts of man." He smiled when the God of Light didn't respond. "Something tells me that you two got impatient, and wanted to speed things along. So you created me, and since I am technically a deity as well, you were able to help me whenever you wanted and when I needed it. Eventually I got so strong that I didn't need your help anymore, and you got what you wanted."

The God of Darkness laughed cheerfully. " **It seems like he has caught on brother, he figured it out quite quickly."**

" _So he did."_ The God of Light lazily replied. " _I admit, everything of which you said is correct. We did grow impatient, and despite us being Gods, thousands of years with little to no progress was tearing away at our patience."_

" _ **Your**_ **patience, you mean."** The God of Darkness corrected. " **I was perfectly fine with waiting, in fact I even considered visiting the planet in the body of a human just to see what was going on. You managed to convince me otherwise, sadly, and look where that got us."**

The God of Darkness was going to visit Remnant in the body of a human? The thought of that was… terrifying, to say the least. Hector didn't know what would have happened, but he's glad that things turned out the way they are now.

" _A God is not to mingle with mortals, brother."_ The God of Light recited.

" **Yes, and here we are."** The God of Darkness gestured to Hector. " **A God mingling with humans, even fornicating with one of them. I see that you don't even follow your own rules brother, and your contradicting is something our creation here is not the only one to notice."**

" _In any case,"_ The God of Light snapped, looking away from his brother and back to Hector. " _The point remains that when Salem is defeated, we will return and raise humanity back up the golden age, and if Salem is victorious… Well, it would seem like a reset would be needed in that turn of events. To wipe the slate clean and begin anew."_

Hector didn't need the elaboration, but he shook his head all the same. He swallowed his fear and stood up back to his feet, prepared to stand against the God if need be. The God of Darkness seemed bored with everything that was happening, and simply seemed amused by his rising. "No, I won't let it happen." He snapped. "If we win, and Salem is defeated. Humanity won't need toe Gods to look over them anymore."

" _Careful creation,"_ The God of Light warned. " _No matter how strong the relics have made you, you tread in dangerous waters, I created you, and I can easily unmake you if I see that you are unfit for the tasks that lie ahead."_

" **Correction, brother. But** _ **we**_ **created this lesser God."** The God of Darkness said, and to Hector's intense shock and surprise, moved over to stand beside him. " **If you wish to destroy him, you would need me to agree to it as well. In case you've forgotten, but currently** _ **my**_ **magic is what has kept our creation here going for so long. He only ever started using yours recently."**

" _You would stand against me in rebellion?"_ The God of Light asked, shocked. " _We may be equal brother, but I will not stand for this."_

" **There is to be a balance in all things,"** The God of Darkness recited, repeating his brothers same words right back at him. " **Both of us against him would be massively unbalanced, wouldn't you agree creation?"**

Hector hesitated, but was quick to reply when the God of Darkness looked at him.

"Y-yes."

" **There you have it brother. I say we come to an agreement."**

" _What kind of agreement?"_ The God of Light asked.

" **This kind; when the time comes, you will face Salem with your forces."** He looked to Hector. " **If you manage to defeat her all on your own — we will not help you this time, even if you need it — we will not return to this world, and humanity will be Godless for the rest of time, as you so desire."**

" **But if you lose, then I will erase all of humanity again."** The God of Darkness added, raising one of his large, long purple arms and allowing a ball of purple and black magic coil up within that hand. Hector instantly realized that little ball of power was already enough to destroy the planet, and he gulped nervously, sighing in relief when the orb faded away. " **Think on your choice creation. You will only have two options, absolute victory, or utter defeat. That is a balance if I have ever seen one."**

" _You do not speak for both of us, brother."_ The God of Light pointed out. " _There is no guarantee that I will agree to this-"_

"I agree to your terms." Hector said, coming down to one knee in front of the God of Darkness. "It is fair and just, I thank you for this opportunity."

This time, Hector could see the smile form on the purple God's face. Even though his features were still vague, the curve of his lips going up made him thankful for the God of Darkness, who ironically seemed to be more forthcoming than his brother.

" **So it shall be."** The God of Darkness said as he floated back up into the sky, hovering beside his bewildered brother.

" _Brother, you are making a mistake."_ The God of Light said.

" **No, I don't believe I am."** The God of Darkness looked back down to Hector. " **Do make sure you are victorious, Hector,"** For some reason, hearing a God speak his name filled him with pride. Like he was worthy of being called by his first name now. " **I'll be rooting for you."** The God faded away after that, disappearing into nothing and probably appearing again very, very far away.

The God of Light stayed a few more moments, his chest rising and falling with anger. He didn't know how he did it, if he did anything good at all, but the God of Darkness was on his side. Knowing that, Hector felt a lot more at ease with himself.

" _This will not be the last time we meet, creation."_ The God of Light warned. " _Hope that it is not after you are killed, the afterlife will not be kind to you."_

"Hey, you're the one who asked me to beat the odds one more time." Hector pointed out.

He disappeared after those parting words, and Hector sighed out of relief and held onto his chest over his rapidly beating heart. He stood back up, sheathing the Relic of Destruction and returning the Relic of Choice to the hook on his belt. The Relic of Creation stayed in his left hand, and he made a note to speak to the being within the staff before the final attack could be launched.

Slowly, he could see the world around him start to speed up. Time was speeding up, and Ruby started to move again, as well as everyone else around him. Hector noticed this, and looked back toward her with his now multicolored eyes, both the color of red and blue filling them both. Then he looked back toward Summer, who stared at her daughter with wide eyes, and tears already beginning to form. They didn't even realize what just happened, for them it must have been not even a second, while for him it has felt like hours, days even, if conversing with the Gods.

As time slowly picked up the speed, and reached the normal rate of perception. Hector closed his eyes and pointed his face up to the sky. He never felt so uplifted before, and the power within his body was even more palpable than before. There was a balance in his body now, a balance of Light and Dark magic.

He would have to tell the others about what happened soon, especially since he sorta disappeared on them and then suddenly returned with Qrow, Winter and Mercury, as well as Summer Rose and the Relic of Creation. But now…

He just felt like sitting this one out. After all, when Ruby and Yang spotted Summer, things got very emotional, very quickly.

Explanations could wait for now.

* * *

 **Hah, I feel so uplifted that I was finally able to write this chapter out. I have planned this chapter like… six months ago? Yeah, six months ago. This is supposed to tie in every event throughout this whole story, and explain everything that has ever happened and why Hector is as strong as he is for seemingly no reason. Back then when I first started this story, I never had any of this planned, obviously, but as time went on and the more I thought about the Gods, the more I liked this direction for the story. Also, I think this is the fourth chapter out of me this week, wow.**

 **Some of you may complain that this was a big Deus Ex Machina… But c'mon, this is my first story. Let me have this.**

 **As of now, this story is about 90% finished. In about two weeks maybe, the final chapter will be posted.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far. If you would like to keep up with the progress of every chapter of every story, you may follow me on my twitter.**

 **T wi tter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	76. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 76

**Hah, and here we go back with another chapter. This one isn't going to be as crazy as the last few, just a little more slower paced than usual. But as of right now all the critical objectives of the story besides defeating Salem has been completed. So, this is probably going to be a short 5k word chapter, I'm guessing before I'm even starting to write the chapter just so you know.**

 **Yeah, shocker. I finally realized that not** _ **every**_ **chapter needs to be 7-8k words. That would have been great to know 6 months ago when chapters were regularly 8-10k words.**

 **Update: Definitely more than 5k words.**

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 **Oblivious IJ: You better know I like referencing my other stories in different stories, it's part of my charm as a writer… I hope.**

 **Darkjaden: Ka Ka Ka Ka Kachi Daze! Yeah, I just did that.**

 **CinderFall201: Thank you for reviewing, I believe I replied to you in a PM.**

 **Zeldawolffang: You're not the only one, don't worry.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: I suppose you are correct, in a way I did mean for Hector himself to believe the Gods to be Omnipotent, and my personal opinion of the meaning of Omnipotent is being able to do literally whatever you want, and having unlimited power. From Hector's perspective, he saw them as that. In truth we don't know how powerful the Gods are exactly, the only power move we see them pull is just one of them destroying humanity into near extinction with a single attack that probably wasn't even full power. Most of your review here I can't really respond too without spoilers, so I am sorry about that :/. But I am glad to got the Detective Grimm reference, and soon I** _ **think**_ **you are going to understand my decisions a little better. That came out wrong, but you know what I mean.**

 **Guest: I gotta say, you really cracked me up with that.**

 **Thank you all for reviewing!**

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Chapter 76- Creation, and Rose's

"M-mom…?" Ruby trembled in a mixture of a dozen emotions. Anger, joy, sadness, excitement, happiness, distastefulness. All these were felt in the same way for Yang and Summer Rose. The former of the two having glowing tears pool up from the corners of her eyes, and the latter doing the same. Only now did Hector from the sidelines piece together that when Maidens cry, their tears glow.

With an exasperated sigh, he stepped out of the way of Summer, leaving her to face the wrath and joy of her daughters. Then fell backward onto his back beside Mercury, whose silver hair was more white than gray because of all the snow.

"So," Mercury started, sensing him settle beside him in the thin sheet of snow. "You can teleport now?"

"I guess." Hector replied, breathing out through his nose. "Anything fun happen on your side of things?"

"Eh, killed my dad again."

"Huh, that's neat."

"Yeah, but other than that Summer here just sorta picked us up and we stayed at her place for like a month, you know the rest." Mercury's exhausting became more apparent when Hector turned his head to look at him, the spots under his eyes were dark, and his hair was sticking up in places. His black eyes seemed even blacker somehow, and it looked like he was going to fall asleep any second now.

He didn't look any better, he figured. After going through the important actions he made throughout his entire life in the span of amount .3 seconds, he was pretty exhausted as well. Not only that, but he just gave up about half of the Dark magic he stole from Hell to save himself from the past three times. So there was that.

Sleep sounded like a great idea, but…

"Hey kid, do that teleporting thing so I can get myself a warm bed and some booze." Qrow said, kicking him lightly in the side right when he started to fall asleep.

"Wait, Hector can teleport now?" Nora asked, looking away from Ruby's mother for a moment to look at him in shock.

"Apparently," Qrow yawned, and then gestured toward the ticking emotional time bomb that was Summer, Ruby, and Yang. "We should also get those three to a warm room, the special reunion I've dreamed of never took place in the middle of a field of ice and there is now way I am staying for that."

Right, Hector kinda forgot that Summer was the Winter Maiden for a few moments there. That must have been shocking for Qrow and his crew to learn.

It took no small amount of coaxing and convincing for Hector, Qrow, Winter and Mercury to get Ruby, Yang, and Summer to understand that they were fucking cold and wanted to get someplace warmer before they finally froze to death. The others were more easily convinced thankfully, and none even questioned the Relic of Creation actually following Hector even when he put it down, and it was floating. It was just the regular everyday thing for them at that point.

Rhea made sure she was the closest to Hector however, even though she knew that her stepfather was actually about twelve years younger than she was it didn't seem to change the way she looked at him and care for him. She was still his daughter, and he was still her father. The others didn't know yet, but Hector didn't have a single doubt in his mind that Nora would make a joke about it for the rest of their lives and everyone would just laugh it off and act like he was never three years old to begin with.

Summer was also behind him, hiding half her body behind his, and he could understand why immediately when he saw Yang and Ruby staring through him at toward their mother, the expressions on their faces demanding answers of every kind. It took a little more stamina and effort this time, but in a flash they were all transported right back to Hector's best memory of the place… the hospital part of the Schnee Manor.

Qrow grumbled something unkind and flew away after turning into a bird, Winter sat back in one of the chairs and Mercury didn't even say anything. He just stepped away from the group and fell flat on his face on one of the hospital beds, falling asleep almost instantly after rolling so that the blankets were completely wrapped around his form.

When Ruby and Yang stepped back next, the old members of Team RNJR, all ex-filtrated the room with great skills of stealth and quickness. Now even stopping for him in this case. Rhea for some reason decided that the floor was a good spot to sit down at in the middle of the room beside him, Winter and Mercury went forgotten, and Blake and Weiss were left wondering if they should be a part of this conversation or not, but was going to stay there to offer their (silent) support if their partners require it. Weiss thanked herself for thinking ahead and predicting that something crazy like this was going to happen, and promptly let General Ironwood deal with all the paperwork for today so she could spend it with her returning team. To think that it has only been a handful of hours so far, and already something this crazy happened. Only her friends could manage this.

Hector sensed the tension in the air so thick it was a wonder anyone could even breathe at all. He didn't think he was allowed to impeded on what was definitely a private family affair, and started inching his way toward the exit every time eyes looked away from him. His hopes and dreams soared when he made it to the door, but his heart lurched up into his throat when three pairs of eyes, two silver and one red, all locked onto him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ruby asked him, voice in that specific tone that incited and automatic response of fear within his body.

"I…"

"This is a family affair, yes." Yang cut him off, almost as if she was reading her mind. "But at this point I might as well consider you as my brother in law already, and mom _did_ call you her son."

"That is correct." Oh great, and now all three of them were ganging up on them, despite the obvious Goliath in the room that should have been clear even to the one eyed Summer. "Stay Rios, I must say I was _very_ surprised to find out for myself that you were dating one of my daughters… you seem to have left that part out my _guardian angel_."

"Okay, I can see what's happening right now." Despite having the powers of a literal _God_ amplified by the power of the four relics combined, he still could not bear the glares he was getting from the three women in the center of the room. Even Blake and Weiss were no help, sitting down in two extra seats beside Winter in the corner. Gingerly, Hector made his way back into the center of the room, standing in the middle and a little off to the side as to not pick any sides in what was quickly about to become quite the emotional conversation. Or at least, that was what he thought it was going to be. The Relic of Creation, the staff, poked him in the cheek from the side. The sudden action made him jump lightly, and when he pushed the staff away it came back to him, poking him in the face once more. "Stop it!" He whisper screamed to the Relic of Creation. "I'll talk to you later, something important is about to happen."

The staff poked him right in the tooth to tell him what the being inside the staff yet to be released felt about that, and in retaliation, Hector groaned and grabbed the relic with both hands, twirled it and held it straight behind his back. The staff struggled in his grip, but Hector didn't budge at all, being the strongest he has ever been meant that the staff couldn't hope to break out, and if that wasn't enough he had a good tight grip on it. keeping a straight face active as he looked back to Ruby, Yang, and Summer. It was difficult for him since Amphelia kept arguing with Deus, the latter laughing his ass off after everything his sister yelled at him.

Luckily, they didn't hear them. When the time came, he demanded silence in his mind and was granted it. "What happened?" Ruby asked finally, voice already cracking and choking with glassy eyes.

"You know what happened." Summer replied softly, her eyebrows arching sadly. Her other eye was no longer there, and in her fight with Hell he caught her in the face with one of his attacks, knocking off and burning the patch she had on that side of her face. Now, where her other eye shoulder be was a nasty scar that ran up from her socket to her hair and split off in every direction like cracks. "I'm almost certain that he would have told you," She said as she flicked her chin to Hector. "Or that you were there with him as well the whole time."

"Salem hurt you." Ruby said, stepping closer to get a better look of her mother, and then suddenly bursted into tears. Her walls fell in an instant and whatever harsh words she might have had for Summer were forgotten as she jumped into her mother for a hug. Summer rubbed her daughters back and squeezed her tight, a glowing tear flowing out of her eye as she to sobbed into her daughters shoulder. "I-I missed you so much." Ruby cried. "I always thought about you… everyday."

"Me too… Me too my little Rose." Summer replied, her voice hoarse and full of emotion, after a few more moments of holding Ruby, she looked toward Yang with her one remaining silver eyed. "Yang, darling." She said in a soothing voice, not breaking away but gently pushing Ruby more to her side and kept one arm around her always. "Come here, I want to hug my oldest daughter."

Yang's eyes were already wet with emotion. All those years ago, her first mother, Raven Branwen abandoned her. She didn't miss her at first because she was too young to even remember her. But Summer came in a year later and became her new mother, and she always remembered her. She wasn't her real biological mother, she knew that from the start, but Summer always made her call her mom, or mother, and she always referred to her as her daughter. She loved her even more when Summer didn't give Ruby any more attention than she did her. Which was what she was afraid of during the first year of her little sisters life. But she always cared for her the same amount as she did for her biological daughter. They weren't related, but Summer _was_ her mother, and always will be. Raven at the end of her life revealed that she regretted her choice in leaving her, and even loved her at the end. Yang always hated her ever since she met her at Haven, but in that moment she loved her too as her mother. The woman who gave birth to her. She never thought she would have another mother again, which was why it would have been unbelievable for Summer to still be alive unless she saw it for herself, and she did.

She took a few quick steps closer to Summer, and nearly lunged into her just as Ruby did. But something ate away at her mind. Raven died because she became too old to handle the magic of the Spring Maiden. For the life of her, she couldn't remember how old exactly Summer way. But if her suspicions were true.

"H-how old are you?" She forced herself to ask.

Summer's smile faltered for an instant, but it came back less than a second later. "I have enough time, trust me Yang, I'll beat it." 'It' was the age limit the Maidens had for the end of their lives. Fifty was the age that killed most Maidens. But for Summer, she knew there was a way to live past fifty as the Winter Maiden. The maiden before her died at the age of eighty before the magic took her, and before she passed she told her how to do it too. But in the best case scenario once this Salem business is all over, she might not even have to use the trick.

As much as the logical side of Yang's thought process begged to prevail, her emotional side let loose the floodgates. With a choked sob she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around both her mother and Ruby. Hardly even noticing that her mother also had a robotic arm on her left side. The three women hugged each other tightly, and Hector was left thinking about how heartwarming it was. He still had to tell them all that he had just spoken with the Gods and was actually now one himself, but now wasn't such a good time for it. Especially because of everything he has learned throughout the entire experience.

Summer sighed happily as she held her daughters close, her head atop Ruby's and leaning to the side against Yangs. She seemed at peace. "So," She whispered out loud. "When am I getting grandchildren?"

Ruby and Yang's eyes frozen, and the former went a beet red color all over the upper half of her body. Hector stood there wide eyed, and it took approximately five seconds for him to realize that Summer directed the question at _him_ , and then another half of one for him to go pale. _Technically_ , there was Rhea…

"Oh," Yang wiped tears off of her pace with the back of her hand, giggling uncontrollably. "Have you met Rhea yet?" Rhea perked up from beside him.

 _Yang no!_ Hector waved his hands in front of himself, and Ruby hid her face from view with her hood. Yang simply smirked and winked at him before looking back to Summer.

"Oh, the little Maiden I encountered long ago." Summer said, looking down at the young Fall Maiden who stood up only to shrink under her gaze. Despite how she was behaving now, she _was_ the one who nearly gave Rhea frostbite many months ago, Rhea used to be scared of her, and then wanted to fight her again, only for her to now be awkward around her. "No need to be frightened," The Winter Maiden said in a soothing motherly voice. "What happened back then was not my intention to cause lasting damage, I am sorry if I hurt you. What's your name?" She asked next, despite already knowing her name.

Rhea suddenly looked proud as she was about to recite her name, and Hector preemptively took a step to the side so that he was behind her. "Rhea Rivers!"

It almost sounded like the metaphorical glass breaking within Summer's head, a twitch in her eyebrow showed what she was thinking on the inside. Yang broke off with a laugh, and Ruby suddenly felt a little less safe as she stepped back as well, enough so that she was standing beside Hector again, behind Rhea. Using her as some kind of innocence shield to ward off the silent beast that was Summer Rose and her misplaced anger.

"First you disappear without a trace…" She began, and took a deep breath. "Then I have to find out on my own from _Mercury Black_ of all people that you are my daughters boyfriend." So _that's_ how she found out… "And now I find out that you already have a _daughter_ -" Summer looked to Rhea again. "-Who looks to be just as old as Ruby herself." She looked him in the eyed, and crossed her arms. Her eye flames turning on. "Hector Rivers Jr, how old are you?"

The fact that she said his _full_ name made him think of her as an actual mother figure. He gulped nervously and no amount of power in the world could change the fact that he was honestly intimidated by the Winter Maiden. He stalled the best he could by laughing most of it off and trying to crack a joke, but the only one who laughed at them was Yang, and it probably wasn't the jokes that she was laughing at, but the look on his face that slowly turned more and more fearful the longer time went on. How could he be blamed anyway? She asked probably one of the worst personal questions she could about him, because while she must have thought that he was older than he let on, she would soon learn that she was sorely mistaken.

And goddammit Yang would not stop laughing.

"Three…" Hector finally answered.

"Three what?" Summer asked, confused. "Three hundred?"

"No! Just… three." He repeated himself, raising a hand and holding out three fingers for Summer to see.

"Wait… you can't mean three years old, do you?" Summer's eye widened when he nodded his head. "Oh my God, you're telling the truth aren't you?"

Yang couldn't keep it in anymore, she fell to her knees laughing and Ruby hid behind Hector for some sort of protection, but that only made her mother's eyes grow even wider. Rhea didn't know what to do, but she wasn't able to run or fly away because Hector held on to her shoulders, preventing her from moving even the slightest inch. Sometime between the moment Summer let out a shocked gasp Mercury lurched back awake and threw his pillow at Yang and cursing at her to stop laughing, earning a sheet of shaved ice to blow into his body, stealing away what warmth he did have. In the background, Blake, Weiss and even Winter were all seen with shock mixed with amusement on their faces. Right… they didn't know about that little tidbit of information yet.

What also didn't hit _him_ just yet was that he was three years old, and Ruby was eighteen by this time. Which meant… Remnants version of the FBI might become a problem if this became common knowledge.

"Right," Summer pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed deeply. "Before I get an aneurysm, I'm not going to think about that disturbing fact about you anymore. For the rest of my life. Forever."

"Uh…" Hector didn't know what to say, within the span of twelve hours. He made it back to Atlas, found out that he wasn't actually human from Doctor Polendina, learned the ability to teleport and how to use Light Magic, killed Hell and stole his essence, claimed the Relic of Creation, and then stopped time and summoned the God brothers only to learn and entire new slew of shocking information which in all honesty is still being processed at this very moment, and that's not even getting into what is happening at this very moment. He _thought_ that Summer, Yang, and Ruby were going to have a much more heart wrenching and heartwarming reunion, but suddenly now it became about him and his relationship with Rhea and Ruby. He thought nothing would surprise him anymore, but every day the Rose-Xiao Long family find a new way to surprise him. What was next?

The staff he was holding in his hands suddenly broke free in his moment of distraction, and banged against the back of his head _hard_. His aura flared for an instant and he fell forward, onto Rhea who cried out as over two hundred pounds of stepfather was suddenly pushing her down to the ground. Then Ruby, who was holding on to his jacket at the same time, fell down with him. In the tangle of limbs Hector managed to sit back up on his hands and knees, only for the staff to poke and prod at him on the side of his head.

"Okay, you know what?" Hector grabbed the Relic of Creation again. "I've had enough of this, you want to talk so badly? Fine! Let's talk." He stood back up, helping Rhea and Ruby at the same time, then looked to Yang who was still punishing Mercury for daring to throw a pillow at her, but even then he could see that the blonde girl was more happy to see him again after so long. After taking one more glance that was the absolute _mess_ that was his friends and loved ones, he decided that he has felt enough stress for one day- he didn't even know if it was still day or not.

"I'll leave you all to it," He said as he made his way to where a door used to be, but it was an exit nonetheless. He didn't even want to _think_ about the bomb that was going to be Taiyang finding out that Summer was still alive. He didn't want to be near that possibility. "I gotta speak to the Relic of Creation real quick. Gather everyone up before lunch tomorrow, I got something important to announce then. See ya." He didn't give anyone a chance to stop him and left the area as quickly as possible. As he walked by it, he had the Relic of Creation make create a new door behind him, one that was locked from the outside. They wouldn't find that out yet, but he was willing to take the piss on that front.

With his enhanced hearing, he could still listen to Yang and Ruby eventually talking to Summer again, but instead of the emotional question on why their mother didn't move to reunite with them after her battle with Salem, they simply caught up on lost time together. Laughing and smiling, he could imagine. They deserved it, all of them. This world was a dark place, and now the world was at stake of either becoming slaves to the Gods or being wiped out again.

After walking through the familiar hallways of this hospital, ignoring the looks of shock he was getting as he walked through the halls with a floating spear behind him, a flaming sword, and a jeweled crown at his hip. He was going to have to get used to that one day, and he was already on his way. He made it to a relatively quiet place, and focused of a very specific location that he has never been to before. Somewhere where he _knew_ that he wouldn't be bothered.

In a bright blue flash, he opened his eyes again to see that he was in a metallic cave, and a set of Vault doors already wide open with a blizzard of snow and an empty pedestal within it. The Relic of Creation floated in his hand, and all Hector had to do at that point was think about what he wanted.

The crystal atop the staff glowed bright yellow, and a wisp of yellow energy flowed out of the relic. In seconds, the being of the Relic of Creation materialized out of thin air. The Relic was male, as he was told by the other relics. He was much leaner than his destructive counterpart Deus, and much more handsome. On the top of his head, he had shining white hair, pure white, and glowing. His eyes, much like all the other relics, were black where whites should be, and deep yellow irises. His clothing was just as modest as Jinn's, only wearing a cloth robe that draped over one shoulder, revealing half of his golden yellow body. Hector was thankful that Creation didn't have any noticeable genitals, because his crotch was on full display for the world to see. Also, much like his other siblings, on his head was a thorny crown with four flowers with them. One blue, another red, then orange, and lastly yellow. It didn't take much to piece together that it was symbolism for the other three relics.

" _Ah, finally!_ " The relic said, stretching his body every which way. " _I've been stuck in that staff for so many millennia! I don't think I've ever been summoned before._ "

Hector asked Ozma the obvious question.

" _I've never tried to claim the Relic of Creation, the person aiming to claim the relic must also be the owner of the other three relics."_ Ozma explained.

Hector accepted the answer for what it was, he couldn't blame Ozma for not trying, not after what he had just learned. "You little shit." He said to the Creation relic. "You better have a good reason for banging on my head that many times, what is it?"

" _Why, master,"_ Creation had a soothing warm voice, deep and light at the same time. " _It is customary for the owner of a relic to speak to the relic to come to some kind of understanding. I let you claim me the moment you touched my staff-"_

"Don't say it like that, please."

" _-because I was able to tell instantly that you were worthy of my services."_ He finished.

"Is it because I also own the other three relics?" Hector asked.

" _Yes."_ Creation answered, and now he was already sick of thinking of the Relic of Creation by his power, and not by name.

Before he could ask for it though, Deus left the compounds of his sword without permission _again_ , as did Amphelia from her crown. They floated toward their brother, with Deus actually pulling his apparently older brother into a bear hug that sounded like it could break even a relics bones and Amphelia shying away when Creation tried to use her to pull himself out. Hector watched it all with a distant welcoming of the emotion, the relics must have not been together like this… ever. They might have been in contact with each other like Deus said when he first claimed him, but he doubted that any of them were ever all in the same place at the same time.

" _ **Master! Now that we are all together, we can destroy Salem and her Grimm and save Jinn!"**_ Deus claimed, falling to the ground and getting onto one knee. " _ **You have learned your true nature, and by extension we are yours to command by birthright, but as the most powerful of the relics here-"**_

" **You are most certainly** _ **not**_ **the most powerful of us Deus."** Amphelia snapped. " **I have the power to control the minds of humans on a worldwide scale, and we all know that** _ **they**_ **could destroy the world much more efficiently than you."**

" _ **I can destroy a mountain with a half assed strike!"**_ Deus argued. " _ **And that was when I was only three-fourths of my full power!"**_

" _Brother, sister. Please."_ Creation bellowed, and the Relics surprisingly listened to him and ceased their already heated argument. " _It is not even our place to decide what our next course of action should be. That honor lies upon the shoulders of our master."_

Each of the relics turned to him, and suddenly all got down onto one knee. Hector wasn't used to this kind of reverent treatment. He certainly didn't _feel_ like a God deserving of such, but whatever he knew the relics knew as well, and once he found out there was no escaping from the relics learning about his true nature as well.

" **As always, your words are wise and true, Creare."** Amphelia said, inadvertently letting her master know of the Relic of Creations name.

" _ **Hmph."**_ Deus gruffly gave his own approving thoughts on the matter.

" _What shall you have us do, my lord?"_ Creare asked him.

Hector looked to each of them in the eyes, they were all several feet taller than he was, which made him feel more powerful than he was since they were all kneeling to him. He stood up straighter because of pride, and he crossed his arms to make himself look more in charge.

"The plan never changed," He declared, looking to Amphelia. "I will use Amphelia to convince all of the people around the world to gather their armies in the closest continent to the land of the Grimm, which is actually where we are, on Atlas. Then use you Creare, to create a path to the Grimmlands. That's when the attack begins, the moment a path connects the Grimmlands to Atlas."

" _ **What of me?"**_ Deus asked.

" **Do not question him fool!"** Amphelia scolded her brother, to which Deus stuck the middle finger out at her in response.

"You are all allowed to question me if you feel like there is something wrong with my plans." Hector declared. "Actually, if you think I am making a mistake, not questioning me about it would be the worst thing you can do. Millions of lives are at stake here."

Each of the relics replied that they understood in their own ways. With Deus rubbing his victory in Amphelia's face, and Creare bowing his head.

" _What of our lost sibling, Jinn?"_ Creare asked next. " _She is one of us, and we may be at our full strength now, but we will never be whole without our final sister. Even if victory is one, I fear that if Jinn fell, the rest of us will never recover."_

Hector understood that fear very well. "Knolly- Jinn, will be rescued when she can be rescued. Salem can't hurt her, and while she might be weak now because of her giving up some of her life force to me, she will yet live." He thought on one of the many things the God of Darkness told him. "I have a debt to pay, and I intend to pay it."

All the relics smiled approvingly at him. " _Then what is the next thing for us to do?"_

"You can all sit tight." Hector said. " _I_ , have some explaining to do." He sighed after saying that.

" _So_ many things to explain…"

* * *

It was the next day, and his friends all sat around them in the same room that they all used after the Battle of Atlas, the only ones that were absent were Summer and Taiyang. Earlier in the night before, Hector went to Summer about what the Gods told him and told her personally, and she had some more recovering to do, despite her well excitable nature the night before due to reuniting with her daughters again, she was still injured after her fight with Hell. By what he has been told, Taiyang was still in recovery after what happened in the Battle of Atlas, but something told him that his recovery was about to speed up after this group conversation was over.

They all took the news… as well as he expected them to take it.

"Sooo, pretty much you are a divine being created by the God of Light and the God of Darkness in order to kickstart this final battle?" Jaune asked.

"That pretty much sums it up in the shortest way possible, yeah." Hector nodded his head.

"And you're biologically three years old, and were born with memories of a world that apparently doesn't exist?" Ren added.

"Mhm." Hector hummed and nodded his head.

"And you can teleport!?" Nora slammed her hands down on the table and stood up, pointing a finger at him with an accusatory look on her face.

"Yes… I just found that out yesterday. It's still new for me." Hector sighed as Nora nodded her head and muttered something about knowing all along, even though everyone knew that she didn't.

"Wait, if you're three years old, then you and Ruby…" Jaune trailed off, looking to Ruby and then back to Hector over and over, the message was clear after a few seconds, and Ruby squirmed on the spot and went red again.

"Yeah, we're not going to talk about that, do I look three to you?" Hector asked instead.

"No, you look like you're in your early twenties actually." Jaune said.

"Then there you go," Hector leaned back in his seat. "That's what is important, right Yang?"

"Why are you asking _me_ that specifically?"

"I don't know which I am more concerned about, the fact that Hector is three years old and he has been… _intimate_ with someone over five times his age, or the fact that I am considering looking it over completely." Ren said, sighing to himself.

Nora then gasped dramatically and slammed her hands on the table again. "Does this mean I can adopt you!?"

"No!" Everyone in the room shouted at the same time, even Ruby and Qrow, the latter of the two was actually outside of the room at the moment.

"Awe… but I want kiddies." She pulled Ren up to his feet. "Ren, we're going to go adopt a kid right now."

"I don't know if that is the wisest decision considering the fact we're about to go to war."

"Psh, we got the whole world at our backs, and four maidens, and a literal God on our side. I say we're good."

"It's not as simple as that!" Hector exclaimed, silencing her. Once she sat back down and looked at him with a bewildered expression, he took that as his cue to continue. "How are you guys taking this so well? I pretty much died three times, and saved myself all three of those times, I am a God apparently, or at least part God. The entire _world_ is at stake here if we don't land this _perfectly_. I mean… _fuck_." Hector gripped one side of his head with his hand. "And these four voices in my head won't stop talking, and apparently that's just normal for me too." As he said that, the relics stopped rotating around him, and settled down beside him. The crown was lazily resting on his head, the sword stabbed into the floor yet again much to Weiss's dismay, and the staff leaning against the chair. Once Creare joined his siblings, all the relics started flying around and causing him no small amount of bother.

"Hector, just think back on everything we have done so far." Weiss started, earning his attention along with everyone else's. "When I first met you, I didn't think of you much to be honest, you were immature and loud."

"Gee, thanks."

"Let me continue. You were immature, loud, and freakishly tall and I felt like you didn't deserve the power of Ozpin within you. If you told us that you were a God, or part God, frankly I would not have believed you."

"... Okay then."

"But," Weiss continued, smiling. "You proved your valor when you pushed yourself beyond your limits to the point where it was fatal, and it _did kill you_. I never knew how damaging your own semblance… could I still call it a semblance?"

"Sure. Even though Kaioken probably isn't my actual semblance, I don't know what else it could be."

"Perhaps you already unlocked it then." Weiss suggested, gesturing around to all of his friends and allies.

"What do you mean?" Hector asked, confused.

"Ever since you came along, and after the Battle of Haven, something changed within you. You were more mature, you swore less, you trained more, you saved lives and found Maidens, then you fornicated with my team leader."

"Whhyyy." Ruby groaned.

"Perhaps your semblance is your own growth," Weiss continued. "The ability to take things no one else can take, and keep moving forward on a path most others would fail to follow such as you did. You are a tough person, and in just three years you became incredibly competent, strong, trustworthy, and someone able to bring people the world together against a common threat, something not even Headmaster- I mean, Mister Ozpin could do."

" _Gee, thanks."_ Ozma rolled his metaphorical eyes.

"My point is, maybe your semblance is just as I described. The passive ability to take more damage than anyone else, and continue fighting. No matter what revelations you face, and no matter what lies in your way. Not even Gods can intimidate you long enough from what I have been able to gather, and even Gods seem to be rallied by you, the God of Darkness in this instance."

"I agree with that." Mercury said, speaking up for the first time. "I've seen a lot of assholes in my life, and I gotta say, you lot are the best of them. Not many people would forgive someone like me after what I did."

"Or allow Adam Taurus the chance to redeem himself, leading to the restoration of Beacon Academy." Blake added.

"Or adopt a girl only a few years younger than you." Rhea said, her wide eyes were filled with gratefulness, right before they turned hesitant. "Or older than you… that's going to take some getting used to."

"I gotta say, you may be a God, but I will never forget the day you got your arm stuck in a tree." Jaune said, laughing along with everyone else. "You're as human as the rest of us, so don't worry about that."

"You rode an Ursa with me!" Nora suddenly shouted, creating more laughter in the room.

"You're our friend," Ruby said lastly, grabbing his hand and smiling beautifully at him. "We love you, I-I love you." The peanut gallery `awed` loudly at that.

"You guys…" Hector looked around the table, touched. He never really thought about it, ever since he found out that the Kaioken was a magical ability he never even tried to think about what his actual semblance could be, or even what kind it was. Passive or otherwise. "That's… wow, that means a lot actually."

It's how Hector has been able to live his life, even from the memories he had of Earth. Of course, he wasn't nearly as strong as he is on Remnant, hell he wasn't even above average in terms of physical strength. But what he lacked for in strength, he made up for in toughness and his ability to bounce back. Every time he got hurt, he healed quickly, when he was depressed, he bounced back the best he could every time. Then Remnant happened, and while he didn't think about it then, he did now. He was always able to make a comeback, even in the most impossible of situations. Like Hell said before he died, he always did make bullshit comebacks, and maybe his semblance was the reason. The only time he ever gave up was when Ruby and Yang's lives were on the line. Other than that, he never gave up, not even when he outright lost important fights. He would never know if that was his actual semblance until he actually tried to unlock it, but it was something he would take for now.

"No problem." Weiss said, holding her head high. "Now, I really hope you know how to use the Relic of Creation, because if we're really going to gather the forces of every kingdom to Atlas we're going to need the food and supplied to sustain them."

Hector grabbed the staff of Creation, and twirled it in his hand as he stood up. "Yeah," The other two relics floated to his side. "I think that is something I can do."

* * *

" **This chapter is going to be 5k words" Pfft, you woulda thought past me, 7k words it is. Yeah, this chapter ended up being more lighthearted than serious, and the reveal (maybe?) of Hector's actual semblance. I mean, can he have a semblance? Idk, there's a lot to fix with this story, and a lot to get through, God help me. Also, after a long string of serious chapters, it was a nice change of pace. Though by chapter 80, another pretty long string of important and intense stuff is going to go down.**

 **Anyway, next chapter might be out like tomorrow, but probably Tuesday. We'll see.**

 **Also, this story hit over 400 follows! Woohoo! This is probably going to be the last hundred this story is going it hit, but my next premium goal is to AT LEAST get to 420 follows. It's just a necessity at this point.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the story, if you want to keep up with every chapter of every story you can follow me on my twitter!**

 **T wi tter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	77. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 77

**Here we are again, the usual thing, trying to keep chapters short and failing miserably. The whole nine yards. It's actually kind of making me sad that this story is nearing its end, and with every word I type it gets closer and closer. Also apparently people think that Hector is going to get Ultra Instinct, and I don't know how to say this without sounding rude and I hope I manage that but… why? I don't think I ever hinted toward that, at least I don't think so. Eh, that's what Omakes are for. We'll see what happens.**

* * *

 **Oblivious IJ: Sh, I can't break the fourth wall too many times, but you're right.**

 **TheBioshockRwbyFan4life: Thank you!**

 **Tigervolcano5000: To be completely honest, I forgot that Summer and Ruby and Yang were about to see each other again, so as I was writing the last chapter and I got to that part I was like "Ooooh shit…" Sorry about that, also, you know me. I'm not much for the way of drama in stories, and lets be real. With the way Roosterteeth write RWBY protagonist's, they would most likely just accept it as it is.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Of course they did, they're RWBY protagonists.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

 **Now let's get right back to the show!**

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Chapter 77- The Suffering of Politics

Hector sat down on his bed with a tired yawn, his head was pounding from all the meetings he had to make with the Atlesian council. He didn't want to abuse his power over the Relic of Choice too much, and opted to use it as little as possible. Thankfully, The General of the Atlesian military as well as the headmaster of Atlas, Ironwood and also Weiss was there as the main representative of the SDC, and both stood by his side when he offered that Atlas make it's peace with what remained of the White Fang so that they could all stand together. In the beginning, they were furious at the very thought of it. It didn't take long for him to realize that they were almost all racist and the ones who wanted to say yes were afraid for their position. So, he was forced to use Amphelia to make them make the choice to forget their bigotry, and made them all accept his terms. His friends who were there at the time, Weiss, Blake and Ruby, were all shocked to see him use the Relic of Choice for the first time. It was really that easy, now that he found out about his true origins, it has gotten even easier to control the beings within the Relics.

After many _many_ hours of coming up with plans, supply routes, setting up camps outside of Atlas and sending Huntsman and Huntresses to clear out the Grimm still occupying the area. Only at the end of the day, three quarters to midnight, was he able to finally head back to his sleeping quarters. He doubted himself for a moment, but having four ancient beings in your head was good for him to get his butt back into gear. He could do this, he had too. So what if the entire world was being a bit bratty about working together against a common threat, all he needed to do was use the Relics again and they would learn to cope with each other. No biggie.

"Long day?" Ruby asked him, stepping into the room just as he took the scarf off from around his neck. He didn't need to wear it anymore because of him having his powers back, he couldn't really feel cold or hot anymore, it always felt like room temperature to him no matter where he was. But the scarf was special to him, just like the glove she gave him to cover up the nasty mark he had on the back of his left hand. He was surprised it didn't leave when he claimed the final relic, but it wasn't any bother, just the occasional throbbing sensation that makes him shudder sometimes.

"Long morning, afternoon, and evening." He replied as he lay back in the bed, he felt the expensive and _oh so comfortable_ mattress shift beside him, notifying him of the woman he loved laying down beside him. She scooted up so that their heads were beside each other, and he felt her hand intertwined with his after a moment of laying there, breathing deeply. For the first time that day, he felt relaxed.

"I bet, I still can't believe how easy it was for you to convince the council here, it was just an orange flash and then _poof_!" Ruby threw her other hand up into the air above them, making an explosive gesture with that hand. "We got every Hunter in Atlas _and_ the military on our side."

"I did what had to be done." Hector said, keeping his eyes closed. "We don't have the luxury of time on our side, I have the power of the relics who are more powerful than ever because of me claiming all four of them. Salem is no doubt preparing for a siege on her castle, and before long she might make the first strike."

"You don't need to explain yourself to me," Ruby pointed out. "I know why you did it, the council members all seemed to be… you know…"

"Absolute morons? Racist, arrogant, and utter idiots?" When Ruby laughed nervously, agreeing with him soon after, Hector snorted out of amusement. "When I still had Knolly to talk to, I asked about the council of the world. The only ones we _might_ have been able to get on our side quickly was Vacuo and Vale. Vale because of us saving Beacon, and Vacuo because of the news of Salem spreading around after she appeared there, also, Natsuki is the new Headmistress at this point, the older one stepped down and-... Here I am explaining stuff to you again." He sighed, and palmed his face.

"It's not like I was there with you the whole time." Ruby giggled, and poked his side. "You're so serious all the time now, you gotta loosen up."

"Oh, I'm getting right on that right now." He said, stretching his body and moaning happily when his bones and muscles creaked and released pressure. "How's Summer? Have you guys talked more?"

Ruby shifted uncomfortably. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's just… Mom and us caught up while you were making calls to Natsuki, and we are all doing well. We sorta realized that we kinda lunged into things a little quickly, and Mom thought I was still a little girl for the first couple of hours."

"Heh, like Yang and I used to always say, you'll always be our Rubaby."

"Stooop!" Ruby whined, hiding her face with her other hand. She was still so easy to tease, even so close to twenty years old as she was. "I hated it when you two called me that."

"Nah, don't lie. You loved it."

" _Shut up_. Also, Dad found out about Mom yesterday. She went to go see him when she heard that he was still in Atlas." Ruby said, and began to shift nervously beside him. "So there's that…"

"What happened?" Hector had to ask, he hasn't seen Tai in over a year, and still hasn't gone to see him much to his shame. Rhea spent her time with him with her more trained and learned Maiden powers, and began treating him herself. His recovery was already speedy up because of his aura working overtime on the injury he had on his chest. He wasn't surprised to hear that Summer went to go see him, despite her tendency to be nervous when it came to talking to people, Summer was now the one to initiate talks herself, and the one with her and Tai was probably a _very_ long time coming.

Ruby sighed. "I was happy to hear that she went to talk to him at first, but then she said that she couldn't get back with him, at least not yet."

Hector felt a lump in his throat. Ouch, that must have hurt the guy right in the feelings. "Did she say why?" He wished he didn't ask quickly.

"Yeah, she said that she didn't know if she was going to come back from the fight… that she couldn't get back with him now, just for her to go die again and make him depressed again." Her hand tightened around his, hard, but he barely felt any pain, and squeezed hers back to show his support.

"The hardest part for me to comprehend is that I understood her reasons." Ruby continued, sorrow clear in her voice. "Summer is forty nine years old, and she says that she might be able to break that limit with something the previous Winter Maiden taught her, but she doesn't know for sure…"

 _Fuck…_ Hector wished he still had Jinn to ask if there was a way to break the Maiden's curse. Every Maiden beared it, Natsuki, Summer, Yang… and Rhea. Raven died from it, no matter what they could have done, she would have died from both her wounds and the curse limit rapidly increasing her age didn't help anything either. Even if they won, he hated the thought of living to an old age just to bury his loved ones and friends early just because of that limit. Rhea, Yang, Natsuki, and Summer, all of them deserve to live full lives once this war was over and won.

"I'll find a way to break it… if I can." Hector promised. "I won't feel like we won completely if we lose four of our friends due to some magical curse, whatever I can find out, I'll save them."

Ruby smiled, and wiped a tear that fell out of one of her eyes. She knew he was going to do it if there was a way, especially if she asked him too. She felt bad for doing it, but it wasn't hard to believe that he would have done it anyway. She sometimes forgets that he knew her mother just as well as she did, perhaps more because he knew her longer.

"Thank you." She said, rolling onto her side to face him. "I know it's selfish of me to ask, but I don't know if I can lose anyone else-"

"Don't say that." Hector shook his head, and rolled to face her as well. "We won't lose anyone else, I won't allow it to happen. As a matter of fact…" Hector stood up suddenly, and extend a hand out to his side. The Relic of Creation which was laying on the floor beside his bed floated up into his hand. "Creare, go to Polendina, and do the favour I asked."

" _As you wish, master."_ Creare replied, and the staff flew out of the window and soared into the night sky.

"What was that?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Well, sometime in the middle of my going around like a madman making peace settlements, I talked to Doctor Polendina again. I asked him out he was about to make Penny." Ruby's eyes widened, and she instantly realized what he had in mind.

"Y-you don't mean..." She stammered, holding her hands in front of her mouth.

Hector smiled. "Back in the tournament, Penny lost her legs and arms, and her insides were all mucked up. But her main power core, which was in her head, survived. She just lost the aura that in that body of hers. However, since the power core survived, and was brought back here, I decided to take it upon myself to see if she could be brought back. Luckily, Penny isn't human, because the one thing Creare can't do, is bring people back to life."

"But he _can_ create aura for a living person, and since Penny's main power core wasn't destroyed, all the scientist needs to do is make a new body for her, and power it-"

Ruby was already hugging him, her speed was almost too fast for him to keep up with, but he was able to spread his arms fast enough just before the moment her chest impacted with his. She hugged him tightly and his hands settled around her waist as he laughed, she kept murmuring "Thank you!" to him over and over, with her face buried into his chest, it muffled her voice, but he was still able to hear every word.

"-and Creare will do the rest." He finished as he rubbed her back.

Sadly, the Relic of Creation didn't have the power to bring people back from the dead. His powers were as is, Creation. He couldn't create life which already existed. He could take a dead body, and bring it back to life with a new soul. But it wouldn't be the same person, he or she would be a completely different person, a new soul created by a Relic. He thought about bringing people back, to create replicas of their bodies, Pyrrha was the first person he had in mind, but even if he created her body exactly how it was before, and gave the body a soul using the Relic of Creation.

She would _look_ like Pyrrha, sure, but she wouldn't truly _be_ Pyrrha. She'd just be a lost soul waking up for the first time. He couldn't bring himself to go through with it, he might end up making things worse, and he was afraid of the outcome. He'd hate to create Pyrrha, show her to the old Team JNPR, only for her to not recognize them and them be forced to let her live her own life. Luckily, with Penny, she wasn't born human, and her main core which housed all of her functions and memories was intact. When she was torn apart by Pyrrha, she simply lost power and all connections that kept her body running, and so she was deactivated, not destroyed, not killed.

Despite his best efforts, Polendina was never able to recreate Penny again, even with her power core back in his possession, but even if he didn't have another body for her ready, Creare could make it for him. Not a fleshy human one, but one full of wires and all the gadgets and gismos that make Penny work. Theoretically, it could be done, and Creare may as well have confirmed it for him when he asked it of him.

"She won't be back right away, but we'll go check up on her tomorrow… once I get through all of those meetings again." He said with an irritated sigh, the mere thought of having to go through all that again, but with the Valean council this time, made him want to puke.

"Thank you…" Ruby muttered into him one more time, and wiped her tears off of her face by rubbing her face into his shirt. Hector tensed up when she blew her nose into his shirt, but couldn't find it within himself to be mad about it, there were much worse things he has been covered from head to toe with, and Grimm blood did _not_ smell good.

"No prob-" He was cut off when Ruby stood up on the tips of her toes and pulled his face down. Their lips met and they melted into each other, the passionate made him go red, and he cracked his eye open just enough to see that her face was just as red as the scarf she gave him in Vale.

" _ **Oh God, I cannot go through this again."**_ Deus whined, which embarrassed Hector even more when he realized that they weren't technically alone. Even then, he deepened the kiss and pushed his tongue into her mouth. " _ **Is there a way I can turn myself off? Or can I kill myself?"**_

" **Stop being such a child, this is normal for humans. The act of reproduction without actually producing a child is something humans are surprisingly adept at."**

" _ **Yes, but you haven't SEEN what they do to each other!"**_ Deus shouted back. " _ **Last time they did this, I watched as the women's parts were lic-"**_

" **Details I mustn't know, broth-"**

"Ahn! _Yes~_ "

" **Oh…"** Amphelias spectral form invisible to everyone else tilted her head to the side, and blushed at the sight she saw, orange cheeks were dusted with red. " **Oh my** …"

" _ **Not again!"**_ Deus exclaimed as the sword of destruction flew out the window.

" _I've been through this multiple times."_ Ozma pointed out, he's been recently given permission to hear the relics and communicate with them. " _This isn't even the worst of it."_

Clothes were taken off in a literal blink of an eye, and considering the fact that Ruby had a speed semblance and Hector was the owner of all four relics, it was _very_ fast.

" _Yet, they keep surprising me every time…"_ Ozma said as he shut his eyes and did his best to ignore the sounds of what was happening right behind him. Being a Spectral ghost had its perks, but being bound to a person at _all_ times led to some pretty interesting sights, not all pleasant. He gave them the privacy they desired by covering Amphelia's eyes as well, for she could not keep her eyes off them

* * *

Rhea stirred from her sleep and yawned as she raised her head. She fell asleep in Mister Taiyang's room again, it seemed. She did her best in healing his wounds with her powers, and it worked to a great extent. Now it was just a matter of time, and he would be back to feeling like he was two decades younger again.

She left him sleeping, not wanting to disturb him. Then she lifted Zwei, who slept in between her wolf hears this time, and set him down beside Tai on his bed. The dog whimpered for a moment at the loss of body heat, but immediately latched on to the heat beside him the moment he sensed it.

She stared longingly for a few more moments, finding the scene absolutely adorable, and then she forced herself to leave the room. If she stayed any longer, she would have stolen that dog.

Mercury was training with Yang and Qrow again, she saw as she flew out of a window. Though, it was more Mercury and Yang flirting with each other while fighting, and with Qrow watching with a stink eye as he sat on the sidelines with clothes drenched in sweat. She laughed as she thought about what he could have been thinking in that moment. There he was, Qrow Branwen, training with the Spring Maiden and a boy half his age. Both were trained Huntsman. He was very skilled in his own right, and could probably still beat them (If Yang didn't use her Spring Maiden powers), but now he must have been realizing his own age more and more every day. Not to mention that both Mercury and Yang were much more skilled and experienced than their past selves at Haven.

She flew past, and waved at him when he noticed her and waved back. Flying through the cold Atlesian air was a very good way to wake yourself up. She continued her flight session until she saw something dark and flaming sticking out of the ground, curiously, she flew down to go investigate it.

"What the?" She muttered as she looked down at the Relic of Destruction, lodged in the snow all the way to the hilt. "What are you doing here?" She asked the sword as she used two hands to pull it out, only to wince as spikes fired out of the handle and nearly stabbed into her hands. It would have if she didn't have her aura to protect her. "Right… _that's_ why Dad never let me hold you. Luckily, I have another way."

With a victorious smirk, she manipulated to snow into ice as hard as stone, and lifted the sword that was still stabbed into it and raised it into the air. The sword continued to flame, but she used her Fall Maiden powers to freeze the ice into so low a temperature that not even the flames from the sword could melt through it.

"Can't believe Dad lost you somehow, I'll get you back to him." Rhea promised with a roll of her eyes, not seeing the way the Relic of Destruction seemed to flame up even harder at the mentioning of returning to its master.

She remembered where his room was, they spent a long time in Atlas before they left for Vacuo after all. Third floor up and the second window after the third pillar. It was even easier to find since the sword was directly under the window as well.

She used wind to push the window until it opened, and stepped through it sword first.

"Hey Dad, I got the-"

Her voice died in her mouth as she saw two pairs of eyes staring back at her. Body's as naked as the day they were born, with clothes _and_ sheets tossed about throughout the room. RJ had the crown of choice on his head, and the cane of Ozma in his left hand. Ruby had his scarf around her neck, and the hood still on her body.

They looked at her, and she looked at them, her face went pale, then green, then a pale green, and then she realized what _position_ they were in and proceeded to scream.

* * *

"Okay!" Hector said as he stepped into the lunchroom, hands washed and clothes on. Rhea stalked in after him, still pale after being traumatized once again, and Ruby behind her, instead as red as a tomato but just as awkwardly nervous as she was. "What's for breakfast today?"

"Er…" Jaune hummed as he looked at the menu. Yes, the Schnee manor provided _menus_ for the people who lived there. "Something with a lobster claw and some dressing… I think. I don't know what these words mean."

"I told you what they meant yesterday!" Weiss exclaimed indignantly, sitting next to him, she leaned over and explained to him once again what the fancy words meant and what food he would be getting from them.

"Oooh, then yeah, same as yesterday." Jaune said with a triumphant nod as he slapped the menu shut.

Weiss huffed and shook her head. With Jaune being Jaune, and hailing from a backwater town called Ansel, and with no one else as well mannered as she was, she had to teach him the ways of the menu.

"Great, I'll have that." Hector said as he sat down, Rhea and Ruby beside him. They were all spread out with three feet in between each other.

Weiss tilted her head in confusion, and had to ask, "Did something happen?"

"Nope." Hector, Rhea, and Ruby answered at the same time and much too quickly. Weiss narrowed her eyes slightly, but thought better than to bud in on their business.

"Where's Nora and Ren?" Hector asked Jaune approximately three seconds later.

Jaune flushed and shivered. "Oh you know… the usual."

/-/

 _Twenty minutes earlier…_

Jaune stretched his shoulders, tired after another hard training session with his father, and mentally exhausted from the constant pestering of his family. Curiously, he heard something from his teammates shared room. He was about to let himself in, but he heard something creak. Wondering what it was, he leaned his ear against the door, and immediately regretted his decision.

"Come on Renny! I'm not done yet!"

"I am!"

"You can do this Renny!"

"I can't!"

"Almost there Renny!"

"Ugh…" By the sound of it Ren passed out.

Jaune leaned away from the door, and suddenly felt a little motion sick again. The only reason he kept going to the lunchroom was because Weiss expected him there, being the only one who really had time to speak with her now that everyone had their own thing going on.

/-/

"The usual…" Jaune echoed himself as shuddered.

"Somehow, I think I know the feeling." Rhea muttered.

"It's not a good feeling…" Jaune said, hanging his head.

"No. No it is not." Rhea agreed.

Weiss looked to both of them with a questioning look on her face, and then the realization hit.

"She caught you two again, didn't she?" She asked Hector.

Hector thought long and hard on his reply, looked to Ruby, who was currently more attracted to her food at the moment, hood up and over her entire face, and then to Rhea. Who flipped him off. Then he sighed.

To his relief, his scroll rang.

"Oh, look at that! It looks like the council from Vale is finally ready to convene with me." He said as he saw the caller ID, being Winter Schnee herself. "Wish me luck!" Hector said as he _sprinted_ out of the lunchroom with his tray of food in hand.

"That lucky son of a-" Rhea cut herself off, sighing heavily as she burned away the memory she had locked in her mind with food and milk. "Whatever… I'm too hungry to be mad right now."

* * *

Hector stalked into Summers chambers, where she was currently training after quickly recovering from her injuries at the hands of Hell. He sat down on one of the benches, only to slide off when he realized that the bench was frosted with a thin layer of slippery ice. With a put upon sigh, he stood up and stayed standing.

"Need something Rios?" Summer asked, she knew his name. He told her long ago. But she seemed to still opt to call him by the name she has called him by most of his life. The only times she actually calls him by his real name is when she is being deadly serious, or he's in trouble. Strangely enough, it happens more when he is in trouble. He'll respond to either, at this point.

"Yeah, I'm on intermission after talking to some of the Valean council members," he sighed. "And holy shit, how the hell did any of those fools get elected?"

"You're asking me that? I haven't been to Vale in decades." Summer pointed out.

Hector sighed again. "Yeah… but still, Ozma is being no help and keeps telling me to use the Relic of Choice to make them listen. They already want to help since everyone wants the Grimm gone everywhere, but are thin on men and supplies. I keep telling them that I can make more for them with the Relic of Creation, but they just think I'm telling a joke every time."

"And did you think to prove it to them?" Summer asked and rose an eyebrow, standing before him with hands on her hips.

Hector sagged his shoulders. "I wish I could, but Creare is still busy trying to bring Penny back to life."

"Ah, is that the gynoid that Ruby told me about?" Summer asked, snickering.

"Gy- what now?" Hector asked, confused.

"The gynoid, a robot made to appear as a female human." Summer recited easily. "You didn't know?"

"Not really," Hector admitted. "I always called her an android… just like everyone else does."

"Eh, the terminology doesn't really matter, I guess." Summer shrugged her shoulders.

"Wait, isn't the literal definition of an android is: A robot built to look like a human?" Hector asked. "Human, not male or female specifically, but human. I feel like it's left ambiguous for a reason."

"Like I said, the terminology doesn't really matter." Summer said, shrugging her shoulders again.

"Then why did you call her a gynoid- You know what, never mind." He shook his head. "You distracted me pretty well there."

"I've had practice." Summer admitted to it without a second thought. "But I know what you're saying already. You're afraid that you're going to be abusing the relics, and you don't want to be consumed by your own power." When he nodded his head, she continued. "I went through the same thing when I got the Winter Maiden's powers for the first time, always afraid to use them, didn't know how to control it - if I even _could_ control it. But the difference between you and I is that you have _complete_ control over what you and the relics do, and that's great. Fantastic even, since you're the one in charge."

He nodded his head, already feeling better about certain decisions he has had to make. "Thanks, that helps me out a lot already."

"No problem. Don't be afraid to use the relics if you have to, if it means saving the world, then I am sure people are going to _eventually_ forgive you for messing with their minds a little bit."

Hector winced. "Eventually?"

"People are stupid," Summer shrugged, she sounded like a woman that wasn't about to get into her fifties with the way she said that. "They'll get mad maybe, but once they realize that the Grimm is gone and we've achieved world peace, people will come around. Probably."

The `Probably` part made him a little nervous to be honest, but it was better than nothing. He nodded his head, and made to leave. Only to be stopped by a flurry of snow blowing into his back and freezing his foot to the ground.

"Where do you think you're going so quickly?" Summer asked, smirking with her arms crossed. "Did you come by just for my advice? Did you forget that _you_ were my mentor for most of my life? Stay for a while, train with me, I'm sure the council from Vale will understand."

Hector looked at her with shock for a moment, before remembering something and laughing out loud. He kept laughing at the joke he and Yang had before, that all Maidens just had a natural desire to fight him. He has already fought the other three kinds of Maidens, and right now, Summer was going to complete the set by challenging him like this.

"What's so funny?" Summer asked, pouting. He laughed even more as he found out where exactly Ruby got her dastardly puppy eyes from. She may have been middle aged, but she pulled it off quite well to her credit.

"Oh, nothing." He replied as he tore his foot out of the ice, turning around to face the Winter Maiden with a growing flaming aura around his body. "Just laughing at an old joke of mine."

"Hmph, we'll see how long you'll be able to smile like that." Summer said as she hovered in the air, a white flame flaring from her one silver eye. Her white cloak which was recently stitched back together and fixed flowed behind her like wings, she looked truly majestic, especially with icy blue flames in each of her hands.

"Trust me, this'll be short alright." Hector said as his red aura exploded from his body. Summer smiled as she saw his feet lift up from the ground, the sword of destruction jingled in its sheath at its side, and the crown of choice would have been blown away if he didn't have it hooked onto his belt. Finally, after much wishing and cursing his bad luck. After claiming the fourth and final relic, and mastering the use of Light magic with more mental training with Ozma, he has gained the ability to fly, just like Maidens can.

"Ready?" Summer asked, preparing to launch the training session. The entire training room started being encased in ice, every single square inch, except for the area around Hector, which instead began to get scorched with black because of the burning aura he had around his body.

Hector smile went from ear to ear as a certain familiar word slid out of his lips with grace.

" _Kaioken!_ "

* * *

"I'm back," Hector said quickly as he jogged back into the negotiation chamber. His body didn't have a single drop of sweat on it, and his scarf was wrapped lazily around his neck. .His eyes were a vibrant red and blue, and there was still snow in his shoes, and inside some parts of his jacket but there was a satisfied smile on his face the whole time. "Sorry about that, I had to spar with a friend of mine real quick."

One of the Valean council members balked in the screen. "Is _that_ what all the shaking was coming from?" He asked.

"Yup." Hector said as he took a seat next to the General, nodding at him. "Anyway, where were we?"

"I-I believe we were making long term plans for Vale to recover from the recent attacks during the Vytal festival and the second Grimm attack on Beacon with the awoken dragon." One of the younger council members explained. "Adam Taurus per your request has been given a reward of heroism for his actions to slay the dragon, and will be remembered as the man who saved Beacon instead of the man who destroyed it in the first place, a redeemed hero if you will."

Hector nodded his head, content with that. Adam didn't deserve any more hate, and now it has practically been made social taboo to speak ill of his name. "Thank you, and I understand that Vale is still in a sorry state because of the recent attacks, but you must understand that we do not have time to wait. The Grimm in both Vale and Vacuo has mysteriously retreated in a matter of days, why do you think that is?"

"Your theory of them traveling back to the Grimmlands while sound and plausible is unlikely. They could simply be gathering for another attack-"

" _Or_ , maybe the man is correct." Another man on the council interrupted him.

Hector smirked as he saw him, for a moment he was about to heed Summer's advice and use the relic again. But at the sight of green hair clashing colors with a yellow tie, he couldn't help but set down the Relic of Choice back down on the table. Besides, once Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck took the empty council seat Ozpin left behind that was refused by the new headmistress Glynda, he knew it was just a matter of time, it was how much time that concerned him.

"As the only one here who is a Huntsman and has spent much time around the Creatures of darkness, I can only say that I not only believe that Mister Rivers' theory is not only possible, but highly probable. From my own experience, and my own theories, I also believe that the Grimm are _not_ mindless, and have worked their way into the knowledge that their home land is about to become under siege." There were many murmurs and whispers at that, but the green haired man continued as he zipped around from camera to camera, appearing for a second behind each of the council members. The professor knew about Ozma being reincarnated into his body, and so he could rely on his loyalty, and from what he knew, it was loyalty well worth keeping.

"-I conclude by proposing this; if you don't believe that the Grimm are congregating and preparing a defense, then look at the _What If? What if_ it is really possible that the Grimm are being rallied back into the Grimmlands? _What if_ we wait to long and they build a defense impossible to overcome? We are already outnumbered a hundred to one, and we have the advantage of the Grimm still being scattered around the world. If we strike now, we may stand a chance, but if we wait too long…?" Oobleck took off his glasses, and looked to each of the council members. "Then life as we know it, will come to an end."

He hit it right on the nail there, the world didn't know that the world was indeed at stake. Not just life on Remnant, but the planet itself would be destroyed if they didn't win this fight. If they waited for too long to gather their forces, Salem would build a defense even Hector and the four maidens couldn't hope to break.

"I shall start the vote, which must be unanimous." Oobleck rose a hand. "All those in favour of making one last ditch effort attack on the homeland of the Grimm, to rid the world of the creatures who nearly drove us to extinction, and to protect peace for the rest of time. Say aye. Aye."

That was certainly one way to pull at their guilt strings, one by one, and slowly. Each of the other council members rose their hand. Some took more effort than others, but eventually the vote _was_ unanimous, and without using the Relic of Choice too much either. Hector nodded his head to the green haired man, who winked back and gave him a thumbs up.

"Thank you all for your votes," Hector said, and grabbed the Staff of Creation that just reappeared by his side. It seemed like the favour was done just in time. "And by the way," on top of his table in the room, a box of supplies appeared out of a flash of yellow. Once the gasps stopped, he put down the staff and bowed his head. "Told you so." Once that was done, he disconnected himself from the meeting.

"That was quite the power move," Ironwood pointed out, smirking at him. "Frustrated?"

Hector sighed once again, and this was only have the work. He still needed to talk to Mistral and Vacuo still, even if the latter was already confirmed, he still needed to make arrangements.

"You have no idea…"

"Hmph," Ironwood stood up, and fixed his suit before looking to him. "With all due respect, _you_ have no idea how bad politics can really get."

Hector sighed again and fell back in his seat. "Please don't tell me that it can get worse." He begged. "Please…"

James walked over to him, and patted a hand on his shoulder.

"It can only get worse." He told him.

Suddenly, abusing Amphelia's powers didn't seem like such a bad idea after all.

* * *

 **There we go, a decently sized chapter, and one that is a little more lighthearted before the massive death and action happens. I focused a little more on humour this chapter, and little bit into what Hector is going through in trying to convince the councils of Remnant to all deliver all of their forces to a specific spot in Atlas and convincing them that he could make them infinite food. So there's that. I am not well versed in Politics, so that was why I kept most scenes short here in this chapter. I didn't want to pretend that I did and have things not make sense, though I am pretty sure I already managed that here… Oh well, I tried my best with the time that I had.**

 **Also, for you Penny fans out there, you're going to love next chapter.**

 **Now with that out of the way, please review and let me know what you think, I am writing the next chapter as we speak. Wish me luck.**

 **T w itter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	78. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 78

**And yeah, we're back already. Not much else to say here, I'm a little sleepy, but eh. I got this. All I gotta do is write a few more thousand words and I'll be able to sleep, no biggie.**

* * *

 **Oblivious IJ: Neo at the moment is currently in Vale, but believe me, she** _ **will**_ **return.**

 **Cinderfall201: I am glad you are excited for the adorable little androids return! The thought has crossed my mind once or twice, yeah. I might make an omake at the end of this chapter, we'll see.**

 **Zeldawolffang: Ozma has seen too much for a few thousand years old man. Poor guy.**

 **Tigervolcano5000: Hector is smart when he wants to be, and Rhea does need to learn how to knock. This is just getting ridiculous now, but it does make for a good running joke. There was a reason that I didn't the Hector v Summer fight, a good one. A part of the reason was that I didn't want to spoil any new abilities, and another was because Hector has been shown to fight every time he fought, and besides. It wasn't like you missed much, if I did write it, it would have been around 3-4 pages anyway. Don't worry though, the next time Hector fights will definitely make up for it ;).**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Same thing as before, let us push onward!**

 **Beta: CrowSkull**

* * *

Chapter 78- Working His Magic

"Okay, so good news." Hector said with a yawn as he plopped down on a seat. He was supposed to make some special announcement to his friends that they now have Vale confirmed to be on their side, but it was three in the morning at this time and the news of the confirmation may as well have been spread all over the world. So the only ones who were actually there was Mercury who had his head propped up by his elbow with his chin on top of the palm of his hand, half asleep and probably didn't even realize where he was. Yang, who was in much the same position, sitting beside him. Weiss, who was the only one paying attention, and Blake. Who was actually full on sleeping. All the others went to bed, not that he paid any mind. They would find out what happened in here in the morning anyway, Weiss wouldn't let them get away with it.

"So, Vale is on our side now?" Yang asked boredly.

"Yep." Hector said, nodding his head.

"Yaaaay." Mercury whooped, throwing his fist limply into the air. "First my pardon, and now we all get to fight together. That really puts a smile on my face."

"Congratulations on the accomplishment." Weiss said regally, the only one awake enough to respond seriously and properly. "Now we must confirm Vacuo and Mistral's fealty, and then gather everyone on the Blizzard Island of Atlas in the far north. How is the progress going on in that department?" She asked.

"I've made a dozen calls to Natsuki from the CCT here, and since she is the headmistress and one of the only council members there, she sorta just said that they were going to help and they kinda just said sure. So we can expect their arrival later this week." Hector explained. Natsuki becoming the headmistress around this time was perfect, almost like he planned it. Not only is she the Summer Maiden, but the higher ups of Vacuo were sworn to Ozma to protect her, so if she went on her own, they would be betraying that oath. If Vacuo was good for anything, it was their high degree of honor to follow up on their promises. "As for Mistral, I still need to have another chat with their council. They're really grateful for what we did there a few years back, so they have been relatively easy to deal with and speak to. Also, since Signals old headmaster is now Haven's headmaster too, that means that we at least have Haven's help confirmed already, I just need to get Mistral at their backs as well, and that would be everyone."

"I see," Weiss nodded her head approvingly. "It seems like you have been busy, and you can of course trust in the funding of the SDC to help with creating supply routes, and since the mines have been professionally cleaned out of nearly all of its resources per my command, done by both faunus and humans by the way, we have a surplus of dust and metal to create weapons and tools and supplies with. I've already given an order to send many crews to the Blizzard Island with said supplies, but they need more than just my signature." Weiss said as she slid over many papers clipped to a clipboard, and a blue pen at pinched between the two at the top.

Hector eyed the papers with confusion. "I'm not a council member, I can't sign this." He felt the need to point out."

"Well, _you_ aren't." Weiss agreed.

Hector tilted his head in confusion for a moment, but then realized shortly after what she meant. She didn't mean _him_ , but the other man sharing a body with him.

" _I may be technically dead, but you'll find that I can still have an influence on the world of politics."_ Ozma explained, and then requested to take over his body momentarily.

"Okay, whatever. If it works, it works." Hector said as he shut his eyes, and let the old former headmaster take over. Once Ozma took control, he let him take the rest of the few hours that went by throughout the early morning. It turned out that Weiss did not have just one piece of paper for him to sign, but many… _many_ more. Things like funding, what to fund, official statements, and the like that Hector did not fully understand not even without a lack of trying anyway.

Before Ozma knew it, it was morning again. Or well, later in the morning he should say. His body felt completely awake still physically, though the mind was as exhausted as usual. He let Hector take control again and started to rest once more. With a new mind in control of the body again, this one being much more awake, the body could go on for plenty of more hours before feeling to need to go to sleep. That was how the body of a person with all four relics claimed functioned. He almost had infinite stamina. He knew there was a limit to his stamina, if his spar with Summer meant anything. It was hard fought, but with the power of the three out of the four relics on his side, and the fact that if he really wanted to he could just make her choose to stop fighting, not that he would do that, not to her or any of his other friends. In the end, his victory was assured as he slowly powered up more and more with Kaioken. The point is, physically he could keep fighting and being active for probably days straight without sleep, but when it comes to his mind, there are limits to how long he can go before he starts to tire mentally and emotionally. Never to an extreme extent where it was painful, just an annoying one.

" _Okay… I'm about ready to hand the controls back over… forever."_ Ozma comments as he leaned back in his chair. It was around midday at this point, and by now even Weiss opted to go rest her body. Yang and Mercury left some time in between and Blake was just now waking up. Apparently, she has been making constant calls to her parents, and by extension the people of menagerie. Menagerie was the one place that Hector has never been to yet and they owed him no favours, he has already used the Relic of Choice to help _persuade_ them into finding this to be the best course of action, so now it just took one of their own, one of their own that they trusted, to guide them. Blake, and the Belladonna family were doing their part, and if what he has heard was true, Sun, and Ilia were in Menagerie as well, raising awareness and support for their cause. Everyone was doing their part all over the world, and Hector and Ozma _both_ found themselves eternally grateful for it.

"What's wrong, age catching up to you already?" Hector asked as he took back control, rolling and cracking his neck as he leaned back in his chair and through his arms up into the air.

" _I am literally a thousand years older than you are Mister Rivers, and unlike you I am actually human."_ Ozma shot back, pretty well to his credit.

"Asshole." Hector said affectionately, and then thought about what he was going to have to do later that day. "Huh, I only got to speak to Mistral today, work my magic with them, and then we're good pretty much. By the end of next week we should be ready to attack Salem and her Grimm."

" _Does that make you nervous?"_ Ozma asked.

"Hell yeah it does." He admitted honestly. "I am about to lead an army of almost a million Hunters, soldiers, volunteers, and pardoned criminals into what could literally be described as a last ditch suicide mission. Sure, we have the maidens, the relics, and some silver eyed warriors on our side, but you never know." He sighed before continuing, leaning his elbows on the table and hanging his head. He was hiding it before, but as he looked down at his own hands, they were trembling lightly. "Thousands of years ago you fought her, nearly defeated her even, but you still lost. The entire continent that was the Grimmlands came to be because of your battle, and Salem _has_ to be _many_ times stronger now that she has had all the time in the world to train, and master her techniques. If she and I battle… the collateral damage might be too much for our troops."

" _You are a wielder of both Light and Dark magic,"_ Ozma started right as he finished talking. " _You have all of my experience and old spells at your disposal, and you can enhance them with your Dark magic. You're already many times stronger than I was back then, and Salem was just barely stronger than me at that time as well. I will not lie and say that there won't be any collateral damage, but as I said before, you are a wielder of both Light and Dark magic, the only one in all the known existence barring perhaps the Gods themselves and are also the owner of all four relics. Use it, and you'll be surprised at how much of that damage you can prevent."_

"How do I do that?" Hector asked the obvious question.

" _I don't know how another person's magic works."_ Ozma snorted. " _It's magic, the same rule applies to both types. If you use your imagination, almost anything is possible."_

Hector thought long and hard on his words, and looked back up. Hands no longer shaking, he had an idea in mind, that was for sure. A very good crazy one, a great way to minimize unintentional damage. He couldn't wait to use it already.

" _ **Ooo, I love that idea master!"**_ Deus declared as he read his thoughts. " _ **We shall force her through a-"**_

" **Silence brother! Have you no filter for spoilers?"** Amphelia said, huffing as she threw back her orange hair over one shoulder.

" _ **Ah… my mistake."**_ Deus replied, and actually looked like he was sorry for what he nearly did.

" _No need to apologize, little brother."_ Creare said, patting his brother on the back to calm him. " _We may be divine beings, but we are fallible, we all make mistakes."_

"What are you guys talking about?" Hector asked, not understanding what the relics were saying or doing. "You guys can talk about the plan, it's not like Salem is going to hear us from across the world."

" _But the spoilers master!"_ Creare persisted. " _Think of the fans!"_

Hector blinked his eyes out of confusion. "Uh… okay, I won't say it out loud then." He said as he looked up at the ceiling fan. He thought for a moment that Creare was referring to his actual real life fans, with him being the Hero of many kingdoms and all. But he snuffed out that ridiculous thought and went back to thinking about what he was going to say and do with Mistral. He could just use the Relic of Choice on them and make them choose to do what he suggests. But he wondered if he could do the same thing he did with the Vale council, even with Oobleck not in Mistral, he still had that Albedo guy in there with a good handful of political power.

"HEX!" Ruby shouted, dashing into the room in a flurry of rose petals and a bright smile on her face, she startled Hector for a moment as she simply _appeared_ by his side and grabbed his arm, and yanked him up into a standing position. They were already halfway to the exit of the room before he thought to ask the obvious question on why they were in a hurry all of a sudden.

"Woah, woah woah!" Hector exclaimed, pulling back for an instant and getting control over how past they were going immediately. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong!?" Ruby echoed him in a voice so loud it was a wonder how she wasn't losing her voice. "You're what's wrong! I texted you four times in the last three minutes and seventeen seconds!"

Hector looked at her weirdly. "...How do you know that exactly?"

"Not important, look at your scroll!" Ruby exclaimed, literally bouncing in place as he apprehensively reached his hand into his pocket and grabbed the rectangular device. He thumbed the scroll active and felt it vibrate as it was turned back on. He didn't want to admit that he had turned the scroll off after many hours of working and speaking and signing and all that political malarkey. Instead, he kept an eye on the even more excited than usual Ruby, and used his other to see where her conversation thread was.

" _PENNYISGOINGTOBEACTIVATEDTODAY!"_ Multiplied by four after a bunch of more gibberish that Hector couldn't understand. She must have used her semblance and stopped counting at four with the amount of times she sent that to him, because it was definitely _not_ just four times. More like forty seven times she sent the message to him. All within a variety of a mixed group of characters that didn't make much sense in the grand scheme of things.

But then, his eyes widened as he looked over the first message for a longer amount of time. Penny… he honestly forgot for a few hours that he did that.

" _Oh!_ " Hector said, suddenly getting more excited. He has never met her before, but he wanted to badly. "Okay, I see your point! Let's go see her right now, I got the time."

"You got the time!?" Ruby asked, aghast.

Hector nodded his head. "I got the time!"

"You got the time!" The red reaper agreed, and then picked him up and used her semblance and sped at speeds faster than the speed of sound toward the building Polendina was known to be working in.

* * *

Doctor Polendina was humming a familiar tune of a song he used to listen to while making Penny for the first time. It had taken years of delicate work, trials and errors, and an unbelievable amount of patience and time before Penny was ever born as an artificial intelligence capable of generating an aura. It required more work than anything he has ever done before, making a machine capable of generating an aura was even harder than looking at what looked to be human blood cells and discovering that it was something else entirely. Similar yes, but also very different. Learning that the G-cells he and Grimm blood he sapped out of Hector's body previously was actually the very energy of two different kinds of magic mixed in and diluted in the non-human blood that he has studied prior was quite shocking to say the least. But still not as hard as it was to create Penny, his creation. His daughter…

The scientist finishes his work and wiped the sweat from his brow. Finally, his work has been completely. Penny Polendina now has a new body with the same power core she had before. All of her memories are intact, but he has taken the liberty to remove the memory she had of herself being destroyed. The last thing she was going to remember was preparing for her match against Pyrrha Nikos, and right before the match began as well. She was going to find out either way, but he thought that he would spare her the immediate pain and shock when she would first wake up. Well, she wouldn't feel pain, but the closest to it being an android.

He stood up and marveled at the new body that the Relic of Creation created for him. He had all the tools and the knowledge the finish everything up, but he nearly broke down as he saw the body of his daughter suddenly reappear, suspended standing up in a machine that he used to keep her body still and upright. The power of magic was truly something to behold. He could hardly believe his own eyes as he watched as the Relic of Creation worked it's magic. It was like something out of a movie, yet so much more jaw dropping and shocking. It still gave him chills just to think about it.

He spotted a dust old picture of himself, one where he was much younger with a head full of ginger colored hair and a little girl with freckles and green eyes and an adorable hairstyle which matched his in color. Feeling tears well up, he stepped toward the picture and picked it up. He has hardly looked at it over the years, and couldn't bring himself to put the picture face down so that he didn't have to see the face of his little girl every day. His deceased little girl.

Once upon a time, his work came second to family. He had a beautiful daughter, and a loving wife. A time where his biggest concern was whether not his daughter was missing him too terribly or not. It was truly a paradise for him every time he spent time with the two most important women in his life. But then the attack happened…

One day, he and his family were out on a trip to Argus to visit some family on his wife's side. Yet so tragically, on their way there they were attacked by a swarm of Grimm. The Huntsman they hired to protect them died protecting them, and the rest of the soldiers and droids escorting them barely were able to kill the rest… but not before they got to his daughter.

After that tragic day, his marriage was all but destroyed. Neither of them could look at each other and not think of their daughter, and so, they divorced each other and moved on with their lives the best that they could. His ex-wife stayed in Argus with her family, where she later took her own life because of the grief of losing her child. Upon hearing the news, he almost took his own life as well. Until he thought that maybe, just maybe he might be able to bring their daughter back.

He was an expert in robotics, the best even. Even when he was more focused on his family than his word. If it was possible, could he create a robotic body capable of generating its own aura, and by extension, a soul?

They called him a fool for even broaching the idea. But there was one man who believed in him, one man who thought that it was possible. General Ironwood.

Once he had the General's support, he had all the funding and resources he needed, and after years of developing, he finally succeeded in creating the first aura wielding android. Whom he named Penny, based after his daughter. He knew that she wouldn't be _his_ Penny, but now he had another chance, another one even after he failed her in the Vytal festival. This would be the last time he creates Penny, the android. He just knew it.

Holding his head up high and brushing a tear from his eye, he walked over to the lever that would jump-start the androids body, and prepared to pull it. He has waited long enough, now it was time to bring Penny Polendina back from the dead.

"And thus, I shall make history for a second time-"

"We're here!" Ruby and Hector shouted as they entered the room at supersonic speeds. The doctor wasn't prepared for the sudden stop, and all the force that they carried behind them kept flying forward as a shockwave. He nearly was blown back himself, if it wasn't for the lever he was holding on to at the time.

 _Clank!_

A surge of green electrical energy shot through the androids body. A bright flash followed which was than followed again by a blackout that shut off all the lights in the entire building. After a few seconds, the lights turned back on, although dimmer because of the emergency power switching on automatically. There were sounds of panicking from outside in the halls, but all that was muted as the distinct sound of a robotic humming seemed to echo throughout the entire lab.

Hector, being the only one who was able to endure the blinding light that made both the scientist and Ruby duck their heads and protect their eyes. Luckily, the flash only lasted a fraction of a second, and before long the sounds of mechanically blinking eyes and moving parts started to become all they could hear.

"P-Penny…" Ruby called out to the android, who has just stepped down from the machine holding her in place. She looked down at herself, to her own hands and the same outfit that she used to wear during her time in Vale. For a few seconds she just stood there, looking at her own body for many seconds that felt like minutes in Ruby's eyes. Until finally, green eyes locked onto the red hooded girl and a smile drew upon the androids face.

"Hello friend Ruby! Are you excited to see my match?"

Ruby sped up to hug her the next second later, barreling into her with her semblance enhanced body. The android slid back an inch before her metal body was able to stop, and she bodily returned the hug just as tight as Ruby was giving to her, which was even harder because of her having metal for a body instead of flesh and bones.

"You are excited to see me I can tell, that makes me feel good." Penny said as she giggled wholeheartedly and put the smaller girl down. Once she was able to look around she noticed Doctor Polendina, her father and sole creator, and then looked to a man she has never seen before. Her head tilted to the side as she looked at him, even though her data tells her that she has never seen this man before, there was still a strange sense of familiarity she felt with him somehow. Though, there was a massive gap in her memory now that she is thinking about it.

"Hello father, I was not aware I was going to be pulled back to Atlas so soon. Is there a reason why? And who is this young man?" Penny asked, looking to Doctor Polendina as he rose from the floor, a happy smile on his face.

"Oh my sweet girl… to see your face again brings me such joy." The scientist said, to which Penny proceeded to `awe` and moved up to hug her father, lifting him up off the ground and noticeably being much more gentle with him specifically. Most likely because he was an elderly man at this point in time. "By my automatic scans of your body, they dictate that you are three years older than the last time I have been active." Penny pointed out as she let go of the man, smiling the entire time. "There was an accident, wasn't there? An incident? There is a large gap in my memory, and the last date I remember being active was the previous Vytal festival three years ago. If I may ask, what happened?"

"Wow, you figured all that out right away?" Hector asked, impressed. He figured he shouldn't be surprised, there was a massive difference in the way a computeristic mind worked compared to a human one.

"Correct." Penny nodded her head. Not even going into detail on how she was able to figure everything out so quickly.

"Just as I expected." Doctor Polendina said, sighing. "I have locked away the memories from your mind minutes before an incident that occurred that rendered you destroyed and inactive. Since most of the parts were completely unique, it should have taken longer to rebuild you."

"I see…" Penny said, her smile faltered for a moment, and in her blank expression it could be assumed that she was already working on trying to unlock said memories. But whatever she tried to do, it failed right away, and she had the saddest expression an android could ever hope to show.

"Penny…" Ruby started, then hesitated. She looked to Doctor Polendina, silently asking for permission. After a moment, the doctor nodded his head, giving his approval. Penny was going to find out one way or another anyhow. "Your match with Pyrrha ended in you being torn apart by her polarity semblance." She slowly revealed, waiting to see how her old friend would react. She saw the briefest hint of surprise, but nothing more. When she didn't make to speak, she continued. "After that, Beacon was attacked, and ultimately fell. A lot of people died, and the droids that Atlas brought to help defend the city were hacked and turned on us. Everything up until this point has been a lot of fighting and planning and pain, but we all pulled through in the end." She smiled, and looked to Hector. "We found a good leader, and he was able to bring you back using magic. Now, the whole world is getting ready for a last ditch assault on the Grimmlands, to lead all of Remnant into a time of permanent era of peace. That's the gist of it all… I think." Ruby sighed, and walked up to Penny and grabbed her hands, much like she did all that time ago when she first found out that Penny was an android and was created, and not born.

Penny raised her head back up to look at her, a smile returning to her features. It was much smaller than it was before, and no one could tell what the android could have been thinking. But the fact that her smile was back spoke volumes, and made Ruby feel all the more relieved.

"This is all admittedly hard to take in, but as soon as I get to a computer I should be able to catch up on everything relatively quickly." She turned her head, and looked Hector in the eye. He was once as excited as Ruby was, but now he was just nervously curious, he didn't want to do anything that might lead to anything bad. He didn't know how to handle androids after all. But she just continued to look into his eyes, searching for something.

"You say magic was what brought me back?" Penny asked Ruby without looking at her, and by extension her father as well.

"To a large extent, yes." Doctor Polendina said. "Mister Rivers here was the one who sent a magical being specified in the arts of creation, Creare, I believe his name was, came to me and re-created your body from nothing. I never believed in magic until that moment, but you can say that I am not your only creator now. After that, all I needed to do was reinstall your power core, and activate you."

Penny's eyes lit up, and she looked back at Hector.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt even more nervous.

She stepped away from Ruby, and took three steps toward him until they were just a few short feet away from each other. Her smile seemed to widen as she got closer to him and took in all of his features.

"I see. So you aided my father in bringing me back. That makes you also my creator, I have two creators now." Her smile went from ear to ear, and her eyes positively widened with happiness. "I have two fathers now."

It was Hector's turn for his eyes to go wide. Doctor Polendina started laughing, and Ruby was barely able to hold in her snickers as Penny spread her arms open, and lunged at him.

"Uh…" Hector didn't know what he could possibly say about the new situation he has found himself in. Penny was hugging him, and hugging him tightly. Because of the height difference she didn't try to pick him up because of how awkward it would look, even though it was clear that she wanted to. Thankfully, his newfound toughness and strength gave him the ability to withstand what he has now dubbed `The Penny hug` with little to no issue. But it did nothing to help with the awkwardness he felt within his mind. "I don't know if that is entirely accurate… Doctor Polendina was still the one to bring you back in the end."

"Nonsense Father,-"

"Please, don't call me that." He already had one girl just a few years younger than him officially and _older_ than him unofficially calling him Dad. He didn't need another, that would just make him feel even older. But of course that wasn't going to be how things worked here, that would have made too much sense.

"-if it weren't for you. Friend Ruby might have reached her third decade of life before my other father would have been able to create a new body for me. Or he would have expired before than." Penny beamed up at him, her chin pressed into the center of his chest as she hugged him. "I owe you my life Father, or would you prefer to be referred to as Daddy?" Ruby decided this was a good time to burst out laughing, and fell to her knees in the effort of utterly failing to hold herself back. Thankfully she knew Penny, and understood that she didn't mean _that_ kind of Daddy.

"F-Father is fine." He did _not_ want to have to explain to everyone else why she was calling her Daddy, and Father was _much_ easier to talk his way out of. With a sigh, he accepted it and patted her back awkwardly with one of his free hands.

"O-Oh my gosh." Ruby heaved between giggles, still suffering from the aftereffects of laughing as hard as she just did. "That… that was great. Oh my God, I missed you so much Penny."

"And I, you." Penny replied, never letting go of Hector even as she turned her head to look at Ruby.

"Yes, well. As amusing as this-" Doctor Polenida paused to laugh into his hand. Hector narrowed his eyes at him. "Mister Rivers still has meetings to attend. If my incite is correct, I am guessing that Mistral is the final kingdom for you to speak to?"

"Yeah," Hector nodded his head, accidentally slamming it against the top of Penny's head and wincing at the stunned numbness he suddenly felt. "I still have some time to hang out, but I would help to have the use of my arms during that time."

"Oh, of course Father." Penny said as she let go of him, taking a step back and holding her hands in front of herself intertwined together. "And Father," Doctor Polendina, that was. "Will I be combat ready for this final battle for humanity?"

Hector almost tried to answer the question, if it weren't for Doctor Polendina laughing to himself hysterically, and in a way that was almost concerning, he might have. "Oh, my sweet angel," The scientist said as he pushed up his glasses further onto his nose, causing a bright flash of white in the lens. "I promise you, by the time I am finished with you, you will be _more_ than combat ready. You will be _battle_ ready."

Penny smiled in a way that showed that even as an android, she was still her father's daughter. The scientist one, of course. "I am eager to achieve such a state."

"Right, well, suddenly I have a desire to go start that meeting early." Hector said as he made his way to the door, he has seen enough for one afternoon. "I'll leave you all to do your upgrades and everything, I'll uh, do my thing. Yeah."

Ruby used her semblance to catch up to him, and draped an arm around his waist, effectively trapping him in what was now to be a `I dare you to break out` kind of prison. "But _Hector_ ," She said his name in such a saccharine, uncharacteristic and teasing tone. "You haven't even told Penny the best part! There is a reason both and I came together here after all…"

Hector's face went slightly pale as he realized what she was about to do. His eyes begged her to not do that to him.

Her eyes told him to suck it up.

Hector sighed, and opted to do it himself.

"Penny… Ruby and I are together." He revealed.

Penny's smile somehow went further than ear to ear, and her eyes lit up so much that they were literally glowing. The android opened her mouth, but only so she could allow herself to smile even wider. He accepted his fate by that point.

"Does… does that mean..." Penny looked to Ruby. "That friend Ruby is now my stepmother!?"

Ruby balked at the mere idea of it.

Hector found the perfect way to get some petty revenge.

"Yes, yes she is." It was funny to him, anytime Ruby tried to tease him or prank someone, it always backfired. And with the way her face went from mischievous to panicked in the span of a third of a second was all too amusing for him to behold.

* * *

"Made it!" Hector exclaimed as he burst through the doors of the meeting room with a handful of signed papers by Ozma and Weiss. Winter and Ironwood were only waiting for him for a few minutes, but he made it seem like they have been waiting hours for him with the way he presented himself. His scarf was lopsided and practically thrown over his neck, and he seemed to forgot to put on his shoes, whatever happened on that end, it was easier to just not comment on it.

"What are these for?" Winter asked as he dropped the pile of papers on the table with a loud slam.

"Signatures for stuff that we need, you know, the legal shit." Hector said with a forced yawn. He took a cup of water that was prepared for all three of them before they even entered the room, and downed it all on his face to wake himself up. Tonight, he was definitely going to need some sleep. No more testing how long he can stay awake, no more of that. "How have you two been? How's the crazy brother?" He asked as he sat down.

"Whitley has been making progress…" Winter started slowly, offended by his reference to her brother, no matter how right he was. He was tired however, so she didn't argue and make a scene out of it. "Weiss has been regularly visiting him, and soon after I returned from my mission I started to visit him as well. I can't believe father didn't even realize how mentally ill he was… I am glad he is no longer here to influence him."

Hector nodded his head, he has never met the man, but he always knew that one day he was going to have to be dealt with and put Weiss into power. But he never would have thought that Winter would have been the one to kill him, even if he deserved it, Winter was still his daughter, and he her father. No matter what issues they had in the past. He didn't know everything that went on in their past, but what's done is done, and General Ironwood pardoned her for the crime of patricide and justice dealt without a due trial.

He didn't prod any more into it, it wasn't his place and he already felt bad for asking.

"The council members of Mistral are gathering as we speak, I recommend that you sit and clean yourself up with the time that we have to spare." The General suggested, and Hector moved himself so that he was sitting in between the two Atlas natives, a political show of comradery and alliance apparently. He doesn't really have a native kingdom himself, there were plenty of rumours out there that theorized that he was Atlesian because of the amount of time that he has spent here, and some that he was from Mistral since that was where his name first started popping up, and then there was one that he was from Vacuo and Vale. A crazy one suggested that he spared no allegiance and was a nationality unto himself, which was curiously right on the nail, but he didn't confirm or deny anything. He didn't have time to answer fan questions, and he was glad he never made any accounts on any of the social media platforms he has available to him on his scroll.

"Right," Hector said as he fixed the scarf around his neck in the same way Ruby does it for him sometimes. He has been known for the scarf now so if he took it off now it would probably seem bad, and he didn't want to risk it. Totally because he didn't know if Ruby would be hurt by him taking it off or not.

A few minutes passed, and the call was made from Mistral to them. He straightened himself up even more in the seconds that passed for Ironwood to accept the scroll with a push of a button.

As he expected, the Mistralian council was still very grateful to him for doing what he did in Haven to ultimately save it from destruction. But they had the same issue Vale was having. The Battle of Haven was much more recent than the Fall of Beacon, and they suffered a massive loss of Huntsman and Huntresses ever since Leonardo reigned as the headmaster of Haven. They barely had any to spare, and even if they did join the fight, it would only be their personal Mistral Defense force, or MDF, that would be able to join the fight, along with volunteers of course. But compared to every other kingdom, even Vacuo, they would be providing the least amount of fighting force to the battle.

"I understand that, really, I do." Hector said, headache already full in force. He has heard the same excuse a thousand times, but in Mistral's case, it was really true. "I know you wouldn't have the best amount of fighting capable men and women, but if we are even going to have a shred of hope of defeating the Grimm for good, we are going to need _everyone_ to fight with us."

"And _we_ understand that," One of the council members said, a woman with horns protruding from her scalp. "If we still had the same amount of Hunters as we did before, I would start the vote immediately and pledge our support to this battle. But what good is our involvement in this battle in the case that we lose? Then all of humanity is lost."

Hector narrowed his eyes. "How do you know if we'll lose or not?"

"It has been estimated that the Grimm outnumber us a hundred to one, even with the army you have gathered up coming to an estimate of nearly one million fighters, only a little more than half of them have aura, I hope you know."

Hector nodded his head grimly.

"The battle could very easily be lost, and in the case that happens, you are going to need somewhere to retreat to." Another council member said.

"What do you mean?" Hector asked.

"We cannot make much of a difference in this battle, we only have around two thousand capable defenders in the MDF, and only a third of them have aura. But, we can spend this time fortifying Mistral even further, and prepare for a siege and we can cover a retreat if needs be. We can't offer ourselves in this battle, but we can provide a defensive position for a last stand if the situation calls for it." The same woman explained. "I am sorry Mister Rivers, truly, I am. But I cannot in good conscience sacrifice any more Mistralian lives for a battle that could very well be lost."

Hector thought on their words, he really did. Was it really worth using Amphelia to make them join the fight anyway? No, it didn't seem like it. Their situation is much more dire than all the other kingdoms, they were barely able to handle Grimm now as it is. Their outside villages were being wiped out, and they were low on supplies and manpower. He couldn't, and wouldn't force them to fight with them when they would make little difference in the long run.

"You have given me much to think about." He said. "I understand your situation, and I will not hold it against you for not joining in the battle." Many of the Mistralian council members sighed in relief and thanked him for it. This was what he meant by abusing his powers, if he did use Amphelia here and not hear them out, he might have doomed all of humanity for not having anywhere to fall back to if the battle was lost. "I will expect however that if the worst case scenario does happen, humanity has somewhere to fall back on."

"We swear it to you." The whole council said at the same time.

If Hector was impressed, he hid it well. "I'll keep that in mind. With the Relic of Creation I can create some supplies that will be sent to you, it should be enough to feed your people for at least a couple of months. I would make more, but you've given me an idea and I need the Relic to be at full power for it to work."

"We understand, thank you for your generosity." The horned woman said, standing up. She seemed to be the leader of the council, and Hector stood up to meet her. Even if they were on different sides of the screen. "If the battle is won, and the kingdoms of the world united. I will personally have a state built of you in your honor. For everything that you have done for us."

"That won't be necessary." Hector said quickly. He didn't want that kind of attention, because if they did win, and the Gods followed their vow, he didn't want to fight anymore. He just wanted to live the rest of his life however he wanted. He wanted to lead his own destiny, his own life. He didn't want to be remembered as some hero and have his family hounded by honor and expectations for the rest of time. He'd rather himself and his name become forgotten. "I thank you for having this meeting with me, and trust me. If the battle is won, I am going on vacation, and Mistral will be the first place I visit.

A soft sound of laughter echoed throughout both halls. "Then we will prepare a great vacation house for that outcome. At that, I suppose this meeting is adjourned, what say you?"

"Adjourned." Hector confirmed. They would probably not resume this meeting anytime soon, but it gave them some hope that they will see each other again.

The meeting call was ended after that, and Hector fell back in his seat with a sigh. He really did have a lot to think about now, and even though he had no more meetings with councils of all kingdoms, now he had even more to worry about now. The battle they are about to charge into had all the fighters that they had, but it was true that most of his fighters didn't even have aura. He could make an order or use Amphelia to have all the Hunters unlock the aura of everyone who doesn't have it, but that would take time, too much time.

"Unfortunate, but understandable." Ironwood said. "I shall commence an order to double the production of our droids, perhaps we can increase our numbers by the thousands if we work fast enough."

"Not a bad idea." Hector said absentmindedly.

Winter noticed. "You have a new plan, don't you?" She asked.

"A bit," He admitted. It was a new _new_ plan that was going to help out with the preparations for the battle this time, it was a bit far fetched, but if it worked perhaps the overwhelming number of Grimm won't become an issue for those without aura.

"I see," The General said, smiling. He always had that special ability of his, Hector noticed. He was always able to tell when something great was just thought up in his head. "Come Winter, let us give the man some time to think and prepare."

"Sir?" Winter questioned, but stood up to follow him out the room nonetheless.

"I have a gut feeling, you could say." The General said as he held open the door for her, looking back to Hector as he thought to himself. "Mister Rivers has a plan that might just work if we give him the time to plan and prepare himself for it. I just know it somehow."

Winter hummed, and looked back at Hector right as he stood back up, the Relic of Creation in his left hand. He clutched it with his other and held it with both hands, and right before the door shut behind her, she could see him smiling.

It had better be a good plan If it was making him smile like _that_.

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 **Oh Winter, you have no idea what kind of plans Hector can come up with the help of three relics, and Ozma. Each with great power and knowledge and experience in all fields. Yeah, this is a thing.**

 **Next chapter is going to be the final one before it gets to the battle for humanity, as I am now calling it. So have fun with that thought in your head. I approximate that this story will end its final arc in chapter 82, or 83. We'll see how many ideas I get and how much I am willing to write.**

 **So yeah, even more set up incoming. Wish me luck.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far, if you want to keep up with me and the progress of all my stories you can follow me on my twitter.**

 **T w itter . com (slash) genatools**

 **And if you would like to support me directly, and maybe even get these chapters to come out even faster, I also hav reon.**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	79. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 79

**Ah… here we go again. I wasn't originally going to write today, since right now as I type this it is friday, but I took a six hour nap and now I can't go to sleep for the night, so this is what I am going to be doing right now. I know I am going to sound like a broken record here, but damn, I can't believe we have made it this far. Just a handful of chapters left, later next week this story will be marked as completed.**

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 **CinderFall201: I am glad you enjoyed last chapter Lol, Penny is always adorable. I wasn't originally going to have Penny in the story, but I thought that since this story is ending soon that I'd do some fan service. Also she is always fun to write.**

 **Oblivious IJ: Believe me, I even looked it up. Apparently battle ready is more powerful than Combat ready. Research has been done. Also, I listened to that song, and it's pretty good. Maybe it's not battle music enough if you catch my drift, but it's definitely an option to consider. Idk why, but a battle song from Nier:Automata is stuck in my head for the upcoming battle, specifically A Beautiful Song, which is beautiful in the way that it gets me into battle mode the second I hear the first verse lol.**

 **Justus80: Just for you, I might implement a line like that. Definitely seems like something to say at that time.**

 **Zeldawolffang: You know Penny would have actually said that, she's just too pure.**

 **Arctech: Man, I woke up and saw like three reviews and two of them were from you, that's great. Trust me, you should be fully awake for the final chapters of this story, their going to be quite the things to behold, let me tell ya.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

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 **Beta: CrowSkull**

 **And here we are, back with chapter 79 of this story… PUSH ONWARD ME!**

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Chapter 79- The Power of the Relics

Days have passed since the last time Hector met with Mistral, and in those days more and more fighters and soldiers and Hunters from all over Remnant has come to the blizzard island of Atlas to prepare themselves for an invasion assault on the Grimmlands. Hector and most of his friends were still in Atlas for the time being, he sent over Rhea and Yang to go control the weather over there and to heal people who may have been injured previously with their maiden powers, he would have sent Summer because of her natural bias to the element of ice, but he still needed her at the moment, and Yang with her Spring Maiden power would be able to make the Blizzard island a tropical land. Everyone needed to be at a hundred percent for this, any less and the battle will be lost.

Mercury and Qrow recently made their departure as well earlier in the week, having nothing else of importance to do in Atlas. Between Qrow's ability to turn into a bird, and Mercury's bionic legs, they should get to the coast rather quickly. Even though Qrow was seen in his bird form standing on Mercury's shoulder before they left, he doubted that Mercury would have let that stand for long.

Since Summer is still at Atlas for the time being, he has asked her to keep Atlas at a relatively warm temperature. Not so warm that the people of Atlas got uncomfortable, but not so unbearably freezing that people unused to the cold winds of Atlas would have any harm brought to them. Since she has spent the better part of over a decade in hiding in the frozen mountains of Atlas, it was a relatively easy task for her. After that, he spent the last couple of days planning, and thinking about what was to come. The invasion was to start very soon, and there was still much to do. But the General has been using his skills of leading to assist in helping the fighters get to the island.

The island was not that far from the Grimmlands when you looked on the map, and it wasn't that far from the colony of Argus just on the coast where Mercury and Qrow probably took a ship to get to the island. But in reality they would be needing many ships and warships to get from the Blizzard Island to the coast of the Grimmlands, where they would most assuredly get met with Grimm the moment they landed. Which is why it is the utmost importance that the maidens and himself were the ones that made it to the coast first so that they could take the full brunt of the Grimm assault. Between the five of them, they should be able to take on thousands of Grimm on their own, and once they give the other foot soldiers enough space, a charge can be assembled with the Huntsman in the front with the Atlesian tanks and paladins and droids. This time with a new and improved AI system that isn't susceptible to being hacked. Not only that, but Ironwoods flagship and what has been rebuilt of his fleet will be assisting in this battle as well. With everyone and everything coming together like this, it was hard to think that this battle could go any other way than the way of victory.

But still, Hector didn't think it was enough. Salem by no means should be sitting around doing nothing. There was a reason that she has called back every Grimm that existed on the face of Remnant, and there was no way she wasn't spawning even more. She had to know that they were coming as well, which meant she could set up traps and effectively cut their troops in half before they even make it to her castle, where most of her strongest Grimm should be. He expected more Dragon Grimm, more of those Grimm hybrids that will terrify those who have never seen a human corruptly merged with a Grimm before, and just about every other type of Grimm that even he has never seen before.

Which was why this idea he had with the Relic of Creation had to work, Salem would know that most likely more than half of his entire army would be without their aura, heading into a battle like this without aura would be a death sentence. Even if they didn't know how to use it, just having it passively protecting them and making them stronger would be enough to keep them going at least a little longer. Which would make all the difference in the world.

"By tomorrow, everyone will be gathered up on the island." Weiss told him, she has been a trusted right hand to him. Without the helpful guidance of Ironwood or Winter, she was always a great back up for him. "Just over a million strong, every person ranging from Huntsman, Huntsman in training, to even police officers from all over the world has come to participate in this battle. Under General Ironwoods orders, the ones in need of training has been receiving it, and people are getting there auras unlocked to the hundreds."

"Hm." Hector hummed his approval, that was thoughtful of the General, it would make his future job a little easier when he gets to it. "And the pardoned criminals aren't causing any trouble?"

Weiss huffed, she wasn't as enthused with his idea to allow criminals to accept a pardon in exchange to assist in the battle for humanity. Anything was better than rotting in a cell, and if this battle was lost than they would just die anyway. "Most have taken up arms and accepted the pardon, but some as we expected opted to just sit and wait for their death or salvation." She reported.

Hector sighed. "It's better than nothing, even the White Fang terrorists from the past would be helpful if they were willing to help." Thankfully Blake did her part and got through to her parents, who have now rallied the faunus and made up of a considerable bulk of the army with their forces. Still however, he had this overwhelming concern that it wouldn't be enough.

"The more you worry, the more it makes me worry." Weiss said, noticing how quiet he has been. Hector raised his head to look at her and made no effort to deny it. "Everyone is nervous about this, Hector, there hasn't been an invasion on the Grimmlands in centuries, the last time there was, we were absolutely slaughtered. But now we have more troops, better weapons, more aura wielders than there has ever been in any given army, and we have great leaders and Generals leading them. If humanity is ever going to have a chance against the Grimm, it is going to be now."

"I know," Hector said, nodding his head and then sighing through his nose. "It's just…" He trailed off.

"You still think it might not be enough," Weiss said, finishing his sentence for him.

"Yes, exactly that." Hector said. "Even if we win, there's going to be a massive loss in life. I want to hope beyond all hope that we will all come out okay, but I know that some of our friends are probably not going to come out of this alive either. As powerful as the maidens may be, and as powerful as _I_ may be, it still might not be enough and everything we have ever done will have been for nothing." He shook his head. "I don't know if I'll be able to live with all the losses for the rest of my life, especially if some of you guys die."

"You'll have to." Weiss said, surprising him. "I will not lie to you, you are right. If all of us came out of this alive and lived happily ever after, then it'd be a perfect ending, and a perfect ending in a situation like this is not possible. There are only two possible outcomes to this battle, we win the assault, Salem is slain, but at a great cost, or we lose the assault, some of our friends die, you may even die and I _know_ the maidens are going to be a prime target, and we'd make our last stand in Mistral where we will most likely lose again, but put up the best fight that we can."

"But if you go into this battle thinking we're going to lose, _especially_ if you're going to be the one leading the assault, then we have already lost." Weiss finished, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Hector nodded his head, it was no different from what the relics or Ozma has told him. Thinking like he was now isn't going to win any battles, he needs to be a hundred percent. When it comes down to it, he was going to have to be the one to fight against Salem with the help of the Maidens and Ruby's silver eyes. Not being at a hundred percent mentally was going to give him a massive disadvantage.

"You're right." He said finally, standing up. "You're absolutely right, all of you."

"All of me?" Weiss asked, confused. Hector tapped a finger against his skull, and Weiss understood suddenly. "Ah, the relics, right. I seem to always forget that there is more than one mind within that thick skull of yours."

"Ha, I need a thick skull to be able to handle hearing four voices speak at the same time. Soon to be five once I find and reclaim Jinn." Hector shook his head and laughed. "Man, I never thought I'd say a sentence like that and not be concerned for my own mental health."

"Honestly, I am surprised you have not gone insane by now." Weiss agreed, a slow amused grin creeping up from the corner of her lips. "Impressed as I am, it is most likely to do some divinity on your part. I am not sure if any human would be able to handle that many minds thinking at the same time."

"It's easier than you think really, all I really have to do is tell them to shut up and most of the time they listen."

" _Rude."_ Ozma said, but by the way he sounded mostly amused, he knew he didn't take it to heart.

" _ **Dick."**_ Deus on the other hand, was offended and meant to seek some sort of revenge on him in the near future.

"Yes, well, consider me impressed." Weiss flicked her hair behind her shoulder, and stood up as well. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the island just yet? Everyone else is leaving besides you, even Ruby wonders why you aren't coming with us. When they see our faces they are going to ask for you, you know."

"I know," Hector said. "I have an idea, but I don't think it's going to work if everyone is hounding me for answers to a hundred questions. I'll come, but I am going to be one of the last."

"And what is this idea of yours?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow. "The time for keeping secrets is not now, and you aren't Ozpin. So whatever this secret plan of yours is, what do you hope to accomplish?"

"You'll see," Hector said with a grin. "I am the master of plans, they've all worked out for me so far. Have a little faith in me."

Weiss sighed, and made to leave. "You're that we have made it this far, or else I'd demand you tell me." She sighed. "We're going to be leaving later today on a fast Bullhead, the battle starts tomorrow I presume, don't be any later than you are already."

"Scouts honor." Hector said and held up three fingers, that bit of his memory may not be completely real, but it was still fun to see Weiss' reaction go from confused to the realization that it was some inside joke that she did not understand. She waved goodbye to him, and went on to board her mother and brother one last time. Like many others, and against the better wishes of her advisers, she was going to participate in this final battle for humanity.

And so now he was left alone in this meeting room where his friends once completely occupied before. He walked around the room until he made it to a door, and exited through it silently. With his hands in his pockets he started walking through the now empty halls of the Schnee manor. Everyone who could not fight was being sent to Mistral with the supplies he created for the kingdom. Just in case the worst happened. He paid no mind to the silence, and found it soothing rather than disturbing.

He has said his goodbyes to his friends already, he was going to see them again, that much was confirmed since they were all going to meet up on the island. Ruby practically begged him to tell her what he was going to do in the meantime, and he very nearly told her. But if he did, he might not have been able to do it, for her. Jaune, Ren, Nora, Blake, and Nicholas also all made to leave with them, and Nora would not allow them to leave until she squeezed Hector enough to the point where his bones creaked. Jaune and Ren had to pry her off him. He loved them all, he really did, after spending as much time with them as he did after the battle of Haven he loved them as his own family. He joked with Jaune about their team attack that they tried to come up with together, and laughed about their utter failure in that department. He and Ren had a short but heartfelt conversation which lead to a tight handshake and a look of respect. Blake cornered him one time, and thanked him for what he did for Adam. He managed to do what she couldn't, and helped the man onto a path of redemption that ended up with him slaying the dragon and saving Beacon. He would do it over and over again if he had to, he replied. With one massive group hug, he set them off to the island.

Right now, the only ones who were still in the Schnee manor were himself, Summer, and maybe a few of the patients in the hospital ward of the manor who could not make the journey, and opted to peacefully pass in a coma for the time being. It was unavoidable, and a dark fate. He wished that this amazing power of his that he could prevent said fate, but he could not resurrect the dead.

Somehow, that lead him to think about Penny. She has been constantly spending time with either himself, Ruby, or the scientist. Most of that time was spent with the latter of the three. All the upgrades she was getting was getting obvious even to him, she showed him the upgrades she was getting since she was `technically` his daughter apparently, and it all ranged from laser cannons, her old wired blades and the small pack she had on her back, and a whole variety of weapons and tinkers that Ruby helped operate on her. Being the weapon geek that she was, she must have had a ball with that. He still remembered how she managed to repair his old weapons after the battle of Haven, Ebony and Ivory. He missed those black and white gauntlets, and some day he was going to have them recreated just for the sake of it if he could.

He visited Taiyang before, and apologized for not seeing him sooner. Rhea worked her healing magic perfectly, and he was pretty much back at full strength. Just without all the stored power he had when he first went up against Hell to distract him long enough so that Raven and his friends could get to him. It would make him weaker, but he was still determined to fight alongside his daughters to the bitter end, no matter the outcome. He couldn't find it within himself to deny him that fate.

He made his way to Summer's quarters, which was marked with a layer of ice that was a result of her controlling the weather around this kingdom. From in the far distance, he could see the convoy that held the remaining people going to join the fight, vehicles in the dozen, and thousands of people going down for miles. Summer looked back at him, sitting cross legged on the windowsill, and nodded her head. A silent message passed between the two, and with a bright flash, Summer moved off the window and made her way toward him. Without her actively keeping the blizzards of Atlas at bay, the elements of winter would soon return, but not for a couple of days, and by then the battle would have already ended.

He didn't even need to say anything, and he didn't feel the urge to anyway. Summer knew him well enough to know that at times like this, he was more silent and calculating, always thinking about what was to come. So she kept her silence, and soon enough they were outside walking the empty streets of Atlas. The city was deemed unsafe, since the damage to the walls keeping out the Grimm was still being repaired, and would not be repaired in time for a Grimm attack. So everyone who lived here was either on their way to Mistral, or holding out in bunkers underground. Hector figured that even if the battle was lost, these people would go years without being found, there was a lot of rich people here with a lot of money to spend after all, and nearly all of them had bunkers. He could force them to go to Mistral, but if they wanted to stay here so badly, who was he to deny them that right?

He has never been able to really get a look at Atlas before, and so he was going to take this chance now to get a good look at the city. The city was actually split into two sections, one section where the high upper class and medium upper class resided, and another where every other class under the upper class lived and made do with what they had. Even with the streets empty, and some of the damage from the recent attack still being present, the city was truly beautiful. The buildings were uniquely built in special fashion that suggested that they were ahead of their time, and almost all was a calm mix of white and blue. Even when it was back to the usual brick building design or even similar to the likes of Vale, it had a certain touch to it.

He wished times weren't this dire, where a single battle decided the fate of the world. He couldn't bring himself to tell the world that if they did lose the battle, they probably wouldn't have time to retreat to Mistral before the Gods returned and wiped them out. That was a part of their deal after all. If anything, he had to live in order for them to be able to retreat, but once Salem saw that he was vulnerable, she would attack without a doubt. As much as he wanted to keep looking at the beauty of the city, there was still one more thing he needed to do.

Summer watched as he grabbed the glove on his left hand, the same glove that has hidden the symbol of a witch for many months. The mark pulses and throbbed and glowed slightly as he looked at it, it was a dark red or maroon in color as it shone in the winter sun. The symbol sat there attached to his hand, taunting him, Salem always knew where he was, that much was well known to him ever since he asked for her help in expelling Ozma from control over his body. He never should have asked for her help now that he thought about it.

"You're going to do it here?" Summer asked, crossing her arms and stepping forward. "Are you sure she'll even listen?"

"No." Hector said, letting his marked hand drop with a sigh. "But I have to try and see if this battle can be prevented, and some iota of peace achieved."

"I don't know about this… but if you say it's worth a shot, then I'll trust you."

"That's all I can ask." Hector held his marked hand out in front of his body, and held that arm straight with his free hand.

 _Be ready for a fight, just in case_. He thought to the relics. He still had the sword with him, the crown was already on his head, and the staff was floating around behind him. At a moments notice, he could use any of them.

He groaned as the mark on his hand grew in size and a dark power even darker than his own wrapped around the hand. A black ooze-like substance burst from his hand and onto the ground several feet away from him. Summer's one eye flamed white as she prepared herself just in case, that was part of the reason he kept her here in the first place.

Summoning Salem was easier than he thought it would be, and it was one of the reasons why he waited for the city to be basically empty so that he would be able to do this without being seen. He couldn't go out because his friends would know, and the only one who would have agreed to do it with him was Summer. From out of the puddle of goo he just shot out of his marked hand, the top of a head full of white hair started to climb out of it. He shook his hand of the gooey substance and felt relieved that the mark was no longer there now. He never knew why Salem allowed him to summon her at any given moment, but he would soon find out now.

Slowly, Salem's entire body rose out of the puddle of black bubbling tar. She was in a dress this time, a dark black dress trimmed with red and designs of a skeletal dragon wrapping around her waist and went all the way down to her feet, and trailed behind her. Her pale white face had those oh so familiar violet veins pulsing in it, and her eyes were the same black and red he was always used to seeing in the face of the Grimm. Her hair was down again, in the same style it had been when he first fought her with Yang and Ruby back in Vacuo. She was very tall, just as he remembered, taller than even him.

She did not look happy to be summoned, and certainly didn't get any more happy when she met eyes with Summer. "I knew you were still alive," the witch said in a snarl. "I just refused to believe it."

"I'm hard to get rid of." Summer said, eye flaming angrily with white.

"I'll be sure to rectify that mistake in the near future." Salem promised, and then looked back to him. "So, you have collected the relics I see."

"I thought you would have stopped me before then." Hector said. "Why didn't you? With the mark you put on me, you should have been able to tell what I was doing this whole time, and yet you did nothing to stop me. Now I am the owner of all four of the relics, and my power surpasses even yours now."

"You cannot kill me, I am immortal." Salem snickered and smiled a cocky smile as she reminded him of that fact. "All you have done is give me the means of stealing your power yet again, I admit that you are slightly more powerful than I now, but that means nothing when I can outlast you. I wonder, how far will you be willing to fight as your friends die beside you?"

"As long as it takes to deal with you." Hector said with stiff shoulders, as much as he hated to think about it, something like that was very possible and something he may have to deal with while fighting Salem. "We both know I won't stop no matter what."

"Yet you still saw to summoning me once more," Salem pointed out, and leaned on one of her hips with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "I wonder, have you thought to join me, or to seek my help once again? Have you and Ozma reconciled with each other?" She asked, it was clear in her voice that she wasn't taking this seriously.

"This is pointless Rios," Summer hissed. "She's just toying with us."

"Oh, I wonder where you got that idea from." Salem said as she flicked some of her hair over one shoulder.

"Summer… let me talk to her alone." Hector said with a sigh.

Summer balked at him. "I can't leave you alone with her, she can't be trusted!"

"Harsh." Salem said with an expression of fake hurt.

"Trust me on this, please." Hector said, and looked to the Winter Maiden from the corner of his eye. "If she attacks me, she loses, and she knows that."

Summer narrowed her eyes at him. Saying that Salem would lose against him outright like that was ballsy, since there was no telling if he could actually beat Salem even if he was stronger than her. Salem may have admitted that he was the stronger one, but only _slightly_ stronger, and she was immortal. In truth, if they fought now, Salem would probably win, if only taking all of her power and stamina. She would still regenerate afterwards. Which made her decision all the more difficult to make.

With a frustrated grunt, Summer leaped into the air and flew away using her magical powers. She put her trust in Hector to do her right and not make her regret this decision, he hasn't let her down yet, starting now would be a huge violation of her trust and she'd have to make him pay for it somewhere down the line.

"I hope you know that us being alone will not loosen these lips of mine." Salem pointed out, narrowing her eyes at him as he raised his head to look up into hers.

"If I wanted to have small talk with you, I wouldn't have planned an invasion on your castle." Hector said.

Salem bristled. "Telling me your plans wouldn't be the best decision you would make, yet it wouldn't make for the least intelligent you have ever made."

"And what would be the worst?" Hector felt the urge to ask.

"Coming to me for help." Salem said, laughing. "Think on it, I marked your hand for a reason, and I stole your power and specifically chose not to kill you when I had the best chance to rid you from this world and from my life. Why is that, tell me if you know the answer."

"That's why I summoned you hear for, or at least part of it. I didn't know what this mark was for, and I couldn't figure it out for a long time, but I did. You wanted me to summon you, for what reason, I don't know. But if you wanted to attack me and try to kill me while I am alone and away from almost everyone you would be able to help me then you would have done so already." When Salem didn't respond right away, Hector continued. "Which makes me hope an impossible hope that there may be some way to settle this peacefully, where thousands upon thousands of people don't need to fight and die for a result that may not require such violence. Tell me, Salem, is there any way that you would just let me use the Relic of Choice to erase the memory of you and your Grimm for the from the minds of everyone, including my friends, in exchange for us to just not have to fight and for you to return Jinn to me? I know you that you may be corrupted by dark magic, but if there is anything inside you that may yet still be human, I will appeal to that side of you, no matter how small and insignificant it may be."

For what felt like hours, Hector and Salem stared at each other through the eyes. He couldn't tell what the witch was thinking, but she must be deciding whether or not he was telling the truth with the way she looked into his soul rather than into his eyes. Before suddenly, she leaned back and snickered, and whatever hope Hector had within his mind was slowly and agonizingly being snuffed out.

"You are afraid of failure, as you should be. I cannot trust in the words of a product of a God, not after I was given a task by them that was impossible to ever complete, no matter how much time I had to spare. But I applaud you for making me consider accepting your proposal, if only humans weren't naturally predetermined to be greedy and selfish creatures. Even if I did agree, what do you think would happen when my Grimm no longer were around to keep that pathetic species in check?" The answer was obvious to him, but he refused to give her the satisfaction of him explaining what they both already knew. "The humans will want to expand, to find new resources to accommodate their rapidly growing population. Until eventually when the rest of the world is colonized and conquered, where do you think they would set their eyes on next? To the Grimmlands." Salem's eyes glowed red for a fraction of a second, but it was all he needed to put his guard up even further and focus his senses for any kind of surprise attack. "A few years of peace, perhaps a decade or two, that is how long your peace would last until my Grimm are encountered once again."

"There has to be some way!" Hector argued, getting frustrated. "Do we really have to fight? Do we really have to do exactly what the Gods want us to do just because it is expected of us? We could form some kind of agreement-"

"You were not created by the Gods to be so naive." Salem snapped, cutting him off. "This is not a story in which there is a perfectly happy ending, accept that, and accept the consequences of war. There isn't some alliance we can make with each other, the Gods will not allow it, did you truly think they would?" Hector couldn't answer that. "I thought so. We are mortal enemies, Hector Rivers. Long ago, I was granted a question by the Relic of Knowledge, when dear Ozma didn't keep them all in their silly vaults in a vain effort to keep them away from me. I asked her what could possibly mean my end, an end to an immortal."

The question of what Jinn answered her with lingered in the air. "She said this; _In the foreseeable and unforeseeable future, you will be defeated by a being you will swear to destroy. A being you will underestimate until it is too late._ Originally I thought that Jinn meant Ozma, that the old fool will finally get his task completed. But I was the fool, I never considered that the Gods themselves would see to my defeat. It seems that they have grown impatient… I suppose I should feel prideful of that. We are mortal enemies, Hector Rivers, we are meant to fight each other to the bitter end. If the Gods think that you alone will be enough to be rid of me, then they are on a path that will lead to them understanding the feeling of defeated surprise."

Hector stiffened his shoulders, and let out a defeated sigh. "So, war it is then." He said slowly.

"Yes, war it shall be. At last you understand." Salem said, raising a hand forward and cupping his cheek with her hand. Hector tensed at her touch, but didn't make to move it away, she looked at him with an odd smile, like she knew something that he did not. Eventually, she removed her hand and stepped back into the black puddle that he created to summon her in the first place.

"The next time we meet, will be on the battlefield. I do hope that you show, because if you do not attack me first, I will commence an assault myself."

"I'll be there." Hector promised, clenching his fists as the puddle started to bubble again, and Salem slowly started to sink. "I will defeat you, with whatever it takes."

"We shall see," Salem's laughter could be heard even after she was fully submerged into the ooze. "We shall see."

Hector cursed as the ooze evaporated away into the cold winter air, and in his anger he slashed his sword up into the sky. The destructive force that came out of the blade, a force strong enough to destroy entire cities and mountains shot up into the air and harmlessly exploded miles up in the sky. He slammed Deus back into his sheathe with another curse, and the tell tale sound of Summer landing behind him did little to calm him down.

"It's okay, Rios." She told him as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. "We never expected her to actually go agree to your terms, but it was still great of you to try." Slowly, Hector raised a hand to touch one of the Winter Maidens arms, the bionic one was cold against his hand, and he leaned into her hold for a few seconds before his eyes glowed a faint blue.

Summer noticed this. "Is it time, then?" She asked him.

"Yes," Hector said as his eyes shone brighter. "Everyone is gathered up on the island?"

"For the most part, Ruby and her group just left so they won't be there for it, and not every single soldier is going to be present, but if you plan on using the relics on a hemispherical wide span, then we won't need to worry about them."

"Good."

He focused on Yang's Spring Maiden energy, and high above her point. He slowly hovered in the air with Summer flying up with him, never letting go of his shoulders. He kept flying up until he was above one of the taller buildings, and only then did he use his Light magic to teleport himself to the Blizzard Island itself, leaving the empty of Atlas for quite possible the last time.

He was high above in the air now, Summer let go of him and made to meet up with her daughter and his daughter. Below him he saw hundreds of thousands of people, all training, cooking, setting up tents or bedrolls for the night, and there was massive Atlesian mobile homes that were being set up. Most of them were going to give their lives in this battle. Somewhere down there, he thought he could see Qrow or Mercury, a head of silver hair training those who chose to fight with their feet rather than with a weapon. He lowered himself enough so that if someone looked up they would see him, but not so close that people who weren't looking up could.

He looked around one more time to the island itself. Yang has been doing well to make the Blizzard Island into more of a Tropical island. There were trees with green leaves, grass growing, there weren't nearly as many clouds in the sky as he expected there to be for an island literally called blizzard. He admired the view for a few moments, but then it got down to business quickly. The Relic of Creation was grasped with both hands, and he started to concentrate on a massive scale use of its powers.

"What the- what's that up there?" One of the people Mercury was training asked while flat on his back. Above him and many meters to the side, he could see a dark figure clutching a staff in his hands.

Mercury followed his gaze up and saw the figure and snickered. "That my friend, is a friend of mine. The one who's going to lead this suicide mission."

"Is that RJ?" Rhea asked as she looked up in the sky to where everyone else was now staring. "It is!" She made to fly up to him, but before she could even get off the ground a hand wrapped around her forearm.

"Not yet, can't you see that he is focusing on something?" Summer asked her, and gestured for her to look closer. This was exactly why she immediately sought out Rhea and Yang, to stop them from interrupting something that needed intense concentration. She had already told Yang about this, so she could be trusted not to make a scene.

"What do you mean?" Rhea asked, but then did as she was told and focused her vision and senses more. She felt an insane amount of magic being built up from within and outside Hector, bright yellow in color. The Relic of Creation, she realized, only that relic had a crystal on the end of it from what she remembered, and bright yellow at that. "Oh… wow."

"Hm?" Qrow groaned as he sat up, tired and resting after a long day of training people who have never fought against a Grimm to fight against Grimm. He looked up from his position on the ground, and saw the spectacle that everyone around him was staring, even the maidens. At first he thought it was some kind of threat, but when he saw what they were looking at he could only laugh and lie back down. "Figures, always the center of attention that one." He said as he laid back down and crossed his leg over the other, content to wait and see what was about to happen.

"Damn it." Natsuki cursed as he looked up at the light in the sky, not the sun. "You definitely got a lot stronger, I wonder how a second round would go?" She pondered as she drank from a dirty bottle. She has done her part, and now it was time for Hector to do his. She brought almost all of Vacuo to join this fight, and sent the elderly, sick and young to Mistral just as it was planned. The Summer Maiden was ready for a battle that would end all battles, she was going to have her fun while she could. She was expected to let loose, and she would most assuredly deliver.

Winter looked to the bright yellow light in the sky, and pointedly gave her General a knowing look, a look that told him that she has now just realized what he meant when he said what he said days before. "You expected something like this, didn't you?"

"I had a hunch." General Ironwood admitted. "He knows that only at most half of our forces are properly armed and know how to use such weapons, I placed my trust in him to do something about it with those godlike powers of his. I must say, I am not disappointed thus far."

"What is he going to do?" Winter asked, looking back to the glowing light in the sky.

"We shall see Specialist, I may have predicted something like this, but I am not all-knowing."

"Fair enough…"

* * *

It was heavily straining on his body, charging up a special kind of blast he has been concocting in the back of his mind. Not an explosion meant to destroy by any means, but a blast meant to create. Creare did a fantastic job helping him think of such an ability, without him, he didn't think something like this would have become possible.

The Relic of Creation was capable of many things, it could create almost anything. And with all four of the relics being claimed and owned by him, the Relic of Creation was able to create a special something on a massive scale. Just the scale he needed for something like this. He groaned and grunted at the way the magic flowed inside him and existed his body into his staff to further boost the area of effect to the world around him. There were hundreds of thousands of people, maybe even already over a million, on this island. He didn't want to half ass it and undershoot his goal. Better to overshoot it, he figured.

" _Almost ready."_ Creare told him. " _Just a little more, and everyone within this hemisphere who does not have aura, will have aura created for them, and the knowledge to go with it. Just as we planned."_

"Good." Hector said through gritted teeth, but even through that he was still managing to smile. "How will I be after doing this?" He asked after feeling his magic get to it's limit.

" _Tired, very tired, you will knock yourself out, but we shall wake you. Do not hold back, I fear that this all would be rendered ineffective if you do."_ Creare warned him.

"Oh, trust me." His eyes glowed a golden color, his light magic overflowing. "I have no plans for holding back after this."

A golden energetic shock wave exploded from his body from all angles. The people beneath him panicked for a moment, but when the golden shock wave struck their body they did not find themselves hurt, or even blown back. Instead they felt themselves get stronger, a new sense of knowing was sent through their minds as a golden aura flowed over the bodies of those who did not have their aura unlocked. Further and further it went, the shock wave extending even beyond the island and to the closest Kingdom, which was Atlas. Everyone who did not make it to the island just yet found themselves with a new found power, and the knowledge on how to use it. Those from even in Mistral felt this shock wave, as a thinner golden hue shone throughout the entire kingdom. It went even further than that, to the rest of the world. It had a smaller effect, but it did the desired goal.

Everyone who didn't have their aura, had it unlocked just now. Hector's light dimmed significantly and he felt lightheaded. His entire body was dripping with sweat now, and he could feel every muscle in his body throbbing along with his heart beat.

"Not yet." He told himself. He turned his attention to the coast, to where all the battleships were anchored, and even to the skies, where Ironwoods fleet was on standby above them. Some were landed, but most were in the sky.

Amazingly, he still had more magic left over, and thankfully he still had his Dark magic reserves to help keep him going. With another bright flash, Hector created another battleship, and then another, and then another ship, but this one the kind that flew, and had weapons. More and more he created. Small ones, large ones, ships of all shapes and sizes. Some were meant to bombard the enemy, others were meant to just get the infantry to the shores of the Grimmlands. He didn't stop until hundred were created, and the ocean before him was lined row by row with ships, and the sky was filled with more of Ironwoods flagships. He kept at it for as long as he could, until finally he was so exhausted he couldn't even fly.

His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell, he went unconscious for a moment, but was woken up by the relics lending him more of their power. He laughed as he realized that the relics still had plenty of power left, and it was simple he whose body gave out first. He spun in the air and landed gently on his feet, a light dust cloud flowing around his legs once his feet touched the ground.

He looked around, and saw the almost blinding amount of people testing out their freshly unlocked auras. The amount of golden shimmering was truly a sight to behold. It was hard for him to believe that he really had just done this, unlocking the auras of hundreds of thousands of people. But Creare was a very powerful relic, even more so with himself as the owner of all four relics. He then looked to the ships he had just created, people were already boarding them. The ones in the sky had smaller Bullheads flying to them with people intending to operate them. He knew that they needed more weapons, and he had just done that. He has given his people means of defending themselves, and the means to destroy their enemies.

His body slowly recovered within the minutes as he looked around. He couldn't help but smile. He has done it. If they had a chance before, now it was a probability. Salem wouldn't expect more than a million people with aura to invade her lands, she would be caught off guard because of this, he just knew it.

The next day was on them before he even knew it. He found himself on the same flagship as Ironwood along with the rest of his friends who were still shocked by the news of him unlocking over a million people's worth of aura in a matter of minutes. Everyone board the ships he created, and everyone was as prepared as they could be.

Over a million strong, that was the army he had to work with. The Grimm may still outnumber them a hundred to one, but a Grimm up against a person with aura and a person without aura was a massive shift that would alter the way the fight would go. Not to mention all of the ships he had created for his forces, both naval and those that took to the skies. He looked onward to the land of the Grimm still dozens of miles away. He prepared the world as much as he possibly could, and now there was only one thing left to do...

"It's time to finish this."

* * *

 **And there we have it, an end to the preparations. This was a pretty fast paced arc I had planned here, but while I could have made it a little longer and had everyone talk some more. I didn't want to just have them say more of what they had already said. Throughout this entire story, words have been more than plentiful. Plots have been developed and finished, and most of these characters have already finished their character arc, except for these final few chapters of course. There will be an explanation on how everyone is doing once this battle is over, whoever is left over of course.**

 **And so we are almost there. Three more chapters to go, approximately of course. As I have said every other chapter, please let me know what you think of the story.**

 **T w itter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	80. Rwby: An Unlikely Hero chapter 80

**Chapter 80, here we go guys and girls. Final battle has had enough preparations, don't you agree? Yeah, I thought so. I myself can't wait to be finished with this story, less than thirty thousand chapters to go, and this story will be completed.**

* * *

 **Oblivious IJ: There's definitely better songs than that, let me tell ya. It's just a song I personally enjoy, probably should expand my taste for music honestly. You do you though man, you listen to whatever you want. I got all the battle music from across dozens of different movies, shows, and animes stuck in my head.**

 **Arctech: Sleep… oh, how I miss the prospect of that idea. I am probably as tired as you are as I type these chapters. I still remember when you said that this story didn't have the same quality as TBH, and I eased you on to keep it going because it was gonna get good. How do you feel about the story now?**

 **Zeldawolffang: As Salem in this story would say, we shall see.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews!**

* * *

 **Now let's get this battle started!**

Chapter 80- Day of Fate

Minutes past. Minutes that felt like hours as Hector watched as the mainland of the Grimmlands, a land he has never been before physically, and yet he still somehow recognized the violet soil, red sky and black clouds. To be fair, to anyone who has never been to the Grimmlands before it would have been very easy to tell where you were once you looked around. But when he and Summer shared a knowing look, they both remembered the same scene that for Hector was months ago, but for Summer was many decades ago. Now over a dozen and a half years later for the Winter Maiden, she has finally made her return to this dreaded continent.

Even Ozma was silent within his mind, never speaking a word as the land grew closer and closer. That man hasn't been here in just as much time as Summer, but he has been here thousands of years ago as well. This continent use to house the beginning of the borderline between the kingdoms of Archaea and Drachea. The kingdoms of ancient humanity that worshiped the Gods of Light and Darkness. He was the king of the kingdom of light, and he battled against a threat that threatened both the dominant kingdoms of the world, which did in fact make up the entire world at the time. Ozma was the last hope for humanity back then, and while he put up a magnificent fight that destroyed this continent for millennia to come, he ended up losing said fight. After that, it was left to the Gods to decide the fate for humanity.

Not this time, Hector thought. He wouldn't repeat the same mistake that Ozma did. He is stronger than he was, stronger that what Salem was, stronger now even, and now he had godlike powers given to him by the relics and the Gods themselves. He could win, he knew he could. All he needed to do was defeat Salem and seal her away just like he planned with Knolly long ago. He needed to steal her powers, and destroy her powers. Rendering her vulnerable and harmless to even a Huntsman. She was reliant on her magic after all, without that, what was she to anyone? The same could be said for him of course, but he wasn't about to allow her to steal his powers a second time.

He stood on top of Ironwoods flagship alongside all four of the maidens. Fall and Winter to his right, and Spring and Summer on his left. Rhea was nervous, as he expected her to be. She has been in a battle before, and he hoped that she never had to be in another one after that fateful day in Atlas. So he promised her that this would be the last battle that she would ever have to fight in. She has trained to master her powers, and now earned the title of one of the strongest women in the world. Summer was arguably on par or perhaps even stronger than Natsuki was at this point, even as the Winter Maiden and said to have less potential than the Summer Maiden. One day he would like to see for himself who was stronger, Natsuki clearly wanted to as well. For she stood eagerly to fly the rest of the way herself and unleash the powers of Lightning unto the Grimm, cracking her knuckles every few seconds. Alongside her, who was also cracking her knuckles was Yang. Her red eyes were burning with the same red flame that Raven's did when she was the Spring Maiden. She was stronger than ever before, and was one of the only people in the world who was able to stand against him as his equal before he equipped the relics. She has learned to use her powers and mastered them faster than even Rhea did, which was extremely impressive.

With all four of the maidens alone, they could easily take down armies of Grimm by the thousands. Then there was himself. He was the owner of all four relics, the figurehead for this entire attack, the one who had just unlocked the auras of at least a little over half a million people. With the Relic of Destruction alone he would be able to start this attack off with a few powerful slashes even more powerful than missiles. He had his Kaioken back, and was the strongest he was ever going to get in the prime years of his life, which still weren't many, but experience and drive was what built a person. He was stronger than the maidens as he was now, so much so he was literally on the same plane as a God. Not that he let that get to his head, he couldn't afford to let anything get to his head at a time like this.

What did he say before, time to finish this? A line like that seemed a little cheesy to him now that he thought about it, it made him snicker. The last time he would ever feel amused for an unquantifiable amount of hours. Deus, the sword of destruction, slid out of its sheath with buttery grace, the way the metal sang and the flames flared was a sight to behold. The crown of choice was fastened to his head, so he could give out orders on a large scale and have his forces do as he says as quickly as possible. The staff of creation floated beside him. He didn't even need to hold that one, the relic would follow him wherever he went, and would be there whenever he needed to use it.

Idly, as the precious seconds ticked by, Hector reached behind his back with his offhand and grabbed Ozma's cane. After the battle with Hell, the weapon was damaged and dented in places. The tip was broken off, and it was no longer as straight as it had once been. Still more powerful than most of the weapons his soldiers were going to be fighting with. He would have created more weapons for them, or made their current ones more powerful, but that would have made him more tired than he would had allowed himself to be before this battle. He gave them all aura, hopefully that would be enough.

Much to his nervousness and terror, all of his other friends were going to be fighting alongside the troops on the ground. Jaune, Mercury, Ren, Nora, Neo, Blake, Weiss, Qrow, Taiyang, and Ruby… even Zwei was joining this fight himself. He was scared for them, and damn him for being more scared for Ruby than anyone else. But with her silver eyed powers, she would be needed on the ground. Her eyes could save dozens if not hundreds of lives with each activation, and she has trained with her mother in the downtime to better learn how to be more efficient with their power. She wasn't that much more powerful, it was impossible to be when you only had a handful of weeks, but she could use her eyes more and without knocking herself out like she used to. He wanted nothing more than to be with them all on the ground, but just like the maidens, he had a job to do. To be the most dangerous weapon humanity has to offer the Grimm.

"We're going to be there in a few minutes." Yang said, and then sighed. "Out of the five scout ships we sent out, only two came back, and those two are damaged and are on the verge of sinking with Grimm on them. Some of the crew were hurt, more were killed."

"Tch, that supposed to be some kind of message to us?" Natsuki said with barely restrained anger. She was especially hoping to get a shot at Salem, before she was too hurt to make a difference and had to retreat before the battle even started. She wanted to redeem herself in this battle, for her own pride. As the strongest maiden (arguably) she was expected to be there fighting alongside Hector.

"I wouldn't be surprised…" Hector said seldomly. Salem's previous words taunted him, the words of a declaration of war. He said the words right back at her, but he knew that she knew that losing the scouts that he did bothered him to no end. The battle hasn't even started and there were already casualties. He would have to live with their deaths for the rest of his life, and yet now the feeling was muted. He would have to live with it, but he couldn't think about it now.

"Dad…?" Rhea called out to him, he turned his head to look at her, the ripping sounds of the wind almost blew out her words, but he focused his hearing on her and was able to hear every word that came through her lips. "I just want to say… thank you, for everything." She said slowly, a sad smile drawing upon her face as she looked at him. He didn't like the way this sounded like a goodbye, but he understood why she was saying it like this, none of them knew if this battle was going to be won. "Thank you for saving me from that village, from against that assassin trying to take me away. Thank you for taking care of me, and giving me a new family." Her eyes looked into his, and they started to tear up. The moment they left her eye however they were blown away by the wind. Nonetheless, she wiped her face with the back of her sleeve. "Thank you for becoming my father… even though I'm older than you."

They both laughed at that, and Hector was happy for this moment to contradict his earlier thoughts. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, and he felt her squeeze his back. "Don't sound so sad, your old man has a few more tricks up his sleeve that he hasn't shown yet, have some faith in him."

Rhea giggled, and the very sound of her laughter gave him even more drive to win this battle. She deserved to live a full life, all she has ever known is sadness and loneliness. The only friend she had was Oscar, and she hasn't even seen him for over two years by now. She had plenty of more friends now, but he still had it in the back of his mind to have the two of them meet again after this.

"A little early to be calling yourself an old man eh?" Yang teased, playfully smacking him on the shoulder.

"To me he should be much older." Summer added. "Over half my life he was there for me, and yet he is only somehow three years old." She sighed. "I feel older just for thinking about it, I remember when I looked up to you for the better part of our time together. Now here I am playing mother again."

"Sorry," Hector shrugged not so apologetically. "Like I said, I'm full of surprises."

"Yeah, well I hope you are as good as your word." Natsuki said, interrupting them as she pointed to the coastline of the Grimmlands. Not directly at the sand itself, but at the black avian figures that seemed to form clouds headed right for them. "Looks like Salem is going to make it difficult for us to land."

"So I see…" Hector said with gritted teeth as he looked ahead. Seeing the pack of large Nevermore making their way toward him. The flaps of their wings made it sound like it was thundering, and there screeching squawks was louder than even the wind. The grip on his sword tightened, just in case something like this happened, he was placed in front of the entire invasion force, a plan was made for a situation like this. There were so many Nevermore that if he wasn't there the ships may have never made it to fly over the Grimmlands. The black figures spanned out for miles, he has never seen more Grimm in one spot than ever before.

"That's… a lot of angry birds." Yang quipped, though it was clear that she was also nervous. "I could create a storm, slow them down a bit and knock some out of the air." She offered.

"No," Hector said as he raised his sword, and placed Ozma's cane back behind his back. "This isn't the time to be holding back." He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again the crown on his head and his eyes were glowing orange. A second later, they felt vibrations beneath their feet as Ironwoods flagship through up it's reinforced shutters. The sounds of the same thing happening to the other ships were heard, and even further out to the ships beneath them. It all happened in near perfect sync as well, Yang couldn't help but whistle impressively as his eyes returned to their blue and red colors.

"Neat trick, I'm guessing we should hold on to something." Natsuki said as she lowered her stance, and used the electricity in her lower body to magnetize herself to the metal of the ship.

"Yes." Was all Hector needed to say for the rest of the maidens to solidify their stances, and for Summer to create an arrowhead shaped shield to protect herself and Rhea as Yang created a similar shield to protect herself from the amount of force that might be slammed into them.

"Ready!" Summer shouted to him.

Hector took a deep breath, and the Relic of Destruction flamed with a black and red fire. " _ **Yes! Destroy your enemies, don't hold back, render the Grimm into nothing but a repugnant black paste to be blown away into the wind. Use me to my full potential, and begin this battle Master!"**_ Deus recited as he held the sword and prepared to swing it in a wide arc, his eyes shone red as the red flame flowed up his arms and over the rest of his body.

With a loud roar he swung the sword. Deus cheered as an energy wave even larger than the one he used when he fought against Hell was fired out of the sword. He focused this arc in a wider more devastating wave, and it worked like a charm. The purple energy expanded and exploded as it flew through the air, meeting the dense cloud of Grimm in a bright impact blast of blinding purple. The blast was so powerful that it blew away all of the clouds that was surrounding them, and nearly every single flying Grimm was erased from existence by the sheer destructive force of his attack.

Hector didn't believe it for a second. He pointed his sword toward the Grimmlands and his eyes glowed orange yet again. The ships were put into overdrive and traveled even faster. Specifically the battleships beneath him. The ones with the infantry needed to make it to land as soon as possible, and the bombardment ships needed to get into position even faster. With another flash of his eyes, the flying ships started moving faster as well.

"Now is the time, charge!" Hector said as he had a clear view of just how close the Grimmlands were. With another flash, this one blue and covering his entire body, he teleported himself to the coastline itself.

Grimm immediately fell upon him from all sides. Hector slashed with his sword in such a way that it didn't use it's full power, but killed dozens of Grimm all around him. He was practically wading in Grimm already, and he had only just made it to the Grimmlands itself. If the less powerful infantry landed now they would be slaughtered in their ships. He needed to clear them out. The problem with that was that he couldn't use his full power and not take out some of his own forces. So he was forced to hold himself back on his attacks, and use Deus' power on a smaller scale, with each slash he slayed dozens of Grimm, and hundred took their place. Grimm of all kinds, Beowolves, Ursai, Creeps, Beringels, Deathstalkers, and of all sizes. Some of the Grimm he has never even seen before, such as a lion type with wings, or the rhino looking type with the thick jagged and sharp horns on its face. The hybrids screamed and tried to dog-pile him, but he was too fast for that. He didn't even need to use Kaioken just yet, he didn't need to for enemies this insignificant to him.

As he thought about his friends entering the fray like this, he roared in anger and his eyes glowed red. He jumped and swung his sword in a three-sixty degree axis and put more power behind the strike. He angled it in such a way that about half of the circular attack struck the murky red waters behind him, and the rest of it went out to his sides and in front of him. Before it could get too far however, he stabbed his sword into the ground with the moments of peace he had, and the violet energy of the attack stopped in its tracks and exploded. The purple flames roared as it burned Grimm to death, and the fire burned high. Created a semi-circle all around himself, and effectively creating a large space for his allies to land, and he did this just in time.

Overhead he could see the Maidens fly into combat. Rhea was at his side, and after barking orders at her she went left. Out of her hands came out a pale white flame that condensed into her hands, and then it exploded out in a flamethrower of death that melted the Grimm where they stood. Her eyes flamed bright orange, and she screamed and screamed as she unleashed her powers to their full effect. His heart dropped as he saw one of the flying lion types of Grimm going to stab her in the back with its tail, but let out a breath of relief as Yang thrust a flaming fist into its skull, and exploded it from the inside. He muttered a thank you for her and let her do as she did best, which was to create a storm with her powers, a storm deadly to Grimm, and focused it over the overwhelming tide of Grimm specifically. Once the storm was created, she dove fist first into the dark ocean of Grimm, and once she struck a massive bolt of red lighting mixed with orange fire came from the sky, killing a hundred Grimm all in a single strike.

Summer and Natsuki went right, with the Summer Maiden laughing hysterically as she moved at light speed, literally through Grimm at times as she killed them. Her lightning attacks were massive, and every time there was a bolt of blue he immediately knew who it was. She moved through and out of Grimm, dozens fell in a single second, and when she felt like it she fired a focused continuous bolt of lighting out of her hands that fried the Grimm where the snarled and stood. Summer did something similar to Yang, and created condensed blizzards to freeze the Grimm, and left them there to either die of instantaneous frostbit, or for the soldiers to kill when they landed. She was so powerful, Hector noted. In their spar she obviously didn't go all out, and neither did her. But he never thought that she would be _this_ strong.

The Maidens would all be okay, he knew that, but he still worried for them. They couldn't fight forever, and even though that between all of them over a few thousand Grimm have already been killed, there was still literally millions to get through. He looked left and right, and saw that the circle he created was expanding, that was good. There was more room for the soldiers to land and create their makeshift fortresses with Atlas' technology.

He was about to head into the middle of the fray since the Maidens took the right and left, but the bombardments have started and he stopped himself lest he get caught up in the blast. The captains seemed to understand that the Maidens had the right and left flanks, so they focused on the middle. Great explosions and thundering sounds of war were so bright and loud that Hector found himself staring into the mushroom clouds with a look of awe on his face. The Grimm were blown into pieces, even the massive ones like Goliath's and Deathstalkers. The rhino types lost their horns and were burning to death slowly.

He snapped out of it. They were still a few seconds until the infantry landed at the red sand beach. Seconds that could be used to clear out even more of the Grimm. He didn't hesitate any further, knowing his friends, and especially an angry Neo since by now she must have figured out he used magic on her to keep her and Team SSSN and Ilia in Vale, they would be on the first boat in. He needed to make the beach as safe as it could be, and thankfully the seasonal Maidens were doing exactly what they planned. Creating more area for the boasts to land and clearing out the Grimm to make it easier for the other soldiers to get into the battle themselves.

Which meant that he needed to get passed the front line that he and the Maidens were holding. Using his Light magic, and using Ozma's dome spell, he created a shield around himself strong enough to withstand the explosions of the bombardment, and ran into the purple flames in front of him, snuffing them out as he ran through them, for the destructive energy could not hurt him, it has not been able to since he claimed the Relic of Destruction.

The amount of Grimm outside the boundaries of the flames and magic was thick, even with the bombardment exploding into huge packs of them a few times a second every second. His shield held up wonderfully, he put in a little extra magic into it just in case one of the ships got unlucky enough to land a direct hit on _him_ of all things. The smaller Grimm were nothing against him, and the Hunters would be able to take them out themselves once they landed, so he let some of them get passed him and dealt with the ones that thought that they would be the ones to kill him. Instead he focused on the large and massive ones, the ancient ones that would give even veteran Hunters a hard time to try and take down. There was a Deathstalker that was larger than any other he has ever seen, it was easily the size of a small building, scratching a hundred feet in length with the tail probably able to make it seem even larger when it reared up.

The missiles fell against it and harmlessly bounced off it's hide, and the ones that did explode on impact didn't do nearly as much damage as it needed to. In fact, the only thing it might have done was scratch the bone armor on it's top. It was a well known weakness that the underbelly of Deathstalkers was soft and vulnerable. But to someone like Jaune, or Ren, they would have a really tough time getting there to do any real damage to the thing, and he knew that they would try even if it was impossible.

"That one's mine." He said to himself as he slammed off his back foot, cracking and shattering the ground beneath him as he dashed straight toward the great arachnid Grimm.

He closed the distance faster than he expected himself to, closing dozens of meters in a single lunge. The fact that he had the ability to fly now may have certainly allowed him to get to it faster, but if this was his base speed he idly wondered for a moment how fast he would be at Kaioken times twenty, forty, or even sixty. He could go a lot further now that he isn't held back by his old weak and untrained body, now his body was hard and strong, trained and able. The Deathstalker didn't even see the blade coming before the Relic of Destruction's stabbed straight into one of its eyes.

He could have made the fight a little more flashy to watch, or moved with more grace. But this was a battle, and this battle was more important than looking good while fighting. The sword of destruction flamed up from inside the Deathstalkers head, and the screech of pain was so loud in drew the attention of the other titan sized Grimm toward it before it did a painful internal death. The creature started to melt away, and Hector stood on top of its body, looking around to the thousands of Grimm now all looking at him, forming a circle around him as the others ran past and tried to get to the still landing infantry men and women.

They were hesitant to attack, he noted. That's right, he was one of the few that could instill fear into Grimm, and he wouldn't want to be the first to lunge at the guy who just killed one of their strongest allies in a single blow either. As he kept an eye on the ones in front of him, and those in his peripheral vision, he reached behind his back and grabbed Ozma's cane. Much like he did against Hell, he dual wielded both weapons in each hand, and this time he can use both at the same time. The cane looked off combined with his dark clothing and sword, but it felt natural to hold it in his hand along with it.

"Alright, who's first?" He asked the thousands of Grimm as he used the trick that Ozma used in the battle of Atlas against the highly evolved 'Super' Beowolf as his friends called it. Instead of the cane turning green as it was enchanted into some kind of spectral sword, it shone a bright red mixed with blue. He poured some of his Light and Dark magic into the weapon, and just like that the Grimm were even more hesitant to attack.

"No one?" Hector asked, not _that_ surprised. He looked into one of the Grimm's eyes, and chose his next victim. "Alright, guess I'll have to be the one to start us off next…"

* * *

Jaune and his friends jumped right off their boat as soon as they made it to shore, the red sand felt weird, even against his boots, but he was ready to fight right away just like the rest. He looked around and balked for a moment at the power of all four maidens absolutely destroying the Grimm in every which angle they could. Then he looked forward and saw another one of his friends hacking away at Grimm at speeds he could barely keep up with, but he _could_ see the limbs of Grimm and the thick black smoke of their signals of death filling the already dark sky.

Above him the Nevermore came back, they seemed to have regrouped and formed another thick black cloud of death as they soared toward the massive battleships in the sky. He watched for a few seconds as dog fights filled the air, and the aerial battle begin just above them.

"Jaune, focus!" Ren shouted to him, and pulled his head down so that he could look ahead of himself. The other fighters were already charging forward.

"R-right!" Jaune shouted back, he has been in a battle before, but nothing to this extent. The battle of Beacon was like a child's playground compared to this, people were already in battle, screams and roars of defiance filling in the gaps between the explosions and magical attacks.

The Grimm that made it past the front line that Hector and the Maidens were holding were small and weak, small enough to go unnoticed and weak enough to assume that even if they were spotted, they wouldn't be considered that much of a threat. Crocea Mors stabbed into the chest of a hybrid nonetheless, and he ripped the sword up to cut the creature in half from the bottom up. It's head was split open lopsidedly, and it stood there for a moment before falling forward, sliding off his shield and to the ground, evaporating away.

His dark blue eyes scanned the area, and he spotted a familiar head of ginger hair. He watched for a second as Nora swung her hammer and took five Creeps down in a single strike. She would be okay, she had Ren not too far away from her after all and if it came down to it Ren could use his semblance to hide themselves from the Grimm if anyone got hurt. Long enough so that he could use his semblance to heal them.

"AAAGGH-!" Just like that, Jaune saw as a boy no older than he clutched at his neck, a gash several inches thick and his throat ripped out. He spurted out blood from his throat, and fell to the ground dead, staring at him for help. He was dead before he even hit the ground though, and as much as he'd like it to, his semblance couldn't bring people back from the dead.

He swallowed down the uncomfortable urge to vomit, and pushed forward. It was expected for there to be death, especially in a battle on as massive a scale as this one and not everyone would be strong enough to take on even the weakest of Grimm. Swallowing again, he leaned back from a flying kick from his silver haired friend. An explosion of smoke followed, and the Beowolf that nearly blindsided him found itself without its head.

"C'mon man," Mercury said as he _slapped_ him across the face. "You've seen worse than this, focus." The ex-assassin told him, and kicked his leg forward three times to shoot three different smoke projectiles, each of them killing a Grimm every time with one hundred percent efficiency.

Jaune shook his head and slapped _himself_ , it was pathetic that he was being like this. He was the one who wanted to be a Huntsman, he was the one who ran away from home and lied to get into Beacon. Freezing up at a time like this was going to cost people their lives, and even his if it came down to it. "You're right," he said as he placed a hand on Mercury's shoulder, hand glowing white and Mercury's aura glowing silver as he felt himself become stronger. "You're going to be stronger for a little while, it's a new trick of mine. Go!"

"Heh." Mercury nodded his head and winked at him before diving back into battle. Kicking a hold in an Ursa Minor before it could kill one of their allies. He disappeared into the fray quickly, and Jaune felt himself tense up and his hand tightened around Crocea Mors.

"Let's do this." He told himself as he charged forward with his shield out in front of him. He bashed the skull of Creep into the ground, and then rammed the edge of it into the neck of another. Using his sword he decapitated the creature with one swift slash, and swung it to the side straight after to kill a lunging hybrid, cleaving that one in half in mid air.

He stepped back, and bumped his back against another armored ally. They both turned around at the same time, and blue eyes met blue. He didn't even have time to look at the other boys features before turning back around and blocking and attack from a lunging Beowolf, and then stabbed his sword into its neck. He felt a push against his back, and he turned with the boy behind him and stabbed his sword into the Ursa that attacked his new friend, and then heard an explosion behind him as a heavy weapon slammed a hybrid into the ground, they turned again and broke off from each other. Jaune saw the briefest sight of a mace as it slammed into the still alive Ursa, crushing it's skull in and splattering blood everywhere, while he decapitated three hybrids with a single slash. They looked back to each other and nodded their heads, but before Jaune could look away he could have sworn he recognized the boy he had just fought with.

He looked back and snickered with friendly amusement, the same feeling reciprocated by his once feared bully from Beacon. "Cardin, haven't seen you in a while."

The larger young man laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Jauney boy, I looked for you at Beacon but we were in different divisions on the other side of the school. Man, am I happy to see you again." It was strange hearing that from the one who used to bully him constantly, but once he saved his life in the Forest of Forever Fall years ago, Cardin had enough respect for him to leave him alone, and actually became somewhat of friends with each other before the fall. They haven't seen each other since.

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual." Jaune said with a smile, that quickly hardened. "Let's keep going, this is just the beginning and we still have to push forward to catch up with the others."

"Sure, I'll gladly fight with you." Cardin said as he lugged his two handed mace with ease onto his shoulder, prepared to swing it at a moment's notice. Jaune nodded at him, and started moving forward again, toward a specific part of the front lines where he saw the familiar head of blonde hair that belonged to his father. The old man would probably need his help anyway, but first.

He stopped suddenly and placed a hand against Cardin's chest. The brown haired boy wondered what he was doing but marveled as he felt himself become even stronger. He looked down at his own glowing brown aura, and stared at him, the obvious question being asked with his eyes.

"My semblance." Jaune explained quickly. "Long story short, it makes you stronger and amplifies your aura temporarily."

"Ha! Man, aren't you filled with surprises all of a sudden." Cardin said as his flexed his arms and muscles, then nodded his head toward his new friend and ally. "Let's get going then, we got some Grimm to kill."

Jaune was more than happy to oblige, he turned around and widened his eyes at the sight of a diminutive girl wearing pink, white, and brown, straddling an Ursa with her legs around its neck, and stabbing it multiple times in the face with her sword. Once the Ursa was dead and evaporating, she stabbed it one more time for good measure, and then wiped a bead of sweat from her eye.

It was Neo, he immediately recognized her. They never did hang around each other that often, but he was relieved to see that she considered him a friend when she smiled at him and waved at him like she totally wasn't covered with black blood.

"Er… friend of yours?" Cardin asked him.

"Yeah…" Jaune said as he held his hand palm out, and used his semblance from a distance to make Neo stronger. Her smile went manic as felt herself get stronger, and with one final wink at him she broke off into shards of glass to somewhere else in the battle. "You could say that."

* * *

Ruby moved fast, and swung Crescent Rose even faster. She was continuously using her semblance and everything else around her seemed to move in slow motion. There was a Beowolf who tried to bite her, but quickly found it's snout full of bullets the size of shoes blowing apart it's head. Not for a single second did she ever slow down, she couldn't afford to, Hector and the others were giving it their all, if she didn't do the same she would never forgive herself for it.

Uncle Qrow and her father Taiyang was there as well, fighting with her, like one big family. She wished Yang could be with them, but she was the Spring Maiden, and had other matters to attend to, like making sure that the titan sized Grimm didn't make it passed the front lines to slaughter their weaker foot soldiers. There was hardly any time to breathe, since more and more Grimm seemed to flow into their beach as time went on. The front line was pushed further forward, but only until the sand hardened and grass began to show where they were making ground.

It felt like every Grimm they killed, a dozen more came to fill that one's place. It was saddening and heartbreaking to see those that have already fallen in the first twenty minutes since this battle began. Bodies mutilated and disfigured, limbs torn from their bodies and lifeless eyes staring up into the sky. Some of them were even younger than she was, and aura didn't save them. Not in a battle like this.

She had enough of it, eventually. With a scream she looked toward the front lines where the Grimm were being stopped by some strange purple flame, and she fired Crescent Rose beneath herself and jumped at the same time to get higher into the air. A white trail of light trailed from her eyes as she looked down to the tide of Grimm, and as her screams got louder, her silver eyes shone even brighter. The white light nearly blinded her as well, but she managed to burn away so many Grimm with just one activation, probably hundreds with the amount of them that were piled up on top of each other. As she closed them and began to fall, she saw from the corner of her eye her mother stop in mid air to look at her, she was looking at her with pride and gave her a thumbs up before creating a hailstorm with blocks of ice the size of cars falling from the sky. Crushing a few Grimm every time they made an impact with the ground.

Ruby smiled back and flipped in mid air, firing her weapon again to propel herself to the nearest group of struggling soldiers who were fighting with guns rather than melee. While she flew through the air, she felt a strange sense of strength flowing through her body, and she felt herself get even faster. Curiously, she looked to the white-gold colored aura that was holding out a hand toward her, it was Jaune, and he nodded to her as he used his semblance on her.

She moved at even greater speeds when she hit the ground, Crescent Rose was flipping, twirling, and shooting as she cut through dozens of Grimm in seconds. The soldiers watched on in awe as the Grimm they were struggling with were cut down in mere seconds by a young girl. "Shoot at the smaller ones, the Beowolves have tough skin, if you have to shoot at them, aim for the neck or eyes. Don't waste any, because you're going to need them." Ruby told them quickly before she stormed off in a different direction, leaving them with those parting words.

Qrow was fighting with his scythe now as well, cutting and cleaving Grimm in half with almost primal ease. The man even now was so much better than her with a scythe, she was just faster with one. He moved with ease, and mixed in his bird form to dodge attacks and fly to better angles to attack from. He may be an old man, but she loved him and he was tearing through Grimm just as fast as she was. She turned to her father, who was fighting with their dog Zwei. He was intentionally taking hits to charge up his semblance, and in the second that she was looking at him she saw Jaune's Dad, Nick or something like that, join up with him. They nodded to each other and started fighting together. To her knowledge Jaune's Dad and her Dad never fought together before, but they did so now was great ease, so much so that Qrow stopped while his blade was stabbed into a medium sized Deathstalker, and complained that another blonde stole his partner playfully. It was little wonder where Yang got her during-the-fight banter from, she and Qrow were more alike than they would ever admit.

"C'mon man, team QT is and always be the best pair of Huntsman to ever exist!" Taiyang said with a laugh.

"Team Cutie?" Nicholas asked, amused and on the border of laughing at them.

"Hey, don't dis the partner team name." Qrow said as he wrenched his scythe out of the dead Grimm and fist bumped Taiyang. "We came up with it ourselves, and we were pretty damn proud of it."

"Even more than twenty years later, and you two are _still_ using that damned team name." Summer quipped as she flew up to them, and fired spears of ice toward the crowd of Grimm on the other side of the purple flames. "Can you two focus, for just this one battle? I order it as the leader of Team STRQ."

"Eh, we'll think about it." Qrow said as he lunged off _into_ the purple flames, and into the mass of Grimm that would have killed any lesser men.

"Woah! Don't be doing anything crazy without me!" Taiyang shouted as he too ran _into_ the purple flames, and came out the other side with their clothes singed with purple and scorch marks.

"Idiots!" Summer shouted as she quickly went to their aid.

Nicholas Arc was smarter than that, and did not actually think that charging into that was a good idea, but then he turned to his left and saw Ruby looking at him expectantly. He sighed, and ran after them. Thinking that he had better get a drink bought for him after pulling a suicidal stunt like that.

Ruby smiled as she looked over the battlefield. The Grimm were being pushed back, and while they were getting some kills, it wasn't nearly enough. Hundred of them may have been killed, but thousands of Grimm have been slain already, and that number was quickly rising with the Maidens continuously using their powers to destroy huge packs of them. The only battle that was at a standstill was up above them in the air, the military Bullheads were locked in battle against the Nevermore, Griffons, and the Manticore. While the battleships were dealing with the larger Nevermore that were even bigger than Bullheads, and some even as big as the dragons were in Atlas and Beacon. They also had the help of the anti-air battleships beneath them as well, it would take a while, but she could tell that eventually, even the air space would become theirs in time.

Really, this all felt easier than they originally thought. She looked around and saw that all of her friends were still alive. Nora and Ren grouped up with Jaune and… Cardin!? Mercury and Neo managed to pair up together, and no Grimm that went against him stayed alive longer than a few seconds, Blake and Weiss were keeping each other safe, with Weiss constantly summoning Atlesian Knights to help out with the assault, and casting buffs were her glyph's to empower people in the dozens around them. Casting those buffs and summons took time, and that was why Blake was staying with her. The faunus killed any Grimm that managed to get through to her, and never stopped moving to defend her teammate.

Not only that, but she saw as Hector flew up in the sky before them, and pointed the Relic of Creation toward the shores. He created bunkers for them to retreat to if needs be, and did what he could to repair the naval battleships that were fighting against the sea Grimm that kept on attacking the boats before they could get to shore. With that extra power and defense, the Grimm sea monsters could do little other than hit and run attacks before they were blown to pieces. The next thing Hector did next was expand the purple flames and push them all forward, making the semi-circle even larger, and pushed the Grimm back even further. While at the same time, making more space for the boats to land at their newly created docks, and for him to create even more landing space for them.

They could win this, Grimm had the numbers, but they were mindless. Humanity had aura, better weapons, and five magically powerful beings capable of taking thousands of them down all on their own.

Victory was assured, she just knew it.

* * *

"This is _way_ too easy." Hector said with a growl as he looked down at his forced pushing back the Grimm. "There's literally millions of Grimm, there's no way the Grimm should be this weak, Salem is planning something. I feel like we're walking straight into a trap."

" _Expect it."_ Ozma told him. " _Salem is anything if not coldly cunning, and intelligent. There's a reason she is letting us push this far forward without so much as a single defining blow to our forces."_

"Tch, the others are feeling hope that is misplaced," Hector replied as he looked back to his forces, some were terrified out of their minds, but a lot of the Huntsman were seeing this as easy as he was, but didn't put into mind that this could all just be some ruse. "I don't know if I want to fix that or not."

" _If I may, the ones who are currently weeping and hiding could use with a little confidence boost."_ Creare suggested.

"Not a bad idea…" Without a second thought, his eyes glowed orange and the eyes of the ones who couldn't stomach what was happening found themselves more brave. It was necessary, everyone needed to fight here, not just the stronger ones, but the ones who never held a weapon before as well. "It's done."

" **An intelligent use of my abilities."** Amphelia commended him.

" _ **I must say, I am getting tired of waiting for more powerful Grimm. Woe is these small insignificant scum of Grimm we are combating against. They hardly stand a chance against our might."**_

Deus was right of course, he and the other maidens must have noticed by now that this is much too easy. He looked over to Yang and Rhea, who were now fighting together in a mixture of fire and lighting, they were doing well, extraordinarily well. So many Grimm were dead that the skies were filled with a black mist-

Hector suddenly realized something, he looked up into the sky. Where the aerial battleships were locked in combat against the endless tide of nearly every type of flying Grimm. Ironwood must have been giving out dozens of orders every minute, for they were holding out quite well. They were dropping the paladins and droids onto the battlefield, and very slowly the aerial Grimm were being pushed back. Filling the skies with even more black mist.

So many dead Grimm… so much black mist to go with it. He didn't notice, but the black smoky clouds of evaporated Grimm parts were starting to fog up to surrounding area as well. He could see well enough with his enhanced sight, but that didn't mean that his soldiers would. He has swung Deus around plenty of times as well, but that didn't make the mist any thinner.

"Oh no…" Hector said with trembling hands as he realized what was happening. "Soon enough, the people down there aren't going to be able to see what's in front of them, it's going to be pitch black down there… and since it isn't technically darkness, the faunus might not even be able to see what's in front of them."

Just as he realized this, a massive roar was heard not too far away from him. It was one of those Grimm wurms that Natsuki told him about before, it came out of the ground in the middle of the open area they made for everyone else, blowing away dozens of people and swallowing some of them whole. He saw as Natsuki saw this, and was forced to abandon her position on the upper right flank to help take down the beast with her maiden powers. It was weak to lightning after all.

But that left the upper right flank now open, he cursed and made to fill it himself, but Summer was already on it. The Winter Maiden showed a large amount of effort as she created a condensed blizzard above the _entire_ right flank. But the snow that fell was black, and it wasn't as freezing cold as she would have liked it to be.

He turned around when he heard another roar, and saw that Yang and Rhea were dealing with something massive, it was a highly evolved crab like Grimm that was larger than a building, and it stomped right through the energy of destruction barrier that he made around his soldiers.

The first hours of the battle was going in their favour, but the tides were quickly turning. People didn't know where to aim, and the battleships lost visual on where they should be shooting, and stopped out of fear of hitting their own troops. Hector cursed loudly, and shouted to Rhea.

"Rhea! Use your wind and blow away this mist!"

If Rhea heard him, she showed it through action. She flew higher into the sky, and slapped her hands together and started to spin, a tornado slowly began to appear, a black one at that. It was able to blow away much of the mist with it's powerful winds, and even threw back some of the Grimm to give the foot soldiers more room to breathe. But his heart stopped as the tornado became black, and then it traveled through the energy of destruction. It sucked up the purple flames and exploded the tornado, and he watched as Rhea fell from the sky and onto the ground. Stunned.

"Kaioken!" Hector screamed without thinking, and his body flamed with deep red as he zipped straight to Rhea, and slashed away at the Grimm that almost piled on top of her. The next thing he did was use another full power attack with the relic of Destruction, and it slashed through the Grimm like a hot knife through butter, and a massive explosion occurred once the purple arc was a mile away. He could see the bright purple mushroom in the distance, and a plume of black smoke that followed.

"Get up." Hector said as he pulled Rhea up by her hoodie. He took a deep breath and deactivated Kaioken, in his panic he used it to save her, and left his entire flank wide open. "Are you okay?" He asked next.

"Y-yeah-" Rhea coughed and hacked purple and black smoke, Hector's heart dropped even further. "I just need some time to recover… I can heal myself, and go find Jaune. I'll be okay RJ, I promise."

"Go Hector!" Yang screamed at him before he could respond to Rhea. "I'll take care of her, we need you back on the front lines _now!_ " She said as she scooped up Rhea and threw her on her back, and flew off without even waiting to her is response. He understood why, they couldn't afford to lose a Maiden, they would lose so much of their fighting power if they did. Yang needed to get Rhea to Jaune as soon as possible so that he could heal and amplify her.

Now he alone had to cover the middle and left frontal lines. He cursed and drew Deus again, he was fast and strong, but he was just one person against millions of Grimm. It was simply impossible to take care of every threatening Grimm by himself. In his base form at least.

He wanted to save it for later, but now his hand was forced. He powered up with Kaioken in a yell, and kept powering up. "Times twenty!" He screamed as a small explosion of red shot from around him.

He never went this far before ever since he got his Kaioken back, he was fast, incredibly so. His attacks landed before the sound followed. Moving faster than sound was great and all, but it left him deaf. He was moving faster than the sound could catch up to his ears. He focused the entire ability into his speed, since he already had more than enough power to deal with the Grimm. It ended up taking minutes for Yang to find Jaune and get Rhea to her, and in those minutes Hector was using more and more of his stamina, and their planned formation was now down. After getting Rhea to Jaune Yang came back and started helping him again, trusting Jaune and their friends to protect Rhea with their lives until she is strong enough to get back up and fight again.

Too soon, this is all happening too soon. They gained so much ground, and even started making it to the black and red forest that was the mainland of the Grimm. But now they were the ones being pushed back. Hector stayed in the middle of the ocean of Grimm and kept moving from the coastline, to the middle front lines, and in an arc so that he always was giving somewhere attention. Eventually, he trusted Yang with most of the left flank, and he took the middle and upper left by himself. Natsuki was now forced to fight with the soldiers to take down the Grimm that kept burrowing up from the ground, and with her speed of light she could easily do it. But her weakness was stamina, she couldn't keep it up forever.

"Damn it!" Hector cursed as he grabbed the relic of Creation, and pointed it toward his forces. Hundreds of them gained more aura, and rejuvenated with stamina. He mostly focused on Natsuki, Summer, and Yang, since Rhea was already being healed by Jaune, he gave more aura to Jaune as well.

All this was at a cost however, Hector found himself taking in more labored breaths of air, and he moved slightly slower. His attacks took a little less Grimm with each attack. He began to sweat, and his heart began to hurt and beat faster and faster.

Then it got worse.

Loud deafening screeches were heard above them, so loud that even he heard it and stopped what he was doing to see what it was. He looked up into the sky and saw… oh no.

"DRAGON!" He shouted while using the Relic of Choice, making sure that everyone heard him.

"Dragons!" Someone shouted next, and it was plural. Hector noticed. He looked back up, and saw not just one, but a _dozen_ of those flying creatures capable of taking down armies all on their own. He needed to focus them down immediately, him and all the maidens. But in order to do that they had to abandon their soldiers, and if they stay to defend them, the aerial battleships would get overwhelmed and destroyed. Just one of those things was able to defeat Ironwood and his ships, if with a little help from Roman's hacking and takeover of one of those ships.

All ranged in different sizes and shapes, but the biggest one was pitch black with a trim of red on all of it's bones. They were all hidden in the black clouds, only their silhouettes could be seen. But he knew what he saw. The biggest one had someone, no _something_ , riding it. He narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth angrily.

It was Salem, she was making her move. She let them make all that ground, kill all those Grimm, and bunker down on the beach just so she can make her counter attack. That must have been what she was doing all this time, either finding or creating this dragons, and bringing them all here.

And she was staring right at him, the witch herself was smiling, and her red eyes flowed as she pointed the tip of a summoned spear toward his forces.

The message was as clear as any, the _real_ battle started now.

"SAAALEEEEM!" Hector screamed as he flew up into the sky, sword pointed to the heart of the dragon she was riding.

* * *

 **Wow, what a start to this massive battle. There are a** _ **LOT**_ **of characters all in one spot at the moment, and as you can imagine there is a** _ **LOT**_ **of fight scenes to write out for this battle. I am not a battle strategist myself, and all I really got to go off of from memory are the movies I have watched in the past. But I will do some research. This entire battle arc should last about 2-3 chapters of action packed 8-10k word long chapters. I am not going to draw it out, or rush it for that matter. Just like this one, each are going to be long and thought out.**

 **Keep in mind that I might not be able to get to** _ **every**_ **single character** _ **every**_ **chapter, unless you want me to die of course, then by all means. I'll keep it going Lol. Wish me luck, because I am probably going to start the next chapter pretty soon.**

 **For reference, Hector and his forces made it a few miles off of the beach and are now headed into a forest. Right when they realized that it should be harder than this, despite the thousands of people dying, Salem joined the battle with** _ **twelve**_ **dragons, and now whether or not Hector goes after her, he won't be able to save everyone and kill all the dragons fast enough. Not by himself anyway. There are battleships in the water constantly bombarding the land with explosives, and there are also battleships in the skies fighting against the types of Grimm that can fly, yet now they are going to be in some trouble. Not all of the dragons are the same size, and they all look different. I'll go into more detail on that next chapter that comes out.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the battle so far!**

 **T w itter . com (slash) genatools**

 **P a treon . com (slash) Genatools**


	81. An Unlikely Hero chapter 81 Finale

**Whew, welcome back everyone to yet another chapter. As I start this, I am contemplating two things, whether or not I should make this chapter long as shit and make it a 20k long chapter for the entirety of the rest of the battle of humanity, or break it apart into two chapters. You will get to see what I mean here in a second, you would know before I do tbh.**

 **Update: Yeah, this is going to be a long one boys and girls.**

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 **Zeldawolffang: Don't worry, they'll find a way. I think…**

 **Oblivious IJ: Damn, I can't do anything without my work being referenced to a different show or franchise. Lol I joke of course, sometimes I don't even realize the similarities until someone pointed it out to me. Enjoy that visual novel!**

 **Soul109: Yeah, it would be Marvel if** _ **everyone**_ **survived, and I think I am known for my willingness to kill off characters. Hopefully, eh, I'll make up for it soon enough. Maybe.**

 **Arctech: It is funny how that works :), but hey, I think it might be because TBH isn't really in an action packed arc at the moment. It is going to get there soon, but once this story that one is probably going to become my next main focus. It's already almost caught up with AUH in terms of follows anyway Lol. I understand how you feel, I can't count how many stories I have read that never got an ending, and it especially sucks when it's one of those stories that are just amazing! That is why I swore that I would finish this story, not only for you but also for myself. Thanks for sticking around man, I appreciate your support.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews! And those who have been PM'ing me saying how much they enjoy the story, thank you as well!**

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 **Update: Yeah, if there is a next chapter, that one is definitely going to be the last. -Genatools 20k+ words into the chapter**

 **Update 2: Enjoy the final chapter -Genatools 43k+ words finished**

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Chapter 81- Oh Gosh, An Unlikely Grand Finale!

"SAAALEEEEEM!" Hector screamed as his sword lanced for her dragons heart. Salem saw this coming from literally a mile away however, and maneuvered her dragon in such a way that made him go flying over her and into one of the other dragons. That Grimm monster screamed in pain as a sword dug itself all the way to the hilt into its shoulder, and screamed again when it was ripped out, much of it's bone armour going with it. Hector looked back to Salem, but decided to finish off the dragon now that he had it wounded.

Deus swung backward as he brought it over his shoulder, firing a slash of an arc of destruction energy into the direction of another dragon. He wasn't able to see how that dragon dodge it, and prepared to cut into the wounded ones neck with the blade. However he was forced off as the dragon he was holding on to rolled in mid air, he wasn't prepared for it and lost his grip and flew off of the monster. He caught himself in mid air using his magic, and was about to launch him right back toward the creature, but a massive jaw saw fit to try to swallow him whole, and he was forced to slam his hands upward into it's slimy black mouth while pushing down with his legs with all his strength.

These creatures were incredibly strong, he noticed as he grit his teeth and pushed upward. The force of the dragons mouth slamming onto his hands created a shockwave that blew away some of the black mist that was filling the sky. With a grunt he was about to activate Kaioken, but narrowed his eyes as he saw dark purple light building up from down the creatures throat. His eyes went wide and he activated his shield just in time for the creatures violet fire breath to blow into him, luckily he had the shield up lest he would have taken a serious blow to his aura. He was however launched back into the ground like a meteor, and his shield did little to protect him from the impact force that rocked his bones and shook his brain within his skull.

He stood back up shakily, and shook his head to try and rid himself of the stars he saw in his vision. Forgetting momentarily that he was back in the middle of an ocean of Grimm. He waved Ozma's cane sword around and forced the Grimm back, still groggy from his fall but still more than strong enough to slay these creatures threatening to attack him.

A bolt of red lightning struck to his side, he covered his eyes with his left forearm to protect his eyes from the blinding light, and then rose his other forearm to protect himself as flames licked at his aura when a large explosion of fire destroyed most of the Grimm around him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Yang beckoning him.

"Come on! We have to take down those dragons!" Yang shouted to him.

Grunting his agreement with the notion, he ran to follow her and jumped up to fly with her. Getting higher and higher he could see that the formation they made to give as much room for their soldiers has all but fallen. It was being held by only Rhea and Summer, with Natsuki helping out the bulk of the force. The dragons were the greatest threat to his army, one alone was able to bring down Beacon once the negativity got too high. Another one would have destroyed Atlas if Ruby didn't take it down. He could kill them with the Relic of Destruction, but it took a lot of energy to strike at full power. He could take a few down himself, but if more than three converged on him at the same time it may be difficult for him, any more than that and he would never be able to have the time to store up the power for the full strength attack.

"We're the only ones who can take those dragons down right now." Yang said straight after the two of them killed another one of the massive Grimm wurms that blew out of the ground.

"Where's Ruby?" Hector asked as they dove into the Grimm. They attacked from all angles, but with Ozma's cane Hector decapitated one, and let another fall into the other sword. Using that Grimm's body, he twirled and threw the Grimm into some hybrids that were sprinting at him. Crushing them with the weight of the Beowolf.

"Last time I saw her she was fighting with the others somewhere in that mess, and just in case you haven't noticed yet, Ruby can't fly!" Yang pointed out with a snarl as she stabbed an Ursa through the head with her robotic arm, and ripped it out with a sickening crunch.

"We can carry her!" Hector exclaimed as he slashed a small arc with his sword, creating another wave of energy of destruction and let it cut through and kill another few dozen Grimm. The empty space that they created was filled in almost immediately, there was just so many Grimm.

"We still have to fight Hector, especially us. We're the strongest weapons this army has, we can't handicap ourselves." Yang explained, and then pointed up to one of the dragons attacking Ironwoods fleet. They were doing their best in taking down the massive beast, but their bullets couldn't penetrate deep enough through its armour, and the beasts were too fast and mobile for their missiles to hit it directly. If they didn't go help them, some of their most needed forces would be destroyed.

"Shit!" Hector cursed as he realized that Yang was right. He or her could carry her, and Ruby could use her eyes on the dragons, but that would effectively remove the one carrying her from battle. They couldn't use their powers as much out of fear of hurting Ruby as well, who would be right on their backs.

"I believe I may be of assistance." A new voice said, attracting the attention of both Yang and Hector before they fly themselves to the aerial battle. Their attention was caught especially quickly because of where they were as well, in the middle of the Grimm where you couldn't look anywhere without being attacked or swarmed. When they saw who was with them suddenly, they understood how she was able to get there.

Penny walked toward them nonchalantly as her no longer wired swords flew about her body, cutting through any and every Grimm before they could even touch her form. She had the same smile on her face as the day he first met her. The android even saw fit to _wave_ at them when she got close enough. Her ginger hair and metallic body was covered in Grimm blood, and she had a new look. It was easy to tell that she was an android now just by looking at her. Her eyes were more robotic, and glowed brighter, the texture of her skin was shinier and more plated, and there was an opening in her stomach where more and more swords were being 3D printed from within her body. Not only that, she also had stowed mini guns attached to her thighs, and the area where her heart should be was glowing green, like something was ready to come out. Sprouting from her back were wings like a jet, and Hector wouldn't doubt that there was some kind of thruster that would propel her through the air.

"My other father worked day and night to make me battle ready father!" Penny exclaimed giddily. "I can carry step-mother Ruby and fight at the same time, and her silver eye abilities will not be able to impede my battle capabilities!"

"You definitely look strong." Hector said, nodding his head and smiling at the android. Whatever else Polendina did, he had faith that it only made Penny stronger. "Go find Ruby, get her up there in the skies and take down those dragons by any means necessary." He ordered her.

"Yes sir!" Penny exclaimed as a thruster indeed sprouted from her back between her wings, and she took off into the sky was such grace, and made a beeline for wherever Ruby was. Considering there was bright white flashes of light coming from a certain part of the battlefield, he knew where he would also look first.

"Wow, that's convenient." Yang said with an impressed voice. "Let's go, the guys up top need some heavier firepower."

"Right behind you." Hector replied as he stared at Salem's dragon, flying overhead and specifically _not_ entering the battle. She was trying to bait him, that much was obvious. It worked at first, but he wouldn't let himself fall for it a second time. Tearing his eyes away from the witch, he opted to have their fight later in this battle where he knew his forces would be safe. His plan to fight her safely without the risk of massive collateral damage would need to be performed perfectly, and that didn't mean for him to rush into battle with her riding a dragon, she was only slightly less powerful than he was, he wouldn't want to get outsmarted and killed. If he still had all the magic he sacrificed to save himself from the past, a battle like this wouldn't have been needed, but alas the Gods saw fit to handicap him somewhat.

Instead, he eyed the same dragon he wounded from before, it was raining black blood from it's shoulder, and the puddles of blood that landed on the ground were spawning even Grimm out of them by the dozens. That would be his first target.

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Penny rolled through the air and cut a Griffon in half with her blades. They were designed to be printed with nano meters of edge sharpness. They would slice through anything and everything with little force, and yet not quite sharp enough to cut an atom in half. She wouldn't want to set off massive bombs that would take out their own forces after all. She was designed perfectly for this battle, specifically for slaying Grimm of all shapes and sizes. The Goliath that broke through the frontal line lost its tusks and soon the rest of it's limbs, and was left to bleed to death on the red soil. Approximately, this battle has lasted over three hours already. Three hours of constant fighting and death. Three hours of constant pushing from both sides push the other back.

These `Seasons Maidens` that her father injected into her memory were as powerful as they were described to be, and she was thankful that they were all on her second father's side. Before they were making ground steadily, and making progress into a forest. But they were now at a standstill and being pushed back ever so slowly because of the dragon Grimm taking the attention of most of their strongest weapons. The one who mainly wielded fire who was also previously wounded was now healed by that Jaune fellow. She was now fighting with them on the leftmost flank, where the bright white lights that must have to belong to her step-mother Ruby's silver eyes. That was where she checked first.

"Penny!?" Nora exclaimed in shock when the android cut apart a Deathstalker with her blades with ease, and allowed it's stinger to fall to the side and impale an Ursa Minor through the back, killing it instantly.

"Hello stranger Nora!" Penny exclaimed back, waving at her.

"What-? No, whatever, I won't ask." The other ginger said with a giggle. Which quickly transformed into a loud grunt as she slammed her hammer down to flatten a Grimm hybrid that nearly tackled her.

"Where is step-mother Ruby?" Penny asked as she stood there looking into her fellow ginger haired and green eyed associate. She has never had the pleasure of meeting this girl, but her facial scanners have identified her as Nora Valkyrie, a friend of step-mother Ruby.

"Step-mother? Oh gosh, Hex was serious about that?" Nora said with a snort. "Last time I saw her, she was fighting with Mercury. Over there, I think." The ginger said as she pointed to another chaotic brawl that was occurring about a hundred yards from where they were currently standing. Nora found it fascinating that she was able to stand still and take a breather, mostly because Penny's flying sword things were flying around cutting everything in half. She wished she could do that…

"Thank you for your assistance new friend Nora!" Penny said with a bright smile. "And you as well, stranger Ren, for covering us while we had this conversation.

Stranger Ren was currently on one knee with his hand on the ground, using his semblance to nullify their negative feelings. The fact that it worked on Penny as well was something that made her smile even more. The boy looked up with black and white eyes, and nodded his head.

When Penny nodded her head back, she flew off into Ruby's supposed direction. Nora looked to Ren while he was still using his semblance on her, and smiled. "I want a daughter." She said with a wink.

Ren sighed, but nodded his head. "Okay, but only after this battle is over. And if we survive."

"Yay! Thank you Renny!" Nora said as color returned to her body.

"Focus! We're in the middle of thousands of Grimm!" Ren shouted back as he unloaded his submachine guns in nearly all directions, being careful not to hit any of his allies in the process.

Penny hummed as she heard Nora's reply, but was too far to properly hear every word of what she said. As she flew lower to the ground, her swords killed and wounded Grimm within twenty feet of her body in a full spherical radius. Saves on purpose and inadvertently at the same time. Since she had the brain of a computer, she was able to think things at speeds no regular human could possibly hope too. Combine that with her dozens of swords being relatively automatic, all she really needed to focus on was finding Ruby, adjusting her flight path, and checking on her fuel every once in a while. She could absorb more power from the sun, but currently the black mist was blocking most of the light out, she had to rely on more primitive sources of power. Which was like winding herself up with every Grimm she murdered ruthlessly.

Eventually while looking overhead, she saw a red flurry of rose petals split apart into three smaller flurries, dodge around a Beringel, and appear as one Ruby Rose behind the monster. The Beringel looked back, and got a sniper bullet in its eye. Ruby backflipped off of the monster, and one silver haired boy kicked it in the snout, it's head flying back and neck shattering within it's skin and bone armour.

When Penny landed beside them, Mercury widened his eyes at her and suddenly got much more nervous. While Ruby beamed at her robotic friend and hugged her quickly. "Penny? What are you doing here?"

"Mercury Black." Penny said robotically, and in a cold voice. Her eyes were narrowed, and the silver haired young man found himself with three tips of swords pointing into both his ears and neck. He held his hands up in surrender, and gulped nervously.

"Yeah, I can see why you would do this. I do, really." Mercury said, and choked when the blade against his neck pushed deeper into his aura.

"Penny wait!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping in front of Mercury and throwing away one of the blades. The sword fixed itself in mid air, and flew to join the others tearing apart the Grimm around them. "Mercury is a good guy now, trust me!"

"Mercury Black was partly responsible for the fall of Beacon, the death of a headmaster, and is one of the most wanted men in the world. Also, you were also partly responsible for my first death." Penny said, her eyes staring through Ruby and toward the ex-assassin.

"I was pardoned!" Mercury complained. "And I definitely did say sorry, a few times." He added when even Ruby turned to look at him with a 'really?' kind of expression. "Sorry about that…"

"You were pardoned by Atlas," Penny pointed out, but when a string of memories flowed through her mind, her eyes went wide and her smile returned. The blades she had threatening him to join the others, and Penny stood with her hands in front of her. She bowed regally. "Apologies, I was not made aware that Father had called for pardoned criminals to join this battle, and you are also a pardoned criminal. Therefore you are a free man. Welcome to join this battle, and assumed to be trusted."

" _Assumed…_ Ha." Mercury laughed a single time as he rubbed his throat, still feeling the phantom pressure of a balde pressing into his neck.

"I trust him." Ruby declared, and Mercury resisted the urge to tease her for it. Mostly because they were currently surrounded by Grimm at the moment, and definitely because she is not single and her boyfriend happens to be the guy leading this attack, so there's also that. "But that's not important now, we're all fighting here. What are you doing right now?"

Penny straightened up, turned around, and got down to one knee with her back facing Ruby, the silver eyed girl got confused and was about to question her. But the android was already on that. "I have been given an order to retrieve you, and carry you up to the dragons close enough so that you may use the power of your eyes to slay them. Father and Yang are currently fighting against them alone, and by my calculations the battleships above us will not be able to help much longer without more assistance."

"I'll do it!" Ruby said instantly. Hopping on to Penny's back and wrapped her hands around her wings and her legs around her waist. Hector and Yang were very powerful beings with their magical strength, but they were only two people, and it could be assumed that each dragon would be much stronger than the ones that they have previously encountered. More durable and faster as well. "Mercury, will you be okay on your own for now?"

"Think so." Mercury said as he let his silver aura flow visibly for a second. "I'll be fine, go slay some dragons you two."

"That's the plan- Woah!" Ruby shouted and held on tight to Penny's wings as tightly as she could. For the android burst off of her feet and into the red dark sky, leaving their former enemy behind.

"Heh," Mercury cracked his neck and then his knuckles as he slowly turned around to face the Grimm that could now make it to him, yet were still cautious just in case it was another trap. "Looks like I'm fair game again, who wants a piece of me first?" He asked the creatures. He wasn't showing it, but he was getting exhausted. Throwing kicks and punches and throwing his semblance around every which way did little to help with that. He was in great shape, but even he could lose his stamina up to the point where he burned himself out. He doubted that he would see the end of this badly purely based off of his close quarters fighting style, and it was way too late to change it now.

"Come on then!" Mercury shouted and charged the Grimm, bionic feet primed and ready to be kicked out once more.

A thick wide sword sliced one of the Creeps in two, and a flaming black and white dog pounced onto on of the hyrbids and tore away at its throat. There were two other blonde guys, and only one of them he recognized. He blinked his eyes twice and sighed as he recognized Qrow as he flicked the black blood off of his sword in his direction. "Really kid? 'Come on then!'" He mocked his voice, and Mercury rolled his eyes. "Nice last words, but I am going to have to give you a 'lil more time to think of some new ones."

"Funny, and here I thought you were too old for dry humour." Mercury snapped back.

"Ooo, got you there man." Taiyang said as he patted his partners back, each pat reeking with sympathy.

"Whatever, we've made some ground, let's make sure we don't lose it because some flying lizards decided to join the party." Qrow said as he shifted his sword back into its jagged scythe form, and just like he taught Ruby he stabbed the blade into the ground and fired large explosive bullets into the eyes of a Grimm wurm making its way toward them. Forcing it to dive back under the ground to either find a different target, or to attack from a different angle.

"If you psychopaths don't mind," Nicholas started as he sapped the life force out of a Grimm hybrid, and threw the evaporating body away to the side, his aura glowing as it was partially replenished. "I have to go find my son, I haven't seen him since the start of this battle and I'm worried."

"Go ahead, the blonde kid ain't that far, and he is fighting with some other blonde kid with a tail. Shouldn't be that hard to miss." Qrow replied without looking at him. "Go for it."

"Thanks, I'll meet back with you once I know he is safe." Nicholas said as he ran away from their little group. There were dozens of bodies around them, both human and faunus and also the still decaying bodies of Grimm that were fogging the surrounding area with their black mist.

"I don't think anywhere is safe anymore." Taiyang said once the other blonde man left. He didn't have the heart to tell him that. He was of course worried about his own daughters, but he knew that between Ruby's eyes and Yang's Spring Maiden status that both of them would be more than okay, and just have to be doing better than he is anyway.

"Yeah, well, it's our job to make it safe." Qrow said adamantly. "So let's make sure we at least get this green kid through this shit mess."

"Green kid? Whatever old man, talk that shit after you killed your own dad."

"Can't, Raven beat me to that one a long time ago."

"I can't believe that I am not only used to this kind of talk, but I am also glad that both of your fathers are dead." Taiyang sighed. "I'm getting too old for this."

* * *

"Kaioken times ten!" Hector screamed as he shoulder charged into the chest of the wounded dragon he inadvertently attacked earlier. He felt the creatures bone armour crack and flake off when he hit it, and pulled back before a breath of purple fire could melt his aura down any further than it is already. Ozma was already on that, using what remained of his powers to heal restore his aura, and alongside him Creare and Amphelia, since they are not nearly contributing as much to this battle as Deus was, and the latter needed to use his powers the most out of all of them.

He prepared to kill the dragon as it reared back and pulled back it's head, one of its wings were flapping slowly than the other, and with the weak spot he created the battleships could take this one down without him. But he couldn't wait any longer, already a few of the larger battleships were taken down and destroyed. It crashed into a few hundred Grimm and crushed them and blew them up when it exploded, but it is worth a lot more than a suicide bomber in the sky bombarding them from above. But before he could finish it off yet another dragon, this one _much_ bigger with _much_ stronger hide breathed it's fire on him, he created a shield around his body and held it back, but it was a waste of time and energy. Luckily Yang came from below and uppercut the monster, slamming it's mouth shut and destroying some of it's sharp jagged teeth.

"I got this, finish the small one off!" The Spring Maiden shouted to him as she blew a blast of red lightning mixed with orange flames into the body of the much larger beast. They disappeared into the black fog before he could respond, but he could see still see the light show that was Yang using her powers against the creature in the darkness.

He thanked her silently for giving him the opening he needed, and pointed his sword toward the creature. He didn't even need to use the relics powers for this one, and this particular dragon seemed to be weaker than all the rest. It's sole priority seemed to just be spawning more Grimm as it was getting killed. Which was why he intended to take this pale grey one down first before any of its kin came to save it.

The dragon flew away from him, turned around in a wide arc, and then proceeded to start flying straight for him at mach speeds. A white barrier appeared around the creatures head and body, showing how it was breaking the sound barrier just by going as fast as it was. He gritted his teeth and went to meet it, at Kaioken times ten, it would be more than enough to finish the creature off. It seemed like he didn't have to however, since one of the naval battleships from far below managed to land a direct hit even as it went as fast as it did. Either by accident or on purpose, Hector was relieved that he didn't actually have to meet the damn thing, no matter how strong he was, he could still feel pain.

His relief was short lived. His suspicions about why this dragon was weaker than all the others were answered when the Grimm suddenly burst black blood, and this black blood spilled so wide and was carried by the wind. Hector watched with shock as the blood broke apart and became large droplets the size of people. Some landed on people and literally melted them down, some landed on Grimm and made them strong, some hit nothing and simply spawned more Grimm. Natsuki and Summer's jobs became much harder when they now had to destroy the droplets in the air along with taking care of the Grimm attacking their soldiers.

With a snarl, Hector put away Ozma's cane and then grabbed the Relic of Creation with that now free hand. "Don't let the droplets touch the ground." He demanded the relic while pointing it toward the battlefield. Just as he demanded, a massive bowl shaped barrier made of yellow colored Light magic formed above all of the human forces. It caught most of the droplets and prevented them from touching the ground just as he intended for it to.

Next, he pointed Deus toward the barrier and made to swing at it, but as he pulled his arm back another dragon the same size as the one Yang was fighting bit down on his arm. He screamed in pain but kept a tight grip on both his sword and let the staff float along beside him as he tried to pry the monsters mouth open with his bare hands. He felt the teeth of the monster dig into his aura, almost forcing its way through. Hector groaned in pain and activated Deus' power from within the creatures mouth.

The red eyed dragon screeched in pain as it's tongue began to dissipate away in a heap of purple destructive energy, and Hector rubbed his shoulder where his arm was caught. It was in pain, and it was lightly bleeding. It's razor sharp teeth managed to just graze him enough to cut his clothing and bite into his skin, puncturing it. He rolled it a few times, and let his aura do the work of healing the wound. He didn't have time to worry about it, he had to destroy that Grimm blood he captured with the Relic of Creation as fast as he could.

This time a spear nearly stabbed through his body. He sensed it coming and was forced to dodge. Looking around, he could barely see through the thick black fog that filled the red sky. But he recognized the malignant Dark magic that Salem uses. He dodged another one, and deflected the next, each spear faster than the one before, and in random unpredictable patterns. He created his shield to block the next five, but each of them embedded themselves into the magic energy and nearly stabbed him anyway. With a roar, he let his power rise and he blew away the rest of in Kaioken times thirty, his aura shone red mixed with purple. On the border of being turned to blue if he went any higher.

Salem wasn't going to make this easy for him, her dragon suddenly burst through the black fog and breathed fire at him. He dodged to the right and countered with a slash of his sword that shockingly bounced off of the creatures hide and ricocheted into the ground, thankfully not toward his forces, and sadly not even to the Grimm for that matter. But the fact that the energy of destruction _bounced_ off of her dragon told him that he might have to get a little up close and personal to be able to damage it seriously.

The moment he started going after the witch however, she threw another spear at him to force him to dodge and then disappeared into the black fog. Impossible to be seen through the black.

"Dammit, she's just toying with me at this point." Hector said as he looked around for any other signs of life, mainly Yang since she would be the only other person up here other than himself and maybe Penny if she managed to find Ruby yet.

" _Every time you try to destroy the Grimm blood from the dragon, she will intervene. She is playing this fight cunningly obnoxious. She will wait for you to tire yourself out before fighting you, where her resulting victory is more assured. I would assume that she is riding the dragon in the first place just to save as much energy as possible just for you and the maidens."_ Creare explained.

" _ **Might I suggest using full power? Destruction is the answer to many kinds of problems."**_ Deus added.

"No," Hector answered right away. "Sure, I might be able to get a full power attack off with you Deus, but it would do more than destroy the Grimm blood, it would also destroy the barrier, and those underneath, and even the ships in the water that certainly have enough things to worry about and do not need to try to dodge the attack."

" _ **Of course, the lives of the humans are important to. I suppose I should remember that for now."**_ The fact that the Relic of Destruction said `suppose` and `for now` should have risen a few red flags for him, but right now there were more important things to address. He was in the middle of a dark fog that was nearly impossible to see through, and there were eleven more known dragons to kill, as well as Salem. He and Yang had their hands full as it is.

"How long can that barrier hold up?" Hector asked Creare as he kept an eye on the barrier, as well as the area around him wherever his eyes could stretch their limit too. His senses were focused and sharpened, Salem wouldn't surprise attack him again. He wouldn't allow it.

" _With no more of my magic to support it… a few minutes, perhaps."_ Creare estimated. " _I would not hope for it to be any longer."_

"Yeah, I wouldn't anyway." Hector agreed. "We have to find some way to distract Salem-"

The sound of a dragon breathing fire exploded into his eardrums, he turned around and stared on in horror as one of the stronger dragons made a pass over his forces, burning the ground and any who were standing in the path of the flames. When the initial explosion of purple flames died down, people burning to death, charred bodies and skeletons were all that were left behind. Hundreds of people, dead, just like that. Hector flew toward the dragon in a rage, but a spear caught him in the shirt, cutting through his shirt and being deflected by his aura. He cursed and smacked away the following spear, and put up a shield to block the next three. Salem flew closer than ever before and he was forced to blow back the dragon with a magical bast out of his left hand. The dragon screeched in pain as the red and blue vapor seared against its bone armour, and threatened to melt through it. However, Salem reached down with her hand, and fueled the dragon with her own dark magic, healing it's wound.

Hector almost went after her as she disappeared into the dark black fog again, but stopped as he remembered the people burning alive beneath his very feed. Damn the dragons, he couldn't let them burn his people to death on his watch.

To his horror, before he could get to them the same violet colored dragon made another pass, killing and burning those who were unfortunate enough to get caught in its path. However, halfway through a massive blue bolt of lightning pushed back against the flames. The blue lightning overpowered the flames and forced itself down its throat. The dragon screeched and threw up blood, but flew higher into the air.

"Not so fast you lizard shit!" Natsuki's scream was so loud even he could hear it. "You wanna burn people alive? Try someone you own level!"

Hector agreed with the Summer Maiden all the way, and was relieved to see Summer flying through the path of flames that the Dragon made and freezing it to non existence. She also created small flurries of clouds that put out the flames on the people who were still alive and on fire. There auras would be out, but they would still be alive.

Not long enough to get away from the Grimm, Hector quickly realized. Without a second thought, he grabbed the Relic of Creation and pointed it toward the people that were suffering from their burn wounds, he thought he could see Jaune healing one of them down there somewhere as well. Then once again refreshed the auras of hundreds of people. It drained him ever so slightly, but at least they would live a little longer, and hopefully long enough to be pulled back to the bunkers that were slowly being rolled up the beach by massive wheels and Atlesian technology.

Then, just to be safe, he pointed the staff above him and poured more magic into the barrier. Restarting whatever timer Creare told him about, and giving him more time to deal with the Grimm that immediately needed to be dealt with.

"Hector!" A distant voice called out to him, but one quickly getting closer and familiar. He turned his neck so fast it nearly snapped when he recognized the voice as Ruby, and another voice calling out to him, that one being Penny. He watched as the android flew up to him within seconds, and hovered there before him.

"I've got the silver eyed warrior father!" Penny reported eagerly.

"What do you need me to do first?" Ruby asked, holding on for dear life to Penny's back plane like wings.

He was about to say to slay some of the dragons, like he told Penny to make her do. But the android came to him first for a reason, and the fact that there was pretty much a giant yellow magical bowl filled with Grimm blood probably explained that. He looked to Ruby, and then to the Grimm blood, and suddenly had a hunch. It might work, it might not, but the rewards outweigh the risks by far.

"See this big bowl of Grimm blood?" Hector asked and pointed up to the sky toward the obvious object. When Ruby and Penny nodded their heads, he continued. "Try to see if you can use your eyes to destroy it, I keep trying to, but Salem keeps interfering."

"What's stopping her from attacking me while I give it a try?" Ruby asked.

"I am." Hector declared. "I am strong enough to block her attacks now, and they can't hurt me. I will be your shield as we do this." He explained.

"I don't know if my eyes work like that though!" Ruby shouted back over the lightning bolts of Natsuki chasing after the same dragon.

"We will never know unless you try!" Hector shouted back. "We're running out of time, and this blood is toxic. If it lands on any people down there it will kill them, so give it a try. If it doesn't work, we'll figure something out."

"I agree with Father Rivers' suggestion." Penny said. "My calculations state that the Grimm blood is still Grimm, and your eyes are the natural enemy to _all_ types of Grimm. You _should_ be able to get rid of it in its entirety within a single activation, and it should be especially easy since there is no skin, bone, and flesh to get in the way of your light. It is simply Grimm blood, and Grimm blood is meant to evaporate."

Ruby thought on it for a few seconds, and then smiled. Determined. "Okay, I'll do it!" She exclaimed.

Hector smiled, but it was short lived. He clapped his hands together and then wrenched them away from one another. A blue bubble shield expanded out of his hands and surrounded Penny and Ruby. When Penny nodded her head at him, that was his cue to follow the android on a flight path around the barrier to the top of it. True to her earlier analysis, the Grimm blood was already evaporating like any dead Grimm would, there was just so much of it that it would have taken ages for the entire bowl of it to evaporate harmlessly into the air. Once they reached the top of it, Hector saw a spear aiming for Ruby's back. He used a burst of Kaioken enhanced speed to catch it, and threw it back in the same direction it came. After a few seconds, three more came right back at him. Hector snarled and deflected each of the spears. None of them were aimed to him, but to his lover and android (apparent) stepdaughter. Some of them even moved in irrational patterns that would have been impossible for any real javelins. He kicked and punched each of them away, sheathing Deus so he had more hands to use to redirect them away from Penny and Ruby.

Ruby looked behind her and winced every time Hector deflected a spear with the back of his hand. He moved impossibly fast, almost too fast for even herself to keep up with. Every time he stopped one spear or parried it, another one lanced for her spine, and even though she had a barrier to protect her Hector didn't let a single one ever get that close. Forcing herself to look away and calm her rapidly beating heart, she took a deep breath as Penny used her swords to follow each other so fast in a circle that it blew away most of the black smoke that would have suffocated her. She let out her held breath and took in a new one as Penny blew over the Grimm blood. The stench was horrendous and made her want to throw up, but she pushed through, she couldn't afford passing out at a time like this.

"Now would be the opportune time stepmother Ruby!" Penny shouted with an amplified voice as she hovered over the middle of the Grimm blood.

 _Here goes nothing…_ Ruby thought as she looked over Penny's body, and toward the entire massive yellow energy bowl filled with Grimm blood. She closed her eyes and thought about happy things, about her family, Yang, Qrow, Taiyang, Summer, and now Hector and even his stepdaughter(s). Then about her friends, about Jaune who was her first ever friend at Beacon, about Weiss who was and still is her partner. The mysterious girl with a bow that she found incredibly fascinating. Then there was Ren and Nora, and then Pyrrha, and all those who lost their lives in the battle of Beacon, and then about everything that was at stake. All of humanity would be wiped out a _second_ time if they lost this battle, all that they did would just be erased and reduced to atoms. Like they never existed at all.

She couldn't allow it — _Wouldn't_ allow it. She would not let everything be for nothing, and even if she was the last silver eyed warrior in the world she would do everything in her power to help win this battle. And if that meant burning a way a giant bowl filled _literally_ with the blood of her enemies, then so be it.

"HAAAAHHHHH!" Ruby screamed as her eyes opened again, and a massive wave of white light flowed out of her eyes. They were so bright that her eyes looked like a pair of sun's through the black fog that filled the sky. The Grimm blood burned away, bubble and burst. Evaporating into black vapor which even that was burned away into molecules. She kept her eyes going for seconds, which felt like minutes to her. She only stopped when she could see the ground again, and then burned her eyes even brighter!

"AAAAHHHH!" She screeched as her eyes began to hurt, but she spotted one of the dragons getting closer to her and Penny and Hector, and wouldn't allow it to get any closer. The beast suddenly screeched in fear and tried to turn back, but light was much faster than it was. Part of the creatures lower body was turned into stone, and it fell to the ground where the stone part of its body cracked and broke off. It's inner organs spilled out of its body, and it writhed in pain as the soldiers underneath her rushed to finish it off.

That was another dragon down, Ruby counted. Ten more to go if what Penny told her was true about their quantity. She shut her eyes and deactivated them, and when she tried to open them again her vision darkened and she very nearly did pass out from the activation.

"Oh!" She shouted as she suddenly felt energetic, if only a sharp pain in her left thigh. Looking down at it, she noticed how Penny had stabbed some kind of shot into her leg, only to then immediately pull it out and immediately threw it away.

"I have given you an enhanced aura booster, you shall not pass out on my watch!" Penny said to her and gave her a thumbs up. Ruby laughed weakly and gave one back. Her eyes were sore and her head was pounding, but she did what she needed to do.

"You did it!" Hector exclaimed as he reappeared before them, immediately noticing how tired she was. "Take a breather for a few minutes, your eyes sure did a number on them. Even some of the fog was burned away, and now _everyone_ can fight better and with less stress. You did great."

"Thanks." Ruby said sheepishly. Leave it to her to somehow feel embarrassed at a time like this, as much as Hector found it cute, he was too battle hardened at the moment to think about it for more than half a second.

"Be careful, visibility may be better, but the Grimm are still strong in the millions while we must be under a single million ourselves by now. This battle isn't over by a longshot." Hector shook his head. "Get some rest, I got some work to do."

"Be careful…" Ruby muttered weakly as he flew off toward another one of the dragons. She was worried about him, he didn't even seem to notice it himself, but he was hurt. He may be powerful, but he wasn't invulnerable. He can bleed, and if he can bleed he can be killed. He didn't show it, but he was getting tired too.

As Penny brought her closer back down to the ground, she had a lot to think about all the while. This battle started out okay, but so many people were dying already. Any one of them can be one of her friends, and she dreaded to hear the news while in the midst of battle.

* * *

"Behind you!" Weiss shouted to her feline teammate as a Grimm hybrid lunged for her from behind. The faunus used her semblance to leave a clone behind, and the Grimm grabbed onto nothing, the next thing it knew it had a blade sticking out of its chest from behind. Blake slid Gambol Shroud out of its body, but not after leaving a gift in the form of an unstable fire dust crystal jammed into the back of its body. The dying hybrid screamed inhumanly as it was kicked into a group of the same kind of Grimm, and a small explosion took place. Vaporizing the Grimm on the spot.

Weiss sighed in relief, and pushed herself up with the help of her weapon, Myrtenaster. She has used up the vast majority of her aura to summon her Atlesian Knights and previously slain Grimm, and buffing her nearby allies with power and speed and time dilation. Now she was on her last legs, but still in the fight, just without the use of her semblance. Blake rushed back to her and pressed her back against hers. They stood side by side, surrounded by Grimm of all types slowly moving in on them.

"We got separated from the others." Blake said with a deep raspy breath.

Ever since the dragons started attacking, formations were a thing of the past. Most people were just trying to stay out of the way of the path of flames that would have burned them to death, and Blake and Weiss were two of them. They were unfortunate enough to be in the path of the first of the dragons passes, and were forced away from the main force of their allied army and into the mass of Grimm surrounding them. Things were not looking good, and those who noticed them and tried to help were sadly killed, or just gave up on them. While Weiss would have been upset by that, she was too focused on killing any Grimm that took a step forward to care.

"Is… is this it?" Blake asked, wiping sweat from her face as she looked around to the Grimm slowly enclosing them in a tighter and tighter circle. The silent question she did not ask was if they were going to die now, like this, being torn apart by Grimm. The very thing they trained to destroy.

"I… hope not." Weiss replied, her eyes were shaky and her hands shakier. She could barely stand as it is, and her aura was flickering and would shatter in the next hit. If they weren't saved now… they would die. "I suppose I should apologize…"

Blake snorted, despite their current situation. "What for?"

"For how I treated you in the beginning, It must have been hard for you… I never really did say sorry, did I?" Weiss asked.

"It doesn't matter now, we are the best of friends and nothing is ever going to change that." To her comfort, Blake reached behind herself with her free hand and grabbed hers, squeezing it. Weiss squeezed it back. "If anything, I should apologize for nearly getting myself and Sun killed like that. It was foolish."

"It was…" Weiss sniggered. "But I am sorry, for how I acted back then."

"You have already been forgiven." Blake easily said, and reluctantly drew her hand back. She grabbed Gambol Shroud with both hands, and detached the thick cleaver from the short curved blade part. She ran out of ammo a long time ago, and she couldn't afford to use her semblance with the small amount of aura she had now.

Weiss and Blake tensed up as the Grimm snarled at them, and clawed at them. They swung and stabbed their weapons out and screamed their defiance as they fought the Grimm the best that they could, and to their credit, they did just for a decently long time. Until Weiss' aura finally gave out, and she was forced to use her natural strength to desperately hold back the Beowolf from tearing out her throat with its teeth. Blake flipped and dodged away from the ones attacking her, but she was running out of space quickly. Eventually, she was brought down as well. Blocking as much of her body as she could with her arms as she was knocked down and piled on by a dozen Grimm hybrids, and even more trying to force themselves on top of her.

They were so close to death that they didn't even realize that the Grimm started to be fired upon. Weiss's sword was wrenched out of her hands and thrown to the side, but just as the creature was about to tear into her throat, the tip of a halberd stabbed into the side of its head, spilling Grimm blood onto her face and into her mouth. She coughed and hacked, but still wondered who her savior was.

She cracked one icy blue and red eye to see a head of blue hair, shocked to see Neptune of all people, she was more fearful for his own health. He seemed to have been caught in the dragons last attack, and half of his clothes were burned off, and his skin singed with red, pink and a horrible brown disfigured color.

"Hey Snow Angel, having a tough time keeping up?" The boy she went to the dance with years ago asked her, looking at her with that same dashing smile she once thought was so very attractive. Now his teeth were bloody, and his eyes were red with tears and spilled blood. His blue hair was partly burned away on one side. He was in bad shape, and only able to wield his weapon with one hand, but he was still standing in her defense.

"N-neptune!?" She called out to him.

"Don't forget about me now!" Another boy shouted, this one she recognized immediately as Sun. She was helped up by Neptune, and turned to see Sun's condition. He was in a sorry state, with his shirt being completely burned off and some minor burns here and there, but he was in much better shape than his partner.

"Saw that you girls needed some help, so we came to rescue you damsels." The monkey faunus said as he gave them a thumbs up as he twirled and fired his staff-slash-shotgun toward the Grimm that dared to attack him and Blake. Blake! She was okay, thank the Gods. Her aura was on the border of breaking, and her jacket was torn to shreds and she was bleeding from minor wounds, but she was still alive, which was all that mattered.

"H-how did you get to us?" Blake asked as she caught her breath.

"Had some help." Sun said as he gestured toward a blonde Huntsman, and another blonde Huntsman who looked much like the former. Not only them, but Ren and Nora were there as well, all fighting through the Grimm to keep them away from them all.

"Those guys..." Blake said with a relieved laugh. "Figures it'd be them, I should have known right away."

"You have some dedicated friends." Sun said as he helped her up with one of his golden clones.

"Don't you have two more teammates?" Weiss asked, and looked around for the one with red hair, and the dark skinned one she saw at the dance.

"Yeah…"

"Where are they?" Weiss wished that she didn't ask.

"The dragon… it…" Sun shook his head and shut his eyes tight. It was clear that he was holding back emotions, and Weiss felt terrible for prying with such a question, and cursed herself for not taking into account that the rest of Sun and Neptune's team might have not been as lucky as they were.

"I'm so sorry-"

"Don't." Sun snapped at her, tears falling down his cheeks. The ones that he couldn't hold back. "We'll get through this, for them, right Nep?"

"Yeah." Neptune said, and twirled his staff with one hand and propped it on top of his left shoulder. "We'll win this battle, for them."

"For Scarlet and Sage." Sun agreed.

Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Nicholas all caught up with them soon after, and right after Jaune did what he could to bring Blakes and Weiss' aura levels back to a healthy state, they moved as a group back to the main force where they were guarded by other Huntsman and Huntresses until they were safe back behind the front lines. Neptune collapsed soon thereafter, and Sun Wukong went down to one knee to catch his breath, and not a second too early. Weiss and Blake were lucky to be alive, and only their friends to thank that they might now just be able to see through this battle all the way through.

"Something else is attacking us!" One of the other Huntsman screamed over her thoughts, and Weiss stood up shakily and forced her partially replenished aura to flow through her body and rejuvenate some of her stamina. It seemed like she was going to have to fight again after only a few short minutes of well needed rest. But she would repay the debt she owed to Neptune and defend him with her life, just as he did for her.

"That's not a `something`." Nicholas said with narrowed eyes as he caught sight of a robotic scorpion tail stabbing into an unknowing Hunter, the venom coursed through his veins quickly, and while weakened the Ursa he was fighting overwhelmed him and pinned him down. He made himself look away so he didn't have to watch as the Grimm tore his head off easily.

"It's Tyrian Callows." Jaune said and held up his shield. "I've seen his venom work before, it's not pretty."

"Tyrian Callows?" Nicholas asked.

"He's a faunus man, very powerful and quick on his feet, he works with Salem. He beat us all and Qrow Branwen all by himself. We were only able to force him to retreat once Ruby cut off his tail." Ren quickly explained to his best friend's father.

"I see…" Nicholas said, and looked back to the younger Huntsman that were with him. Most of them were tired or injured or both, and some of them were already beaten by this man before. "I'll deal with him myself." He said as he pointed his sword toward the cackling and hysterical faunus. The bastard was having fun killing people left and right, and since most of the world didn't know his face, or how dangerous he was. They assumed him to be on their side, which proved to me a grave mistake since he slaughtered all those who had their backs turned to him.

"We can take him together." Jaune declared, joining up at his side. Before his father could deny him that, he cut him off. "We are stronger now, and we have better teamwork. He can't beat us all, and I won't stand by and let you fight him all by yourself."

"Right!" Nora exclaimed, and joined in by his side. Ren followed suit, and Nicholas found himself with precious little time to reply as the faunus bastard looked at them with violet eyes.

"Oooh! You three again! Oh, how I can't _wait_ to finish what I started!" The faunus screamed maniacally and charged at them.

"Fine, be careful." Nicholas said with gritted teeth, and rushed up to meet the crazed man.

Jaune and his teammates looked to each other, and nodded. "Will you all be okay for now?" The leader asked Sun.

"We should be, we have other people looking after us too." Sun said with a nod. "I don't know who that guy is, but make sure he doesn't kill any more people. We need every soul as it is."

"I promise, this is his last battle." Jaune said with a determined nod.

"Team JNPR!" Jaune shouted, Ren and Nora narrowing their eyes toward the scorpion faunus as he clashed blades with Nicholas Arc. "Let's kill the son of a bitch."

"Now _that_ is an order I can get behind!" Nora exclaimed as she and her teammates charged into battle.

* * *

Natsuki roared as her body crackled with electricity. She lost the dragon somewhere in the darkness, and was now back in the main battle on the frontlines. She felt like she has killed thousands of Grimm all by herself, and to her credit she probably did already reach the quadruple digits, or perhaps even the quintuple digits. Moving at light speed provided with more than enough quickness to dispatch Grimm from every front, while at the same time being sure to not hit her own allies. She has practiced this power for long enough, and it felt good to finally be able to release it.

The Summer Maiden spun around and fired another bolt of lightning into one of those ugly disgusting slimy crab types of Grimm. The magic easily pierced it's armour and killed the thing instantly, just as she knew it would. She kept her eyes on the skies and kept searching for any signs of flapping winds. But the winds were so strong that even if the wings of the dragon was displacing the black mist to give away it's own position, it wouldn't be enough to reveal itself to her. At least not in an obvious way.

She looked up into the sky where she was able to see the aerial battleships once before, but was disappointed to see how it was still nearly impossible to see the shape of them. She wanted so badly to go up there and take down some of those dragons herself, but she knew that she was needed here. Their army would get swamped without her electrical maiden powers, and she has already saved hundred by flying around killing shit left and right.

"Do they even end?" She wondered as she looked toward the massive Grimm army that kept scrambling toward them. Over a million of them must have been killed by now, perhaps more. She wouldn't doubt it, but a lot of Grimm have to be killed in order for the sun to be blocked out like it is. They were making ground, but now they have made too much ground, if such a thing was possible. She looked toward where the beach used to be, only for it to be shrouded by a mixture of black and red mist too thick to see through.

And dammit, she was getting tired. Not so much so that she couldn't move at full speed, but enough that it pissed her off without end. Looking back to the immediate battlefield, she wondered how long this battle would last, because it didn't seem like they were ever going to get a break in the action. The Grimm didn't need to rest, or eat, or sleep, or drink water to keep themselves hydrated, and there's millions of them. This battle would start and wouldn't have an end until the Grimm are defeated, or they are. Though, they all knew that already. Once Salem is defeated, the Grimm should follow suit quickly. Without someone gathering and leading them, they should grow confused and much easier to take down without a fight. Which was another reason why she desperately wanted to attack Salem as she was flying around on the back of a damn dragon. She held herself back, however, she knew her place was here. The Winter and Fall Maidens couldn't protect this army all by themselves. There was simply too many Grimm attacking from all different sides-

There! She spotted a drop of black blood that splashed on the ground harmlessly, a Grimm started to spawn out of it but was immediately murdered by Huntsman the moment it reared its ugly head. That blood came from the sky, and unless it came from one of the other nine dragons it belonged to the one she wounded earlier. The Grimm must have healed somehow. Her lightning crackled so violently that it even shot from her eyes like some superhero in a comic book, and it traced along the ground at lightning speeds. She prepared herself to attack the creature the moment it opened its mouth and spat it's fiery breath.

She saw the glowing tongue of the Grimm dragon as the purple fire breath traveled up its throat, and she went full speed toward the monster and slammed its mouth shut with a quick bolt of lightning, breaking some of its teeth and forcing the flame out through its nose. The fire breath burned it's own nose, and the dragon groaned loudly in pain and try to throw her off of it's snout.

She kept a tight grip however, she dug the tips of her fingers into the creatures bone armour, and held on as tightly as she could while coursing her electric power into the dragon. The monster pointed it's head up, and it flew straight into the sky, Natsuki still held on and roared back at the creature even as they flew up above the clouds. That was the dragons mistake, she was the Summer Maiden, and there was no better source of thunder and lightning than from the clouds themselves. All around them, discolored grey clouds formed up around them, all of them crackling with electricity. All the way up here, her allies wouldn't be caught up in a full power attack. So she took this opportunity and grabbed it by its metaphorical balls, and within seconds her entire body was just a mass of lightning.

Natsuki dug her fingers even deeper into the dragon's snout, and wrenched the dragons mouth open herself. The creature of darkness immediately blew its fire breath at her, engulfing her almost completely in a dark blast of purple fire. Natsuki took the brunt of it without even flinching, at full power and charged up by the forces of nature the dragon no longer stood a chance.

"Here, have a taste of your own medicine!" The Summer Maiden screamed as she opened her mouth as wide as she could, and spat out a pure beam of blue lightning that overpowered the breath of flames in an instant. The beam of lightning traveled into and throughout the entire dragons body, and the entire monster shook as it was electrified with millions of volts of lightning. The skin bubbled and burst, and the bone armour cracked and shriveled, until eventually the entire body of the dragon exploded in a mess of black blood and organs. Natsuki held it's still intact head, even if it was missing a few of its eyes, and threw it at one of the Nevermore she wasn't even looking at.

"Gotcha, you lizard shit." She said with a wide ear to ear grin, and waved around her own reptilian tail. Her slitted eyes went wide with excitement at the accomplishment of slaying a dragon in such a way. She wished there was some of those things in Vacuo, so she could do the same thing to them and have a ton of fun while doing it.

She let herself dive back through the clouds and toward the army, she was gone for far too long already. But at least there was one less dragon to worry about now. There were nine left from what she was counting, which was nine too many. Rivers and that blonde maiden were still doing what they could, and soon that number may very well go down to eight or less. But now they could never say that she didn't participate in taking them down.

"Was that you?" The maiden with the white cloak asked when she returned to the ground.

"Yup, got rid of one of the dragons that was burning our people. Did ya' see a light show or something?"

"Light show? The whole sky practically blew up!" Summer exclaimed. "Good job, that's' nine to go I think, Hector took one down already, and my daughter killed one herself. Be ready for more though-"

"I know, I know. Sheesh, got away from one old person pestering me only to get hounded by another." Natsuki complained.

Summer slowly turned to look her in the eyes. "Wanna run that by me again?"

"Nope," Natsuki popped the `P` to emphasize how much did cared at that moment. She looked around and specifically chose not to look in the Winter Maidens general direction, and then saw a familiar freckled girl somewhere in the chaos. "Oh look, Chameleon girl! I'll catch up with you later Winter Summer girl, I got some more Grimm to kill and a faunus girl that kept following me around in Vacuo to keep alive."

"Sure…" Summer said as she watched her fellow Maiden disappear in the chaos. "Go right ahead, don't let me keep you."

Summer ignored and forgot what the Summer Maiden said to her almost immediately after she left. Times for amusing jokes and quips were sometimes needed in a battle like this, where you couldn't look anywhere and not see someone dying. Even the Huntsman started to fall here and there, and the soldiers that relied on guns and ranged weapons were overwhelmed by Grimm once they got too close and there was no one to protect them. She sighed and shook her head, getting rid of those nasty images from her mind. Instead she thought about her daughter, and what she was doing and if she was still okay. Obviously, she still was, since only minutes earlier she saw the unmistakable light of the silver eyes burst from the sky, destroying the Grimm blood that almost fell on the whole army, as well as mortally wounding one of the dragons.

The last time she caught a glimpse of her daughter however was when she was riding on the back of that ginger haired android that she told her about before. So she was still okay as far as she knew. Strangely enough she trusted that android girl to make sure that her daughter doesn't get hurt, partly because she was referred to as `Grandma` by the mechanical girl.

She wished that she still had both of her silver eyes still, Salem stole one of them from her the last time they battled. She never knew that she actually needed _both_ eyes in order for them to still work they way they did before. She tried and failed so many times to activate her powers with just that one eye of hers, but it never worked. She always ended up just making herself exhausted, and the most she got was barely a flicker. Summer gave up a long time ago, her time with silver eyed powers was over, and it was time for the next generation to take hold. She only wished that her daughter wasn't the only other silver eyed warrior still alive. There was only one other silver eyed warrior that she met a long time ago on a mission, he refused to tell her his name and she could only refer to him as `Mal`, and unfortunately he gave his life in protecting his family. She never checked if said family also had silver eyes, but it wasn't her place to go and reveal them to Ozpin, not after what Rivers had told her about him in the past.

A hailstorm with spears of ice stabbed into the back of a charging Goliath as she thought about this, she kept on fighting every moment of her train of thought. She couldn't afford to stop. The massive creature screeched out of its long trunk of a nose, and fell to its side and died once the Atlesian droids opened fire into its underbelly. Nodding at the scene, she turned and looked over the entire battlefield as a whole.

It was utter chaos, as one could expect. People and droids were fighting and dying against Grimm all around her. There were so many dead Grimm that the surrounding area was clouded with the black mist of their dead decaying bodies, and you almost couldn't step anywhere without having to step over the dead body of one of your allies. She would have taken a battle against Hell any day over this madness. If only Salem had just surrendered, all of this could have been prevented.

Alas, an ending like that would have been too idealistic to realistically hope could happen. This battle started bloody, and it was going to end bloody. There was no avoiding it. She only hoped that the battle wouldn't drag on longer than it should.

* * *

Salem smiled down at the chaos as she flew overhead on the dragon she specifically made for herself. People were dying left, right, and center. It was beautiful, she hasn't seen such an amount of death since the kingdoms of old marched on her all those years ago. She supposed that she should thank Hector Rivers for providing her with such a sight.

Just as she planned, she was letting her dragons cause whatever chaos they could as quickly as they could. The battleships in the sky were next to nothing compared to her grown creatures. The Spring Maiden and that fool of a man was causing her more trouble than she would have hoped, but the result was being achieved all the same. Even though she has already lost three of them, one to the humans, another to silver eyes, and the last to the Summer Maiden. Just as she expected, as much as she would have loved to create a Grimm strong enough to defeat maidens, it was simply impossible with the amount of time she had to create these Grimm. Though she did manage to make most of them much stronger than the ones naturally born hundreds of years before that she kept in hibernation until the time came to awaken them. Sadly, they only proved to show that they weren't strong enough to achieve what she wanted. Now, they could destroy armies by themselves.

She knew that she would have to fight Hector herself soon, but not so soon. Not when she had the advantage of numbers to tire him before he could even get to her. She would have had Watts create another dark version of him, but after the issue that went on with Hell and his problem with the memories that weren't his, and the soul he would require to become strong enough to even face his counterpart, there was simply no reason to create another Hell. Arthur instead focused on augmenting Hazel and Tyrian to make them stronger, especially since the former lost his limbs and had a lot of internal damage after the battle in the snowy wastelands of Atlas. After Arthur Watts served his purpose, he no longer had one. Soon after, she no longer saw a reason to keep the excommunicated scientist around. He fulfilled his purpose, and win or lose, there was no place for him in the world she aimed to create in the possibility that she won this battle. He _was_ lucky enough that she did find one last thing to use him for though.

And so, Arthur Watts was now one of the thousands of hybrids that snarled and clawed and bit at her enemies. He was right to beg for his life like he did, she would have him serve her until the moment of his death, just as he would have desired.

Sadly, part of her plan was no longer possible since that young silver eyed girl destroyed the Grimm blood of the dragon that she wanted to spill all over the battlefield. She created that one to specifically be weaker than even the one at Beacon, and made its blood toxic to any creature with a soul if it got onto their skin. Even if it didn't hit them, it would have spawned more Grimm or make a mass much stronger. She would not underestimate his cleverness again, and she made a note to rip the eyes out of that silver eyed girl herself when the time came, and make that fool Hector watch as she did so.

Jinn told her that the `fool` she aimed to slay was going to be the one to finally put an end to her long reign. The being hasn't even left the Relic of Knowledge that she still held in possession. The gold and blue jeweled ring was around one of her fingers, and she would have forced herself to become the owner of the relic if the relic wasn't already owned. It was little more than a decoration for her hand as it was now. But she still needed it's powers for after she killed Hector. She would become the new owner of all the relics, and the world would be hers for the taking.

She could see him even now. She took some pot shots at him earlier, but as she expected he was simply too powerful for her summoned weapons to do any harm to his body. Her spears bounced off of his strong aura, and even when she landed a direct hit he would simply catch it and throw it right back at her. Of course, she was also more than strong enough for her own weapons to not harm her. But it was still a nuisance.

Since she couldn't take _him_ on directly. She opted for different targets. Which were the flagships in that pesky Generals fleet. A lot of them were destroyed and brought down already, but not enough. It seemed like the Relic of Creation was also going to be something most valuable to her when she got her hands on the staff.

There was another target she could go after… she pondered if it was really worth angering him. But if it meant making this battle easier for her to win…

* * *

Yang roared and slammed her fist into the chin of the same massive dragon that she has been facing this entire time. The damn thing kept healing almost as fast as she was doing damage to it. Probably because of some kind of Dark magic from Salem healing the damn thing. She didn't give a shit, she needed to keep this one from attacking the ships anyway, and if it was a draw this thing wanted, she would show it that a draw against her was reserved for her combat rival, and this thing was _definitely not_ her rival.

Her eyes flared with red, and her hair burst into pale yellow and orange flames as she grew more and more angry with this damn monster. The damn thing kept flying away from her, only to come back and ram into her. She stopped it every single time. She was stronger than it, and even _it_ knew that, and it fought her with more intelligence than any Grimm she has fought before. It was little more than annoying, she wasn't letting herself get too tuckered out and waste any energy. She wasn't like that anymore, she knew how to fight, and knew how to contain her own stamina. It took a while to master the powers of the Spring Maiden, but master it she did. Now she had the powers of fire, lighting, and ice-

Ice! That was her answer, the thing couldn't get away from her if it was too frozen to move in the first place. Ice as never her thing, fire always was, which was why she leaned toward a more aggressive and explosive fighting style with the powers. But if getting out of her comfort zone meant that she could take out another one of the dragons, than it was more than worth it.

She focused her mind, and shut her eyes for a few moments. When she opened them again, an explosion of blue aura flowed around her. Cold, freezing aura. Not as freezing cold as Summer's Winter Maiden powers, but just as cold as Raven's when she was the Spring Maiden. When the dragon came for another pass, it didn't to be smart enough to know what it was getting itself into.

Yang roared as she flew at full speed to meet it just as she did many times before, but instead of an orange flaming fist with red lightning surrounding it like an aura, she had a crystal blue fist encased with frosty ice.

She smiled when the dragon didn't even slow down, and the way it screeched in pain when she dodged out of the way of it's flaming breath, and slammed her fist into the wing of the creature was pleasurable for her to listen too. She rarely ever used ice as a weapon before, but when the time called for it, she figured it out. Ice encased all over the dragon's right wing, and froze it in place. Yang reared back her fist while the dragon was still screeching in pain, and her flames and lightning returned. This time when she punched it again, the entire wing broke off and shattered, leaving a bleeding stump where the dragons wing used to be. Spurting with black blood.

"Yeah, it sucks. I've been there before, _twice!_ " Yang shouted to the dragon and laughed as she pushed off of the creature, and watched it as it slowly fell from the sky. It might not die from the fall, she knew that. So she went to make sure it did.

A spear slammed into the side of her ribs right as she decided to go finish the dragon off. She would have had a weapon stabbed into the side of her chest if her aura wasn't still strong and full. She looked up with one eye and saw another dragon, this one even bigger than the last, and with Salem of all people riding on top of it. Yang winced and hastily dodge the next spear sloppily, but managed to get her body out of the way. "You gotta be kidding me… You're coming after me, huh?" Yang asked, even if Salem was much too far to hear her and even if she could hear the sound of the battle around them would drown out her voice way before it ever reached the witch.

Salem answered her anyway, with her actions. The dragon she was riding took in a deep breath, and Yang knew right away what was coming. She crossed her arms to protect herself as she flew to the side, using the dark mist against the Grimm in hopes of making it lose her. If she thought that was going to work, she was wrong to do so. The dragon breathed it's flames anyway, uncaring for the other smaller flying type Grimm that got in the way of the flames that spilled out of its mouth and made its way toward Yang.

It had some kind of magical tracking, it was obvious to see that the flames were moving unnaturally. The initial blast missed her, but the breath of flame turned in mid air behind her, and struck her in the back. Yang screamed in pain as she was pushed closer to the dragon, unable to twist herself out of the way of the flames, she clenched her eyes and awaited for more pain when she saw that she was headed straight toward the monsters wide open jaws. She wouldn't be able to break out of this one, not until the flames stopped burning her aura and back. If it wasn't for the fact that she was already used to extreme heats because of her training with her own powers and the training she did with Rhea, her aura would have fallen already.

Opening her eyes again, she snapped out of her submission and forced her arms back to her sides, and _pushed_ her feet _into_ the flames. Her semblance kicked in, and her red lightning magic crackled up all around her body. Before long, she set off an external explosion out through her body the moment before she could be trapped in the beasts mouth. The dragon screeched and turned away from her, but before Yang could celebrate her own small victory, Salem reached toward her and grabbed her by the throat before she could react in time.

"Pesky Maiden, you're as powerless as your mother was." Salem hissed at her as she squeezed down on her throat. Yang choked and kicked at the taller and larger woman, but her kicks did nothing and she was quickly fading. She was getting zero air to her lungs and her body was suffering for it. Aura did a lot of things to protect the body from harm, but one of the small amounts of attacks that could get through the aura were submission holds, aura could do much, but meant little to nothing when you were grabbed and put into a submission hold. Against her minds will, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she spat out spit and her vision went dark.

Then all of a sudden she could breathe again. She coughed and hacked as she rolled down the back of the dragon, holding onto a loose scale purely out of instinct lest she fall from the sky while still be half unconscious.

Yang cracked one eye open, seeing nothing but blurry darkness and a vague sight of Salem holding something back. She blinked them fast and hard, and when she opened them again it was still blurry for her, but she could see what was happening clearly.

"Get out of here!" Hector shouted to her as tried to force the Relic of Destruction down into Salem's chest, the latter caught the blade with both of her hands, and was pushing back just as hard with all her strength. "Now! Kaioken!" He screamed as he slammed one hand on the back of the hilt. Salem was slowly giving ground, and the blade tickled her chest and shed blood, she winced and twisted to the side. Hector went along with his force and buried the sword down to the hilt into the back of the dragon they were all on top of. The dragon screeched and rolled, but they all held on tight. Salem kicked at Hector's face as he tried to rip the sword back out, and kicked him again once he did get it out. He swung the sword, and just barely managed to miss and only cut a lock of Salem's white hair off. After one more kick, this one to his groin. He lost his footing and fell off the dragon. When Salem looked back to her, she heeded his earlier words and let go herself.

She flipped and turned in mid air so much that she grew dizzy. She tried to stop herself, but she was still out of it after being nearly choked to death like that. She continued to cough and spit out blood, and her throat continued to burn like there was no tomorrow. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as the ripping speeds of wind blew into her face. Finally, she managed to correct herself enough so that she was able to spread her arms and legs and slow down her descent as much as she could. The ground was still far, but closing in on her fast. She needed to take control of her magic again, because no amount of aura would save her from a fall that high.

Struggling, she could only make her eyes flame and flicker every few seconds. Her body gained it's fiery aura, but only for a few seconds at a time. Not tears as much time that she needs to use her ability of flight to keep herself up in the sky.

The ground was now just a few hundred feet away, and every second she was getting closer faster and faster as she reached terminal velocity. Right as she was twenty feet from the ground, she closed her eyes and prayed. But her prayers might as well have been answered in that very instant, because through her clenched shut eyes, a frosty blue color flashed before her. Suddenly she was flying again, and then she was on the ground safely after feeling a weird sensation flow throughout her body.

"You alright?" Ah, right, Hector can teleport now.

"Y-yeah," Yang said in a raspy voice, and then coughed a few times. "Thanks."

"No problem," Hector said as he stood up. After looking around, she could see that they were back on the ground with the other soldiers, and they were actually in one of the bunkers that were set up along the coast. There were doctors running every which way, and one with no blood on them was pulled by the sleeve and met eyes with Hector. If that wasn't enough to make the young girl listen to him, the fact that he was covered in evaporating Grimm blood, was. "Take care of her until she's okay to go again, she's one of the maidens. So as soon as she can take a breath of air without coughing send her back out."

"Y-yes sir!" The girl meekly replied and rushed to her side. She winced as the bruises on her neck already formed and were being touched by the young nurse. But she was still determined, and loathed the idea of taking a break on the sidelines with the injured.

"I-I can still fight." She declared and made to stand.

A strong hand pushed her back down. "No, you can't. No pointless risks. We can afford losing someone like you."

At another time she might have asked exactly what he meant by that. But in this case, she knew right away. If they lost any of the Maidens, they would lose the fight. That was why he was so strict about them being careful. Miles away from the action, injured, but alive. That's better than being dead in hers and his book.

She didn't verbally respond and allowed herself to be pushed back down to the bed. "H-how many-" her coughing cut her off.

"How many dragons are left?" Hector finished her question for her, she nodded.

"I took another one down, and then I noticed Salem grab you. You're lucky I saw you, and fast. If I was a second too late, she would have snapped your neck." Yang whined and kicked him in the knee where she knew he was standing beside her bed. "Rest for a bit, there are eight more dragons to deal with now, and we are slowly gaining ground down here. Make sure she actually gets the treatment she needs."

"I will!" The nurse nodded her head at him.

Hector nodded and shut his eyes. A thin cool blue aura lit up around his body, but before he teleported to where he sensed Rhea's power, Yang said something to him.

"B-be careful." She groaned to him.

He didn't respond, not verbally at least. He put one thumbs up to her and in a flash, he disappeared on the spot. Leaving her there to get treated for her neck injury.

* * *

"HHAAAAAAAAAA!" Rhea continuously screamed as she kept a steady flow of fire bursting out of the palms of her hands towards another low flying dragon. She was by herself on the left flank. She saw Yang falling from the sky and Hector catch her, and then saw both of them teleport away. By the look of it, it was urgent. Yang was hurt somehow, and he needed to get her away from the battle for the time being. That was okay, more than okay. Just like they went over, they couldn't afford to lose any of the maidens anytime throughout this battle when they were needed against impossibly large Grimm, the dragons, and of course Salem herself. If any of them fell early, every fight ahead of that would be much harder than it already would have been.

Which was why she was so damned pissed off! If Yang was really hurt, and hurt badly, then she was going to be out of the fight, and that meant that everyone else had to pick up her slack not for a lack of trying to word it kindly. She never thought that she had this much power before, the Grimm were literally melting against her flames, and that _fucking_ dragon kept making passes by her and breathing fire on her allies and friends.

When that same dragon came by for another pass, she got in the way of the fire blast and shot one of her own out from the palms of her hands. Trying to do the same thing that the lesbian looking Summer Maiden did before and completely overpower it. Little did she know that she did not have _that_ kind of power hidden within her. She was only able to match the dragon blow for blow, and then get blown back by the force of her own attack and get shot into the ground a few feet. She blasted herself out, and exploded the Grimm who tried to dog-pile her.

It felt great, completely letting loose like this. But now she was so unbelievably hot that even _she_ was sweating like a pig, and she was the Fall Maiden who specialised in fire. Every step she took, and every meter she flew, a trail of fire followed her. Literally. On the ground, and even in the air. Flames were all that she left behind. This forced her to fight almost completely on her own, lest she burned her own allies by mistake. The only ones who were able to fight with her without their aura taking damage by her extremely hot aura were those who were lucky enough to have semblances that protected them or made them invulnerable from the element of fire, and even some of them were keeping their distance as well, just in case.

If only she was as fast as the dragon, faster even, she would have liked to melt _that_ thing right out of the sky with her fire. She has already blasted who knows how many blasts of fire out of her hands, and her fire whip was left forgotten in the back of her mind as she simply killed Grimm who were just close enough to her to be burned to death by her massive flaming aura.

The only one who wasn't affected was the one who suddenly teleported in front of her. She almost didn't recognize him because of how ragged and torn his clothes looked, and the fact that he had a small blue aura around him rather than the big red fiery one that she had grown used to. "You seem to be having fun." Her stepfather told her as he rubbed her head between the ears.

"Is Yang-"

"Okay, yes. She is okay. She is just going to be a little out of it for a while." Hector explained and answered her unasked question. She visibly sighed, and sagged her shoulders. She was worried about her auntie, bestie, and sparring partner.

"What does this mean for us?" Rhea asked, relieved and getting fired up again at the same time.

"It means we're going to have to fight a little harder… and someone is going to have to take care of those dragons up there." Hector said, and a second later his red aura burst aflame and overpowered even hers. He didn't even wait for her reply, or to ask for her help, he just flew back up there into the black and dark sky, and disappeared into the mist. Leaving her down there to continue fighting against the lower Grimm, both statistically and literally.

She trembled angrily, and her flaming aura burned even hotter around her body. Was this all she was now? Just the Fall Maiden who was too weak to slay one of the dragons on her own, and forced to fight alongside the ones the weaker force of the army? All her life, she was the weak one, never able to protect herself, never able to stop the other kids in the orphanage from bullying her. Then she suddenly got magical powers, and then she became an outcast. A monster. A witch. She only ever had one friend, and even he was cautious of her at times. Not even those magical powers could protect her against that white haired man that tried to take her away, and she needed to be protected for so long even after Hector took her in. Even when she learned how to use her powers, what has she done with them? What good did she do? The only other time she really let loose was in the battle of Atlas, and that was just letting her powers go crazy and using that fire whip of hers. After that, the next important thing was unlocking the vault for the Relic of Choice. Before that, she was next to useless in the first battle against Salem. All she did was take Natsuki, and fly away with her.

Rhea clenched her fists so tightly that she scratched into the palms of her hands and shed blood. The blood dripped out of her hands, and hit the ground, where evaporated on the spot almost instantly. She looked around, and saw how many bodies were surrounding her. She didn't even notice how many people were dead already, the number was high in the thousands. With Grimm still tearing away at some of the bodies. All of them, dead. Torn apart, burned alive, beaten to death, or just plain flattened into the ground by the weight of a Grimm. All kinds of death was happening all around her, and here she was having an internal crisis.

She clenched her fists even harder and screamed to the skies, wind and flames flowed around her like a tornado. The tornado flowed over her body and grew larger in size. The Grimm that were caught in it were melted down on the spot, and the people that were fighting with her were blown away. Creating dozens of feet of room for her to do as she wished.

Rhea looked back up into the sky, and searched for the dragon. It was already making another pass over their army, but Summer was busy fighting another dragon, and Natsuki was locked in combat protecting a large group of their soldiers. Both were occupied, so it was up to her to make the move.

"YOU'RE MINE!" Rhea screamed as she flew at speeds faster than she has ever flown before. She zipped through the sky like a bright orange comet, and crashed into the side of the Grimm dragon in an explosion that burned one of its wings. Rhea kept burning hot as both of them started falling to the ground, the dragon desperately trying to keep itself in the skies by flapping it's one wing as fast as it could. It was to no avail, Rhea and it crashed into the ground, crushing Grimm and unfortunate people alike who were trapped underneath it. Rhea stepped back from the dragon, and raised her hands into the air and screamed again as her self-made fire tempest grew even wider with heat. The dragon bit and stabbed at Rhea, but as soon as it got close enough to bite around her, it's teeth were turned to ashes in it's mouth. It screamed and blew fire at the young maiden, but Rhea was even hotter than it's flames, and so it did next to nothing as she took it without so much as flinching. She continued to scream at the top of her lungs, and her tornado grew so massive in size that it picked the dragon up off the ground and carried it through the flames that she was creating. More Grimm were picked up, and soon the fire tempest she made was bigger than a building, and it grew so high that even some of Nevermore and Griffons and other flying kinds of Grimm were sucked into it. All burning and melting away inside of the magical tempest. Rhea's eyes felt like they were melting, as well as the rest of her organs and skin. But she pushed through it with a roar of defiance.

When her body finally gave out. She fell onto her hands and knees, and her aura disappeared. All around her, charred evaporating ashes of the bodies of Grimm fell. Despite her immense pain and quite possible heat stroke she was suffering from. She just smiled and laughed at the carnage that she had just created. The ground all around her now had a reason to be a pitch black ashy color. Once she caught enough of her breath back she sat up on her knees and looked up into the sky. The light of the sun was beaming through, and there was massive gaping hole where the black mist of dead Grimm used to fill it almost completely. Although the color of the sky here was red, she couldn't help but crack a smile at the sight.

Being as light headed as she was at the time, she barely noticed that a Deathstalker was inching its way toward her, and when that Grimm stepped into her aira and didn't melt away, other Grimm slowly closed in on her. Rhea blinked her eyes and chuckled, then stood back up with shaky legs and shakier arms. She was more than exhausted, she was on the border of collapsing. Yet much like she knew her stepfather would, she still stood up, and faced the Grimm with a smile on her face.

"You want some more!? I got more to give!" She shouted out, and her eyes flamed and her flaming aura returned. She liked to think that she looked like her adoptive father in that moment, surrounded by an aura of fire, with glowing eyes and strong powers just waiting to be used. However, she wasn't Hector. This was all that remained of her powers at the moment, going all out and beyond her own limitations like she just did tired her out to the extreme, and she didn't have enough magic to make a difference. Her fires couldn't even scare the Grimm anymore, and they almost taunted her with the way they slowly closed in around her.

Something went out within her brain. Rhea's eyes went half lidded, and she rocked back and forth, barely keeping herself standing as it is. But she wasn't going to fall here, not like this. The news would break Hector, and demoralize their friends. She _needed_ to live through this.

She thought her mind was playing tricks on her when a needle like sword stabbed through the back of the head of a mustached Grimm hybrid, and watched as it fell to the ground with a slump and started dissipating away. Rhea looked around and blinked, but saw nothing that gave away who might have just bought her a little more time. Perhaps it was a stray bullet from one of the droids?

It happened again, and this time she had to throw herself to the side so that the stinger of the Deathstalker didn't fall onto her and crush her to death with its weight. When she pushed herself back to her knees, a dead Beowolf scared her and made her jump back to her feet. She only realized it was dead when she saw that it's body was full of tiny little holes. It must have bled to death.

This time, she saw a flicker of the one who was saving her right now. A bright pink and brown figure as it flipped and dodged it's way around the attacks of the surrounding Grimm, breaking apart into glass shards and the moment after both the eyes becoming missing from the creatures face. Rhea knew who it was the moment she saw a pink eye wink at her. Slowly and methodically, she pushed herself back onto her feet, and allowed only her eyes to flame with power. She can't use too much at once right now, so she created an old weapon of hers that she hasn't cast in a while.

Her fire whip cracked and cackled on the ground as her fire magic flowed through it. She clutched the grip and coiled some of it around her wrist loosely. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she snapped it at a hybrid that tried to rush her down. The creature found itself lacking a heart, and fell to the ground dead or dying. Next she whipped it around the claw of another Deathstalker, and forcing her aura and putting her back into it, she twirled it around her body thrice before letting it go, sending it plowing through its own Grimm allies. When she snapped the wind of the whip back and caught it in her free hand, she smirked.

Neo flexibly flipped into her vision, and happily wave at her with a toothy smile while covered in blood. So naturally, Rhea did the same thing, except that instead of blood she was covered in soot and ashes from her shoulders down to her feet. "Thanks Auntie Neo!" Rhea cheered, and Neo made an `awe` gesture as she stabbed another Beowolf to death.

She was still exhausted, and Jaune was nowhere to be seen, but she could stand and fight a little while longer while she recovered some of her magic back. No Grimm could stand against the combination that was herself, and Auntie Neo after all.

* * *

"HYAHAHA!" Tyrian cackled as he struck Nicholas' sword, the blonde man parried and tried to counter with a thrust attack, but Tyrian dodged with unnatural grace and slithered his way back into the crowd.

This bastard is tough, Nicholas thought. It's been a while since he had to fight another human opponent and think that accepting help was actually a good idea. Tyrian Callows was crazy strong, and crazy fast. Not to mention that he constantly had to keep track of where his tail was lest he find it stabbed into his side, and deadly venom be pumped throughout his body. He could match him blow for blow, but it took intense concentration and it was more difficult since he actually had to consider the threat of the Grimm still around them unlike his opponent.

He switched his grip into an offhand reverse grip, and clashed blades against what was soon to be revealed as his tail. Nicholas grunted and twisted his blade, pushing the tail aside and grabbing the hilt again with his dominant hand. Tyrian spun along with his tail, and lunged off of his back foot to engage him. Cackling all the while with that sick manic look on his face. The thought of this man existing on the same planet as his daughters disturbed him in itself.

His son got in the way of the faunus however, and he shouted out how he felt about that and rushed forward to try and assist his son. However, Jaune Arc had it under control for the most part. Holding the entire weight of Tyrian on his shield and pinning his tail to the shield with his sword.

"Oh, it's you again interesting one." Tyrian said as he pushed his face into Jaune's so close that he could almost kiss the younger man. "Would you like to know _why_ you interest me?"

"I don't care why." Jaune spat into his face, Tyrian giggled as he wiped it off his face, and grunted as he was thrown off of it. He flipped when he hit the ground and landed back on his feet, then used his tail to block the green bullets that belonged to the pink eyed boy. He moved agilely and dodged everything that was thrown at him, and to Jaune and the others, they might as well assume that he had full aura, while they were all tired. This was going to be a hard fight to win, but they didn't go into this battle hoping for an easy one. Not even Nora was that idealistic.

"Keep those eyes on me blonde boy!" Tyrian taunted as he caught a bullet with his bare hands, and dropped the dented metal to the ground. It left a bruise in his hand, but Jaune didn't think that he even felt the pain that came along with it. He was just in a different world.

Tyrian was different from the last time he saw him. He no longer wore the shirt over his upper body, and allowed his many scars to be on full display. There was a new one on his chest however, one that seemed impossible to survive, it looked like he was stabbed in the heart and the blade was so big that it cut his heart in half. It took a moment for him to realize that it was the same wound that Qrow told them all he dished out unto him. He very nearly killed him, but apparently he had some kind of semblance that rapidly healed his fatal wounds at the cost of his mental sanity. And by the way that Tyrian cackled and didn't react to the minor wounds that he _did_ have on his body, he was even further down the path of insanity.

Nora slammed her hammer into the ground and created a shockwave in the shape of a cone that traveled fast through the ground, kicking up dirt and stone as it made its way toward the mad faunus. Tyrian jumped over it and dodged to the side, where Ren managed to catch him in the back with a few more rounds. Angrily, the scorpion faunus reared back and turned to face him, and the next second Ren was desperately trying to hold back the man on his own. He was losing badly, he managed to defend against the first few attacks but once the first one hit him he got staggered, and Jaune's heart plummeted as Ren just barely managed to parry Tyrians tail in time. For a moment there, Jaune thought that his best friend was going to be killed.

Thankfully, Nora came in to save her lover. Smashing her hammer into Tyrian's tail and forcing him to retreat back so he didn't once again lose it. He crawled on all fours and then stood up on one knee, looking back at them with a grin on his face.

"Are you okay?" Jaune asked as he helped Ren up.

"I'll live," Ren said as he held his side. There was some blood behind it, but it wasn't purple like Qrow's was. "We have to take him on together, he'll pick us off one by one if we don't use teamwork."

"Right." Jaune said, and used his semblance on his teammates for a few seconds to return some of his aura to him. "That should hold you over for a while, can you stand?"

"I can fight." Ren said as he wiped his blood on his shirt, his wound freshly healed now thanks to Jaune's borrowed aura.

The sound of Nicholas clashing blades against Tyrian and Nora smashing her hammer into the ground where Tyrian just dodged it snapped them back into the reality of the situation. Jaune nodded to Ren, and rushed up to join his father and other teammates in the battle. Ren stayed behind, looked down at his bloody hand, and clenched that fist. He picked up his weapons, and rushed to go help them.

Tyrian was just as good at fighting them as he was before, they couldn't land many solid hits on him and the ones that they actually managed to land didn't even make the faunus man flinch. The damage and pain was there, but it meant nothing to someone who didn't care for it. Jaune and Nicholas pushed their swords and locked them into each of Tyrian's wristblades and pushed against him, they pushed him back but he was pushing back just as hard. It was insane how strong Tyrian had to be to push back _two_ trained Huntsman all on his own. But his surprise strength didn't last for long when Nora slammed her hammer into his back. He slipped and winced at the lance of pain he felt run all the way up his spine, and it got even worse for him when the Arcs both sidestepped his fall and slashed an X at his back. Tyrian tensed up and groaned as he felt the burning sensation of his skin being cut as trickles of blood fell down his back where their swords cut into his back. The attack was strong and focused, and it managed to cut through his aura a tiny bit.

"Next time, aim for the head!" Tyrian cackled as he spun back around, bright bloodshot purple eyes wide with excitement.

If there was a next time, Jaune would be happy too. Sadly he didn't think that they'd get another opportunity like that again. Knowing Tyrian's semblance was making this even harder, since even if they did beat the man he would still be able to come back even stronger and even more insane and kill them all anyway. The only way that probably would work against him was if they cut off his head, or destroyed his entire body with one massive attack. But none of them were maidens, and no one there was strong enough to throw an attack like that anyway. Perhaps if the naval ships started firing again, they could aim for him and blow him away into tiny bits and pieces with one well placed shot. But right now they were still busy offloading people and fighting back against the Grimm sea monsters that threatened to sink more of their ships.

They were on their own on this one, and they didn't like the chances of any other people that came to fight Tyrian themselves. He has already killed so many people who were probably better than they were, even if it was by surprise and stabbing them in the back. He had to be taken down now, or he would kill them, the wounded Sun, Neptune, Weiss and Blake, and countless others before whether he tired himself out or someone who was strong enough to take him down beat him.

A cackle was Nicholas' only warning as a tail stabbed for his eye and two wrist blades to his throat and belly. The attack was so quick he almost didn't have enough time to react to it. His hand batted away his tail and his sword blocked one of the wrist blades. However, the second one could only be held back by his hand. Getting an idea, Nicholas allowed the blades to cut his hand, and the weapon partially slice into his body.

"Hah!" Tyrian laughed as Jaune screamed in grief. When he tried to pull back the same hand pulled at his wrist, and Nicholas held him tight and actually managed to _push_ him back. Tyrian's eyes went wide as he found himself begin to get overpowered, and his feet slowly slid backward through the ground and kicked up dirt. He looked down at his hand and _watched_ as his aura was _stolen_ by the blonde Huntsman.

With newfound strength and a rejuvenated aura, Nicholas pried the blades out of his side and kicked Tyrian flat in the chest hard. Cracking a rib or two. Tyrian yelped in pain and jumped back further when Jaune made to slash at him.

"Not today… no, she would be disappointed if you fell this early… She'll be angry, disappointed, no this cannot be at all." Tyrian said to himself as he took steps back, and then sprinted back into the tide of Grimm that were still surrounding him. Yet, his voice was still loud enough for them all to hear. "Have fun with my parting gift!"

"Parting gift…?" Nicholas echoed. Then shook his head, not understanding why the man would have said something like that.

"Are you okay?" Jaune asked him, rushing up to him.

Nicholas held a hand out to stop him before he could try to use his semblance on him to heal already healed wounds. "I'm fine, I stole some of his aura. I'm pretty much back at full strength."

"Whew, that's good. How are you guys doing?" He asked Weiss, Blake and Sun. Neptune was still out of it, but now that they have some breathing room, he could spend some time using his semblance on them.

"We're good." Sun said, giving him a thumbs up. Weiss and Blake gave him positive grunts, so he knew they were still okay.

"Jaune…" Ren called out to him quietly.

"What?" Jaune asked as he turned to look at him, and widened his eyes with shock and horror.

Nora was helping him stay standing, and slowly lowered him to the ground. Her eyes were teary and the fear was written all over her face. She tried not to look at the bloodstain that Ren wiped on his shirt.

Jaune couldn't help but stare at it.

The blood was mostly red, as all blood should be. But there was a speckle of purple in it, and looking at his friend more closely he could still see cut part of his shirt. He didn't notice it before he healed him and gave Ren aura, but the wound must have been deep and thick, for the scar wasn't even fully healed yet.

"I'm… sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Ren hacked up purple liquid. The venom was working fast.

"No… no no no no no!" Jaune exclaimed as he ran up to his teammates side. "No, this can't be happening, not again. Ren… we have to get you to one of the bunkers, they should have something that could save you!"

"No Jaune… I don't think I have that much time left." Ren said with a sad smile. "I'm sorry… that it ends like this for me."

"No… Ren… don't say that, please." Jaune cried, holding on to his best friends hand with both of his, Crocea Mors laid discarded to his side.

Nicholas stepped up to them slowly with dull eyes. He felt the same pain that his son felt before, and he too had to stay by the side of his best friend as he bled to death and died. He knelt down and solemnly placed a hand on his son's shoulder, who leaned into his touch almost immediately. The ginger haired girl, Nora, threw her arms around Ren's head and pulled it into her chest. The young man was still alive, but he was quickly getting pale and the veins in his arms were beginning to get tinted with purple.

This… This was one of the many reasons why he didn't want his son to become a Huntsman. The pain of losing a loved one or a best friend was a horrible thing. He lost his whole team back when he attended Beacon a long time ago. It was a mission gone wrong, like so many other sob stories that he listened too.

"Jaune…" Nicholas called to his son, and gently brushed his chin so that his little boy was looking at him. He relished in the eyes of his son, and stared into them as they tore with sorrow he knew all too well. "Stop touching him… I am going to try something. It might save him."

"T-try what?" Jaune asked in a choked gasp as he was suddenly pushed away from Ren by his fathers strong arm.

"What are you doing!?" Nora screeched at him as he placed his hands on Ren's body. The boy passed out already, and probably wouldn't open his eyes again if he didn't at least give this a try.

"I am going to use my semblance on him." Nicholas explained to them. "My semblance works differently than yours, son. I can steal aura from others, yes, but it also runs the risk of accidentally stealing a diseases as well, or lets say… venom or poison." For a moment he looked at his son and thought how he developed a semblance so blessed like that, his mother Juniper has a semblance that gave people extra stamina, which was mostly the reason how they were able to have eight children so quickly.

Jaune's eyes lit up for a split second, but then he quickly realized what his father had just said to him, and just like that he was crying again. "Wait… if you do that to Ren… it would save him, but what would happen to you?"

Nicholas smiled sadly at his son. "I won't let you live with this pain for the rest of your life, and an old man like me has already lived his life to the fullest."

"W-wait a second!" Nora exclaimed suddenly. "Even if you save Ren, we won't ever be able to forgive ourselves for you giving your life for him!"

"Then don't, and if you feel like you have to make it up to me somehow, just name your kid after me." Nicholas said, and pushed Nora off of Ren so that he wouldn't risk stealing what little remaining of her aura as well.

"No please! Don't make me make choose!" Jaune shouted and threw himself onto the back of his father. "I-I want Ren to live with all my heart, but I don't know if I want to sacrifice you just so he could live!"

"I'm sorry son, but you're going to have to make that choice." Nicholas replied harshly. "You want you best friend to die like this? In the middle of the Grimmlands by some scorpion faunus who happened to string him?"

"N-no!"

"Then let me save him."

"I don't want you to die the same way!"

"Hey now," Nicholas chuckled. "There's always a chance that the venom would be diluted when I steal it, this old body and it's immune system could fight it off the rest of the way. Have a little confidence in your old man, that's all it takes."

 _All you need is a little confidence…_

That phrase haunted Jaune's mind for years, it helped him do a lot of good, but did just as much bad as well. Yet, his father here was telling him to have some more confidence in him? If the worst happened, and his father ends up giving his life so that Ren could live, what would he tell his family? How can he explain that to them?

 _Have a little confidence, that's all it takes._ His father's words repeated themselves back to him, and he suddenly felt like a little boy all over again.

Shakily, Jaune let go of his father. "Okay… I'll trust you… please don't make me regret this."

Nicholas was surprised that his son actually trusted him enough for this, but he hid it behind a prideful smile. Even if he did give his life for this young man he hardly knew, even though he had all the time in the world to during the reclamation of Beacon, he would do it all again even if he knew what his ultimate fate would be. Even if it was death.

Jaune and Nora held onto each other and gave each other the comfort they so desperately needed as Nicholas Arc began to use his semblance on the unconscious Ren.

After the deed was done, no one knew what was going to happen. Ren's skin tone was slowly turning back to normal, and Nicholas' went paler and he stumbled around to get back to his feet, but he was in a better state than Ren was. Who was now resting peacefully instead of having a pained expression on his face as his body desperately tried to fight off the venom within his body.

"Get him back to the bunkers." Nicholas told them as he picked up his sword again.

"What are you going to do?" Jaune asked him, still in a state of shock.

Nicholas looked into the direction Tyrian fled into. "I got a bug to go squash, go on. Get out of here."

"I'm coming with you!" Jaune declared, standing up and grabbing Crocea Mors.

"No!" Nicholas grunted at him loudly, and Jaune actually froze in place. His face was pale, and he seemed to take more labored breaths of air, but he was still standing and proclaimed himself able to fight. "If you want to help, make sure all these kids make it through this day in one peace. Please Jaune, don't make this harder than it needs to be."

"I…" Jaune's eyes shook with emotion. "Please… stay alive." He begged as he took a step back, and relaxed his tense muscles.

"I love you son." Nicholas told him as he took a step away from him. "Never forget that."

He disappeared into Grimm, and toward the front lines where they knew Tyrian ran off too. Nicholas was on borrowed time, they all knew that. Another tear ran down his face as he forced himself to look away from where his father had just ran to.

"I love you too, Dad…" He whimpered quietly. "Thank you."

* * *

Nicholas felt heavy, and his vision was blurry. The sword in his hand was slippery with sweat and blood of the Grimm he cut his way through. He was chasing the scorpion faunus, and killed any Grimm that got in his way. The only thing preventing the venom of his tail from killing him was the massive amount of aura he had stolen from him, and the life force he had kept stealing away from the Grimm as he kept slashing his way toward him. He thought incorrectly, his body couldn't fight back well enough against whatever kind of venom that was in that tail of his. He felt it burning through his veins, and felt it burn as it flowed throughout his entire body. He could see the discoloration in the veins of his arms as he killed his way through the Grimm, slowly gaining on the crazed scorpion faunus.

Suddenly, the scorpion faunus seemed to have regained his courage, and twisted on his back foot to attack him. Nicholas expected something like this however, and caught the attack with the flat of his blade and pushed the man higher into the air. Tyrian flipped over him and landed on his feet somewhere behind him. His sword cut through another Grimm hybrid as he made to slash at the man again, and Tyrian leaned back to dodge it and weakly kicked at his ribs. That weak kick was still able to push him back, however, and he had to protect himself from another one lest he get knocked down. He could still dish out a lot of damage, but he couldn't take much more punishment. His body was just too weak for it.

So he mentally said "Fuck it," And shoulder tackled Tyrian the next time he lunged at him. He couldn't allow this fight to be drawn out, if he did he would die before he would be able to kill this man, and he couldn't allow Tyrian Callows to run free in their army, killing unsuspecting people around every turn. How many more people would die here if he didn't stop him now? He didn't want to found out.

When Nicholas slammed Tyrian down on his back, he brought up his sword and tried to stab it into his neck to sever his spine and decapitate him without even removing his head from his body, he didn't care what kind of semblance Tyrian had, he couldn't use it if he died instantly from an attack like that. Tyrian caught it however with one of his wrist blades, though he wasn't able to get it between the two blades. Nicholas pushed down hard with both hands, but then had to use one of those hands to push back the second pair of wrist blades that would have stabbed into his shoulder. His aura was powerful, and full, so his bare hands was able to hold the blades back as he pushed his sword down harder into Tyrian's guard.

"Why won't you just die!?" Tyrian screamed into his face and stabbed his tail into his aura. Nicholas grunted in pain as his aura deflected the first blow, and groaned again when Tyrian stabbed at him a second time. His aura held strong, but a few more blows like that he wouldn't have enough to completely stop the stinger from piercing into his body and injecting more of that venom into him.

Nicholas smiled in Tyrian's face, and headbutted him so hard that the back of Tyrian's head slammed into the ground, cracking it. He couldn't move and felt his aura leaving him once again, and Nicholas grew stronger as he grew weaker. "No! Get off of me!" Tyrian shouted as he desperately tried to push away the blade that was now digging into his neck.

"No." Nicholas said, and pushed down on the back of his hilt with both hands again. "Die."

Tyrian gurgled as the blade slowly slid into his throat, and coughed up blood when it slid in even deeper and cut open his trachea. He thrashed about and kicked at Nicholas' back, but to no avail. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and when Nicholas pulled out the sword he stabbed it back down as hard as he could, severing the spin from the brain, and halfway decapitating him.

He didn't even notice the stinger that was stuck in his side. He wrenched it out with a pained grunt, and fell to the side. The venom was doing its work now, and he couldn't even move anymore.

"Heh," Nicholas smiled nonetheless, and thought about his family. "I hope this wasn't for nothing… Jaune… I hope you live… a long life… my son." His voice trailed off as his life left him, and the bodies of both Tyrian and Nicholas were swarmed by Grimm mere moments later before other Huntsman descended on their position.

* * *

 _Six dragons left…_ Hector noted to himself as he stood on top of Ironwoods main flagship. Keeping an eye out for any more dragons. He killed two, Yang killed one, he saw Natsuki kill another, Ruby killed one with her eyes and just a few minutes ago he had to dodge a massive fire tornado that caught him by surprise, so he safely assumed that Rhea took one down herself. Once their numbers dwindled down to just half of what is was from the beginning of the battle, they have been attacking much less frequently. That might have been because Hector almost got to Salem when he went to save Yang, so she was now being more cautious, and by extension her dragons were too. He _could_ just go full strength and speed and find the rest themselves, he could vaguely sense the dark magic that was within each of them, and might be able to teleport to each of them, but by now Salem had to know that he was able to use his Light magic more efficiently, and use the spells that came with it.

He could also lightly sense Yang's Light maiden magic replenishing as she rested. That was good, she needed the rest. And even though he was just one person he was managing the battle up here in the skies more than a little well. He figured that he could handle the rest. The only bad thing about this turn of events was that he was getting tired. Fighting for hours and hours like this was bound to make anyone tired, especially in a giant battle like this. He had a worry for how Ruby and Summer were doing, since he hadn't seen either of them for about an hour or two. But knowing that Ruby was probably still with Penny made it easier for him to decide that she was safe, and Summer was the Winter Maiden, so she was going to be more than well staying on the ground taking out Grimm left right and center with her frozen flames.

Now that half of the dragons were dead or dying, Ironwood is now managing his fleet and holding his own quite well now. The dragons that he did see try to make passes at the ship were quickly bombarded by every single gun that was available to shoot at the thing. Forcing it away eventually. He hasn't seen Salem at all ever since he saved Yang though, so there was still her to be worried about. Seeing his break session as over after a few short minutes, Hector ran and jumped off of the ship, falling for a few seconds before kicking his flight into gear. He flew threw the sky and slashed at Nevermore and flying Grimm of all times with his sword, they were easy to take down for him, but it took more than a little more effort for those who didn't have powers like he or the maidens did.

He kept flying through the sky, and kept looking around for the dragons. But now they were nowhere to be seen. He took a trip down to the ground, and didn't see any of the dragons making any more passes down here either. Confused and frustrated, he went back up into the sky, and cursed as he saw one of the dragons grab onto one of the bullheads and rip off its wings, letting it fall to the ground helplessly as it disappeared back into the darkness.

Another dozen or so people dead, just like that, and he wouldn't doubt it for a second that it was because he moved back down to the ground to look for any of them down there. He cursed again and tried to pursue it, but gave up as he heard another explosion from behind him. He turned around and widened his eyes at the sight of a gaping hole in the side of Ironwoods flagship, it wasn't big in comparison to the rest of the ship, but the damage was severe and people most definitely died from the explosion. He could see people desperately trying to put out the flames, and the automatic sprinklers activating to put out the fire as well. Looking away from that, he went back to looking for the dragons. If they wanted to play the hit and run and distract Hector game, he would find a way to cheat at it to eke out a win.

Closing his eyes, he focused on sensing Dark magic. There were only other beings that used Dark magic regularly other than himself. Grimm, The Relic of Destruction Deus, and Salem. But some Grimm used more than others, and the dragons used a _lot_ more than any normal sized Grimm, and Salem used _much_ more than the dragons, and Deus was tied with her, but only because he was using the powers of the blade of destruction sparingly.

He sensed a massive spike in Dark power behind the other side of Ironwoods flagship. He activated Kaioken and burst into action. He flew so close to the hull of the ship and ended up with his back facing the visor of the main control center itself, he looked back and squinted to see Ironwood with wide eyes staring passed him. Crossing his arms, he turned back around and created a shield that completely blocked the flame attack that would have brought down the entire ship.

The dragon realized it wasn't doing any meaningful damage and turned to flee, but Hector wouldn't let it, he was much too fast for that. He caught it by the tail and _yanked_ it back toward him, almost ripping off the beasts tail in the process. The dragon screeched and snapped at his arm, it's teeth barely grazed his skin, but ripped off that sleeve. Hector growled back at the monster and punched it in the snout with his left hand. He just got these clothing, and no dragon was going to ruin the gift that Ruby got for him! The Grimm dragon reared back and rolled, it's wing clashed against Hector's shoulder, and he let the force of it blow him back and away. The monster was extremely strong, it was going to take much more effort to take this one down.

"Times twenty!" Hector shouted as his eyes flamed with a red power. Similar to a maiden, but the flames stuck completely out of his eyes and straight up, trailing behind him as he flew at greater speeds and charged into the dragon's back and wrapped his arms around its neck. He squeezed as tightly as he could, and his arms weren't long enough to wrap around the entire things neck. He gave up on the idea of trying to choke it out, and pulled back to slow down it's flight strength.

The dragon snarled and tried to snap at him, but it's neck wasn't so flexible that it could turn completely around and bit at it's own neck to get him off. Instead it flew into the sides of one of the flagships, and dragged its back against the hull. Hector groaned and yelled as the metal cut into his back and ruined his coat. All that was left of his clothing was the scarf still tied tightly around his neck, his red shirt, and his black pants and boots when he appeared again on the other side of the ship. The dragon rolled and tried to fling him off, but Hector kept holding on. He couldn't afford to let go and let the demon get away. He tried to reach for the Relic of Destruction, but doing so nearly made him fly off the creature. So he snapped his hand back into place and gripped tightly. A new idea formed in his head.

"Alright you little shit, time to go for a ride." Hector said as his flaming red aura turned blue, and then he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Kaioken times forty!"

His muscles bulged and tensed up even further, and with newfound strength Hector pulled the dragon up into the sky with the power of his own flight, his arms tightening around the dragon's neck more and more every second of the way. He kept going up into the sky until the red turned into sky blue, and they were high above the clouds. Unable to breathe well this high in the sky, Hector let himself and the dragon turn around, and made to dive bomb back toward the ground.

The dragon screamed and thrashed around as it tried to free itself from Hector's grip, they were so high that as they fell fire burned all around them as they re-entered part of the planets atmosphere. Hector kept his eyes shut almost completely so that they wouldn't be damaged, and he nearly went deaf as the dragons screamed even louder. Soon, the sky turned red again, and the ships and flying Grimm were able to be seen once more. Still fighting as if they were never there in the first place. Hector took one look down to the ground, and then to the dragon and acknowledged the speed of which they were falling at. Terminal velocity wasn't enough, he decided.

"KAIOKEN TIMES FIFTY!" He screamed as his aura glowed even brighter and grew even larger, his arms tightened even further around the dragon's neck but most importantly, he propelled himself and the dragon even further back toward the ground. They fell at speeds he didn't know was possible, and his arms were burning as he kept them around the dragon's neck. Once they were only a few hundred feet above the ground, Hector spun himself and the dragon, and _threw_ it as hard as he possibly could and stopped his own descent once the monster left his arm.

Thankfully, he was careful to not hit his own forces. When the dragon slammed into the ground there was a great explosion of dust and dirt. Trees were uprooted and knocked down, and the shockwave it created pushed much of the Grimm so far back and with so much force that when they hit the ground patches of skin was ripped off. Still, he didn't think it was enough. The dragon was bleeding from its mouth and another thousand wounds, but it was still, albeit shakily, getting back up onto all of it's fours.

Clasping his hands together, and then tearing them apart. Two balls of red and blue energy formed in each of his hands. He aimed the palms of his hands toward the dragon, and charged up an attack that would most likely destroy it. He was worried that it wasn't going to be enough, but sensing a presence to his side he turned to see Summer floating there beside him, a big blue cold flame in both hands and growing in size as she prepared to fire a powerful magical attack much like he was. Smirking, he looked back toward the dragon, and screamed out his effort as he blasted it out.

"HAAAH!" He heard a scream beside him, and saw as another beam of icy flames was blasting toward the dragon alongside his own red and blue swirl magical attack. The dragon stood back up, and roared at the offending blasts. It opened its mouth and blast purple flames out of its mouth, it clashed against both of their attacks, and held it back for just a second before the actual power of the Winter Maiden and the Unlikely Hero reached the impact point.

The dragon actually widened its many eyes as their blasts merged together, and one massive light blue magical blast of energy was headed towards it. It couldn't fly away fast enough, and was vaporized the moment the blast engulfed it completely. The blast kept moving further, and destroyed the forest full of Grimm as well. A massive bright blue mushroom cloud the size of a large reached for the sky, and like that, a seventh dragon was dead.

"Hah… thanks for the assistance." Hector said to the Winter Maiden.

"No problem, I saw you throw the thing into the ground and your blue aura. I knew that this one had to be stronger than the others." Summer said with a nod. "How many more are left after this one?"

"Five, I think." Hector answered. "We're making decent progress, I can't see the beach anymore."

"We won't be able to make it much further, we are down half of our forces, most of them dead or dying or injured. We have to end this battle soon. We don't have that much time left." Summer explained. "I'm going to go find Ruby, and with her eyes we should be able to take down the rest of the dragons with relative ease. If we all attack the dragons and Salem at the same time, we can end this battle quickly."

"That's exactly what Salem wants." Hector snapped. "Don't you think I want to end this battle right now!? I want to attack her so very badly, to use my full power against her. But do you know how _catastrophic_ our battle is going to be?" He asked her, and Summer couldn't reply fast enough before he continued. "Keep doing what we've been doing, once the four other dragons are dead, Salem will have no choice but to enter the battle herself. Once that happens, we'll take her own together."

"I think you are making a mistake Rios." Summer said, grabbing his wrist before he could storm off. "People are dying, Jaune, Ren and Nora have retreated back to the bunker, Weiss and Blake are passed out, that android girl is missing, Yang is out of action, Rhea isn't even fighting with her magic anymore, the Summer Maiden is getting exhausted, and _I_ am already exhausted. Nicholas is _dead_."

Hector felt his heart drop, and he slowly turned to look back at Summer.

"Yes, Nicholas Arc is dead. Qrow, Mercury and Tai found his body, and his sword stabbed into the neck of Tyrian. He gave his life to kill him, and now we are _out of time_. Once we start falling, how do you think the people are going to take it? They're going to start giving up, and retreat. They're going to count this battle as lost and go back to Mistral for a desperate last stand that we all _know_ isn't going to work." She grabbed his shirt with both of her hands, and even though the gesture surprised him and she pushed her face up into his to glare into his eyes, she felt so weak, tired. She was right.

"Stop. Holding. Back." Summer told him slowly.

"W-what do you mean?" Hector asked, gulping nervously.

"You're holding back, you're afraid that if you go all out you're going to hurt us in the process. We've all heard Ozpin's origin story, and the time he fought Salem at full strength. We also know that when you and Salem start fighting, the collateral damage is going to be even worse. We know that, you know that, and we _all know_ that it is going to be the only way to win."

"I-I can't just do that." Hector said weakly. "I don't want you to die, I'd never be able to forgive myself if I hurt any of you by accident."

Summer smiled warmly at him, but her glare remained hard. "I know, Rios, I know. But you have to risk it. Salem will win this battle if you don't just… let go. Besides, you're a God apparently. Use some of the Godly power to bring us back if we don't make it through this." She let go of him, and started to float away slowly. Her eyes never leaving his as she backed away. "You have a choice, Hector Rivers, continue to hold back and stick to the plan, slowly lose more and more of your army until you're the only one left, or just kill the damn bitch and be done with it. Humanity would live, and they'd have someone to lead them. Make your choice, my only hope is that you make the right one."

She left him alone at that, flew back toward the main battlefield. Her parting words haunted him as he stared blankly in the direction that she left in. He didn't even realize how dire the situation really was. He has just been going after Grimm blindly and killing them. He stared toward the battlefield, and saw the bodies that were literally piling up on top of each other. Dead bodies suffering from all kinds of wounds, and maggots already beginning to eat away at their dead parts. He looked back toward the sky, and the battleships were barely holding back the flying Grimm. Not winning, or gaining ground. Just holding them back. Toward the sea, Grimm sea monsters were destroying battleship and wrecking everything they could. It was a battle all over the place, and while they could have been winning at the start. They weren't winning now, they were losing…

He gritted his teeth, and resisted the urge to cry. So many people, dead, because he was too afraid to go full power earlier. His fists clenched, and the flaming blue of his aura returned. Though it was growing even more massive in size, and started to change in color once more. At first it was a yellow-green shade, and then it grew darker into the yellow, and all the green disappeared. He felt the palms of his hands bleed as his nails dug into them, and the blood from his many wounds flowed down his body and flaked off, adding to his aura. His eyes changed color again, but this time they were golden.

His hair flowed upward with his aura as the gold overtook the blue, and with a defiant scream, he made his choice.

"KAIOKEN TIMES EIGHTY!"

He took to the skies at the same speed as the Summer Maiden, and headed right toward the massive mass of Dark magic he sensed there.

* * *

Salem looked down at the carnage her Grimm were committing. She would have thought it beautiful again if she wasn't constantly searching for her mortal enemy. She has managed to render one maiden incapacitated, but it nearly cost her the mount she was riding on. The Spring Maiden was most likely back at one of the bunkers that the humans set up back at the coast. That Hector had that very pesky ability to instantaneously teleport himself to a specific person or a sense of magic, so it made it much more difficult for her to maneuver around on her dragon and suppress her own powers. It was one of the reasons she was flying on the back of a dragon after all, and why she specifically chose to heal this one rather than the ones that were dying.

So far the human's army was about half of where it was once was before. Although she has lost millions of her own Grimm by now, she had all the time in the world to spawn them again, it may take a while, but even if she lost this battle but defeated Hector and his maidens she would have nothing in her way to stop her from creating more Grimm in her name. Sadly, she has sensed that one of her final human allies has fallen, that was a shame. There was no one more devoted to her than Tyrian was. Her only other human ally was Hazel, the only one still alive at least. The big burly man seemed to have run from the battle rather than fight in it. She would make sure to personally hunt Hazel down once this battle was won, and show him exactly why no one ran out on Salem, the Goddess of Darkness.

Her satisfied smile fell from her even faster than the time it took to form. She sensed something coming toward her, and it was coming toward her _fast_. The dragon sensed her discomfort and roared, but it fell upon dead ears as she stared with wide eyes toward the golden comet that made its way toward her. She thought it was one of the maidens for a moment, but the presence of both Dark and Light magic made her realize who it was almost instantly.

"Waited long enough have we?" Salem asked useless, he was still much too far to hear her. "Well, I suppose we can begin-"

"Now?" Hector finished her sentence for her as he suddenly appeared in front of her eyes. Salem only had enough time to register that he did indeed instantaneously move from his position lower to the ground all the way up to her above the clouds before a cane smashed into her cheek.

Salem gritted her teeth and her red eyes glowed. She pushed the cane away and she struck his chest with the palm of her hand. The blow was so powerful that it created a shockwave that pushed away all the clouds around them, but he didn't fly back as far as she would have hoped he would. Hector stopped himself in mid air, and glared at her before chasing after her once more. Salem stood up on the back of her mount, and dug her heels into it's skin to keep her balance. The dragon roared in pain, but did little else as its creator summoned up a sword in one hand and a spear in the other, exactly like the ones Hector was introduced to in Vacuo. The pale monster shouted as it threw its spear at him like a javelin, but as it passed through Hector it did little to nothing, and passed right through him as if he was never there to begin with.

Salem winced and clenched her eyes as Hector slammed his forehead into hers suddenly. He then landed and rubbed the area that he used to headbutt Salem with and got into a low stance. His eyes were golden and his aura blazing. Salem shook herself of the stars she saw, and allowed her own aura to explode and flame around her body. Her black and red aura was contrasting the white and gold of his perfectly, and for a moment she wondered if the two of them were like Gods compared to the rest of the mortal world.

"Why won't you join me Hector Rivers?" Salem asked, a seducing smile on her face. Hector narrowed his eyes at her. "With our powers combined, we can be the new Gods of this world! You and I can rule together divine monarchs, think of the possibilities…"

"No thanks," Hector said as they circled around each other from on top of the dragon. He was careful to consider the possibility that the dragon would attack him at any moment, or any of the other dragons that he knows is surrounding him at this very moment. But as strong as he was now, there was no way any of them would stand much of a chance against him. If they attacked him all at once, there might be a problem however. He had to be extremely careful here. "I'm not keen on the idea of forcing all of humanity into slavery, I'm not you, I'm not Hell, and I'm not going to fall for your tricks."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… so disappointing." Salem pointed her sword at him. "I expected this… I'll just have to remove you from the equation myself!"

Hector raised the Relic of Destruction and blocked the lightning fast attack that actually pushed him back slightly. He was surprised by her strength, he didn't think that she would have gotten this much stronger since the time they last fought in Vacuo. Though he quickly thought himself foolish for thinking previously that Salem _wouldn't_ have trained herself to become more powerful after learning that he was going around claiming relics. He was already stronger than she was back in Vacuo, but she was far above that at this point. As they were now, they matched each other blow for blow.

With the back of the dragon as their fighting stage, they clashed and dodged each other's attacks. It sounded like thunder every time their swords smashed into each other. Sometime in the middle of their flurry of attacks, Hector used the force of the destructive energy within the Relic of Destruction suddenly in one powerful slash with a scream. Salem ducked the initial blast and swung her legs at him, he jumped over the sweep and slashed again at her, but she rolled out of the way and his sword slashed into the dragons skin, earning another roar of pain out of it. As they sized each other up once more, Hector watched from behind her as the arc of destructive energy that he created went through the black mist of the sky, and exploded harmlessly miles away, destroying nothing.

Up here, he didn't have to hold back. Hector smiled as he got into a lower stance, and slashed upwards toward Salem's belly. The witch flipped backward and dodged him, and landed on the head of the dragon who flicked his head upward and sent her flying just a few feet above him. She swung at him a few times and stabbed with her spear as she flew overhead, but each of her attacks were met with equal force or dodged. She landed on one foot and twisted herself into an unpredictable angle, and the tip of her spear was flying under and up underneath Hector's offending arm. He saw it at the last second luckily, and flicker his neck backwards so that the spear tip just barely grazed his chin, and nothing else. He flipped backwards with his own momentum and kicked Salem in the stomach as he did so, landing at the nape of the dragon on one knee.

They both stared into each others eyes, and waited for the other to initiate the next engagement. After a few seconds, Salem smiled at him. Hector immediately knew what was coming, but he realized too late as one of the other dragons barreled into him from the side. He was trapped in its mouth, and was locked in an awkward position where his arms were stuck to his sides and he couldn't muster up the upper body strength it required to get himself out of the unfortunate place he has found himself in.

After a few seconds however, he kicked his knees into the top of the monsters mouth and considering the loud scream that the dragon had in response to that it must have hurt it. He kicked himself out of the jaws of the monster, and kicked it in the side of the head. Cracking it's bone helmet and gaining himself even more distance. But before he could kill it off for good another dragon attacked him from behind. He only put his shield up in time out of pure instinct and a vague sense where the fire breath was coming from. Once the dragon gave up and stopped breathing fire at him, Hector gripped the Relic of Destruction in two hands and made to slash at it, but after sensing something about to charge into him a second time he allowed himself to fall several feet so that he could dodge it, and slashed his sword upward into the leg of the fourth appearing dragon.

He sensed something below him, and immediately knew that it was the last one. Activating his flight powers again, he thrust a burst of air underneath his own feet and twirled out of the way of the creatures jaws, and then slammed his left fist into one of his six left eyes. Destroying one of them and causing agonizing pain to the monster. He wasn't able to finish it off however, since another breath of flames prevented him from doing anything other then putting up a shield to protect himself. He held back the flames and dispersed it with a controlled explosion of energy that came out of his left hand, and then _threw_ Deus toward the dragon he sensed flying at him from behind. With expert precision and a lucky guess, the blade buried itself down to the hilt in the eye of the massive creature, and it cried out in pain as it clawed at it's own face to try and rid it of the protrusion in its face. He wondered how it could still be alive, but then took into account just how massive the damn dragon was. The stem of the eye was probably longer than the sword itself. Keeping his arm extended, he used his status as the owner of the relic to call it back. Deus wrenched himself out of the dragons head, and flew back to him hilt first, landing in his hand.

The second that happened, a spear slammed into his back. Sharp and strong, Hector turned back around and slashed away the next one and dodged the one after that. He gritted his teeth when the fourth one came, and caught it with his hand. Salem caught the spear as it was thrown back at her, and threw it back with even more force. Hector kicked the spear head up and as the back of the staff pointed to it he _punched_ it with all his force. Salem dodged the spear which didn't need to be dodged, because the spear she had summoned stabbed all the way through the shoulder of the dragon she was riding on, and then it kept going. The dragon screeched in pain as the wound in its shoulder spurted out black blood, but Salem pressed her hand into it's back and fueled it with even more of her Dark magic. Healing the wound Hector had just dealt unto her beast.

In a fit of rage, she raised her arms slowly and all of the dragons converged to her side. In a long line they all faced against Hector in the skies, one man alone was up against a witch as powerful as he was, and almost half a dozen dragons all getting ready to breathe fire at him. Still, he stood up against them regardless, making his golden flaming aura grow even larger as he prepared some energy blasts of his own.

"No more of this, I will not let you ruin thousands of years of progress!" Salem screamed, and pointed a signalling finger at him. All at the same time, the dragons unleashed massive breaths of fire toward him at the same time. Hector screamed back and blasted out energy blasts from his hands, to meet the flaming attacks. All of the purple flames from the dragons merged into one much bigger and much more powerful one. Hector's was golden in color, and it met the breath of the dragons all at once.

It was a stalemate, neither side gave out. But Hector was slowly getting more and more tired. He's committed to overpowering this blast now, and couldn't even get out of the way since even if he did dodge it the fires would simply touch the ground, and burn away more of his troops. He wasn't going to let any more people die in this battle, not by these dragons anyway. So he held his ground, and poured more of his power into it.

Salem was shocked to see that the power of her dragons began to get overpowered. She knew that none of the dragons were slacking off as well, she has been keeping a close eye on them this entire battle. She knew which was going all out and which who weren't. She created them in such a way that she could tell all the time. But seeing that her creations even all together couldn't defeat just a single man? No… that couldn't do.

"You will die here!" Salem shouted as she fired a blast of her own into the mix. The purple flames became red, and suddenly Hector began to get overpowered himself. He slowly began to get pushed back, closer and closer toward the ground. He felt the clouds and the black mist displace around him as he blew through them, and kept losing ground with every second that went by. With a grunt, he pushed the maximum power of his Kaioken times eighty, and only began to slow himself down a tiny amount. This was it, this was all he had. He couldn't risk going any further lest he cause an explosion great enough to destroy his own army. He had to win this struggled with this amount of power alone.

He knew it wasn't enough, but he was damned if he pushed himself even further, and damned if he didn't force himself past his self proclaimed limits. But thankfully he didn't have to make a choice like that, he sensed a friendly presence next to him, and didn't even need to look to see who it was.

"I was wondering where these damn things went." Natsuki said as her body crackled with energy. Her clothing was ragged and torn up, and her black and yellow a mess. But she was still in this fight. "Need some help hero?"

"That… would be appreciated… thank you." Hector growled to the Summer Maiden.

"Gotcha," Natsuki winked at him as she pushed her hands together out in front of her, electricity crackling at the palms of her hands. "Take this!"

A beam of lightning magic fired out of her hands, it was thin compared to his own blast, but still extremely powerful nonetheless. The two of them took hold together in the skies, and pushed back against the dragons and Salem. The witch narrowed her eyes and hissed at the sight of the golden blast of Hector gaining an aura of blue lightning, and the force of her own attack to slow down to a near standstill. Growling again, she poured even more of her power into the blast, and now Hector and Natsuki both were being pushed back by the powerful force of her blast. Natsuki roared in defiance, and put every drop of the magic that she had into her blast and it became slightly stronger, Hector kept growling and could barely keep his eyes open, but could feel that they still weren't gaining any ground.

"I'm here!" A new voice exclaimed as she flew up to the empty spot beside him. Hector looked to his left and saw Summer, who joined her powers with there and fired off a massive blast almost the same size as his, a fire blast the color of blue, and in temperatures well below freezing. She screamed alongside them as their attacks merged into one, and the struggle against the dragons and Salem came to yet another stalemate, and again, Salem snapped and through her other hand along with another blast of Dark magic. The deep red fire energy attack almost grew double in size, and Hector and the maidens were blown back so far their feet slammed into the ground to stop themselves.

"Just die already!" Salem screamed and poured even _more_ power into the attack. She started to get tired after exerting herself as much as she was, and that made her even angrier. She didn't want to use her full power yet, only when victory was assured. Hector would survive this attack, she not only knew it but she expected it. Once she wiped out his army, he wouldn't hold back anymore, and she would need every ounce of power that she had in order to outlast and defeat him.

Hector's legs were burning with fatigue as he was pushed farther into the ground. He hasn't felt pain like this in a long time, the pain of fatigue and tire. His Kaioken times eighty was eating away at his stamina, and causing an excruciating amount of pain which grew in intensity with each passing second. His teeth with grit so tightly that it felt like they were cracking under the pressure of his jaw, and the two maidens with him weren't in a much better state. Natsuki looked like she was about to burst her electricity was cracking so much, and her entire body was red with strain. Summer on his other side was shivering from her own power, and sweating at the same time because she was burning internally. It was a deadly combination, yet here she was giving it her all anyway. Hector opened his eyes and pushed his shoulders forward, drawing up power from deep within to add to his blast, every drop of it counted, and some was even dripping from his face.

"I'm gone for _five_ minutes." Hector almost collapsed with relief at the sound of Yang;s voice, and two pairs of feet landing on the ground around him.

"And you get yourself into this mess." Rhea finished the sentence with a cocky smirk. Behind that smirk was an exhausted girl on her last legs, but when she puffed out her chest and fired a plume of fire out of her hands to support in the desperate struggle, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. In this case, literally. He looked to his right where Yang charged up power in her left human arm, it made sense considering that she probably will not have been able to use magic in her bionic one. But he was proven wrong when a ball of flame condensed itself in Yang's human hand, and crackling red lightning flowed around Yang's right bionic arm, settling and crackling in the palm of _that_ hand. A second passed, and with a scream alongside them she fire her own blast which was a mix of fire and lightning.

Hector smiled and looked back up over the blasts, and into Salem's eyes which were oh so far away. His muscles burned and he felt like he was on the verge of collapse, but his lungs were still healthy and strong. With him and all the maidens together, they blasted one massive blast of golden magic mixed with ice, magic, two kinds of fire and lightning, and a whole lot more magic of both types. They pushed back the attack together and easily overwhelmed it, they flew along with their own momentum and put their bodies into it as well, and Salem quickly found herself on the back foot.

Throwing caution to the wind, she cursed the maidens and Hector and put her _full_ power into her attack. The flames of her dragons mixed with her own malignant dark magic grew twice in size, and all the ground that Hector and his allies had just made was quickly reversed, and they were once again being pushed back down to the ground.

"I can't do this for much longer!" Rhea exclaimed as she exerted herself far beyond her limits. They were still losing.

"How much power does this bitch have!?" Natsuki yelled as she too came close to her body's limit.

"Hector! Use more power!" Summer shouted to him, Hector almost tuned her out completely, but when he heard what she had said his face snapped to hers.

"I… can't!" He claimed.

"Bullshit!" Yang called out. "We're all going out except you, we all know you are stronger than this!"

"No, you don't understand!"

"Dad please!" Rhea cried, he looked towards her with shock. She was barely able to keep herself afloat and the flames in her eyes were flickering, she was about to pass out, and they would lose a big portion of their power as a group, and she would fall to her death because of her lack of aura.

"I-I…" He hesitated.

"Aim towards the sky!" Summer shouted to him suddenly, and his eyes went wider. "Aim it toward the sky! That way it won't hurt anyone but the Grimm!"

"But what about the ships!?"

"Don't hit them." Summer said with a shrug at her shoulders, at a time like this, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Please, if you don't go all out we're all going to die."

"C'mon man, stop being a little bitch and do it already! If you burn me I'll forgive you, as long as you don't get it on my face." Natsuki grumbled that last part out.

" _ **Do it master!"**_ All the relics save for Jinn shouted out at the same time.

"Do it now Hector!" Yang added next.

"Please!" Rhea hit the final nail in the coffin.

It was like time was going slower for seconds, and the seconds felt like hours. His eyes darted from left to right, back up to a smiling Salem and then back toward his army. They were all at risk here, he didn't even know if he could survive such an attack like this, but if they lost it here than all of the maidens would die at once, and this battle and all of humanity may as well be lost. All of his friends… his family… Ruby… would all cease to exist because he was too _scared_ to use more power.

Something snapped with his mind. His eyes shone gold, and his body swelled up with more power. His aura was merged with the power of the maidens, and all of them gained the same aura as he had. Rhea cracked her eyes open, and looked on in awe at the sight of her father going even further beyond.

"KAIOKEN TIMES NINETY!" Hector screamed as loud as he could through the deafening sound of the blasts mixing all together.

"Kaio-NO DAMMIT!" Salem shouted back.

Their energy blast grew massive with more power, and all of it combined with the power of the maidens plus the Relics, and Salem and her dragons stood no chance. Salem's eyes shrunk with nervousness and fear as her and her dragons attack was completely and utterly overpowered. Her enemies blast was getting closer and closer, and she gave up on trying to stop it and twisted out of the way and shot herself like a bullet with her Dark magic in an effort to escape the blast. But something stopped her, another attack, this one a bright green laser as thick as a tree struck her in the stomach. Her eyes bulged at the sudden force, and her eyes darted for the perpetrator. She found them in the green eyes of some girl with orange hair, who had a mirage of swords circling around her extended arms with some sort of mechanical cannon sprouting out of her chest. She even had the audacity to wave at her as she was pushed right back into the attack she was trying to escape from.

First, her dragons were overwhelmed and destroyed, all five of them. Then once the green laser stopped firing into her stomach, all Salem could do was watch helplessly as the attack consumed her whole. She felt like she was on fire, freezing, being electrified, all at the same time and all the way down to her very bones. Her immortality prevented her from dying, but it didn't spare her from all the pain that came along with this punishment. She hasn't felt pain like this before ever since her battle with Ozma years ago, and the punishment of the Gods she received when shards of the moon fell from the sky. She felt her eyes felt within her skull and her organs fried as the attack burned through her healing for a moment, but she was forever trapped in a state of alive and dead, since her curse prevented her from the sweet release of death.

When the attack ended, she felt like she has been stabbed in every part of her body. Parts of her skeleton were showing, though muscle and skin were quickly being regrown because of the curse, and she felt her vision return to her as her eyes healed back into existence. She sacrificed a lot of Dark magic in that attack however, and even when her body was fully healed, and the pain slowly faded away, she barely had enough concentration to keep herself flying. So, she let herself fall back to the ground.

Much like Hector and the maidens did when they too fell to the ground in a heap of exhaustion. Hector went down to one knee, but refused to let his aura and power fade away. Rhea fell flat on her back, Summer on all fours, Natsuki in a sitting position and Yang on her face. They were all out of power, drained and exhausted. They wouldn't be fighting again anytime soon, they needed time to rest.

"Did… did we do it?" Yang asked, groaning into the ground.

"She's immortal, she definitely survived that attack." Hector pointed out, and forced himself back to his two feet. His aura never left him, and he was still in Kaioken times ninety. He had a hunch that Salem was going to surprise attack them if they all let their guard down. Thankfully, the majority of the Grimm around them were blown away and killed, so they had a lot of time to rest before they came back. If Salem was going to allow them that time, at least.

"Ah, bollocks to that bullshit." Natsuki said with a snarl. "We beat her, she should be dead by all rights. Damn hacks…"

"You literally can't say that to me after what I went through twenty years ago." Summer complained as she turned to look at her fellow maiden. "I didn't even know she was immortal, and when I used my eyes on her and she burned away I thought I won, but NO! Guess what happened?" She pointed to her missing eye with her bionic arm, and pouted at both Hector and Natsuki.

"Not my fault." Hector said with a shrug.

"What're you saying then? You wanna go a few rounds?" Natsuki challenged, and raised a fist toward the Winter Maiden. It was well known that she was yearning for a chance to prove herself the most powerful maiden by defeating Summer in combat. And because of that, Rhea began to laugh, amused to no end. It triggered a chain reaction that flowed over to Summer, Natsuki, Yank, and finally even himself. Even though the battle wasn't over by a longshot, he appreciated the moment of clarity they were all able to have at this moment.

The moment died when something crashed into the ground about a hundred feet from where they resided. The laughter died off as soon as impact was made, and Salem was seen on her hands and knees, just as tired as they were, but still just as dangerous as Hector was even as weakened as she is.

"Dammit…" Yang groaned, and pushed herself up to one knee. "And here I thought I was going to have some time to rest."

"Stay down," Hector told her, and stepped forward to meet Salem himself. "All of you, I'll take care of the rest of this myself."

"How?" Summer asked. "She's immortal, even if you're more powerful than her still, how can you win?"

"I have a plan… been kinda saving it up for a time like this." Hector said as the Relic of Creation lingered around his form. His hand inched toward the Relic of Destruction however, which still laid dormant slid into his sheathe. "Doesn't seem like there's any other way."

"We can help." Rhea declared, but was betrayed by her body when she fell back down to lie flat on her back. She could hardly feel her body as it was.

"Please, just stay back." Hector begged them. "I wouldn't want you all to get caught up in it, it's not exactly the kind of plan that should have more than Salem and I involved in it."

"Go." Summer said before anyone else could protest. "I have faith in you. End this."

"I will." Hector promised to her, to the other maidens and the rest of his friends, and then to himself. "This ends here."

He walked away from them, and toward the red eyed witch that has haunted his dreams and made his life a living Hell, literally in some cases. Salem saw him approaching, and stood up to meet him herself. She limped at first, but her foot completely made a one eighty and snapped back into place as she took her first few steps. The rest of the scabs and marks on her body also disappeared as she moved toward her. Hector clenched his fists, but didn't do anything rash. Salem might have been weakened, but so was he, she could still kill him if he wasn't careful.

Just like when their earlier battle started, his aura burned gold and white while hers flamed wildly with black and red. Contrasting each other just as perfectly as before, except now they were both battle damaged and on their last legs. Salem's armour was dented and torn off in places. Her modesty only being kept because her breastplate was still attached around her body, and the veins in her face were pulsating and eyes were shining a little dimmer than before. Hector lost his coat in the battle, and was back down to his red shirt, and the scarf that was somehow still around his neck. His baggy pants were torn up so much they might as well be considered shorts at this point, and unlike Salem, he had a few wounds which stayed on his body after the blasts were finished fading away.

"Just you and I now Salem." Hector said as they got into hearing distance of each other. "Let's end this, just you and me."

"Funny, I was going to say the same." Salem said as she threw her right arm to the side, summoning a powerful sword into her grip. "Let's see how long you manage without your pesky allies."

Hector dawned the Relic of Destruction, and held it out in a ready stance, prepared for anything. "I think I'll manage long enough… as long as it takes to rid you from this world." He said as the other relics floated around him. The crown of Choice rested itself back on his head, and the staff was stabbed into the ground beside him. He pointed a finger toward Salem, and concentrated.

The ring he had Knolly turn into that was currently around Salem's finger shook so slightly that Salem didn't even feel it. Then, once it was loosened, the ring went flying off of Salem's finger, jerking her offhand forward and knocking her off balance for a moment. When she realized what happened, the Relic of Knowledge had already been returned to its original and rightful owner.

"And that's one promise fulfilled." Hector said as he tightened his hand into a fist, and looked down into the blue jewel embedded in the golden engraved ring.

" _It took you long enough."_ Knolly's weak voice greeted him, and he could feel the familiar sensation of her smiling within his mind. " _I am so happy to be back with you, master. My siblings, thank you for allowing yourselves to be claimed."_

" _ **Of course sister!"**_ Deus replied a little took quickly, making the other two relics snicker out of amusement.

"You…" Salem's snarl put Hector back in action. His reunion with Knolly can wait another time, he had more pressing matters to attend to after all. "No matter, the Relic of Knowledge was useless to me anyway, I'll just them all out of your cold dead hands."

"Try it." Hector challenged, getting into a hybrid stance.

Salem narrowed her eyes at him, and her feet barely inched forward as she prepared to lunge at him, intent on being the one to start round two herself instead of waiting for him to attack first. The stone of which she once stood was left cracked and destroyed as she closed the distance in less than a second. The Relic of Destruction clashed against her magical blade, and the ensuing shockwave shook them both to their very core. They pushed into each other in a battle of strength, but when Hector activated the powers of destruction from within the blade, Salem let go of her sword before she could end up getting part of her hands destroyed. Hector lunged at her while she was disarmed, and spun out of the way of a spear right as she summoned it in front of her. She whipped it to the side and struck his side before he could counter attack however, but he countered the counter by slamming his elbow on the shaft of the spear and snapped it in two.

Salem hissed and opted for a simple kick into his midsection, but Hector managed to block it with his forearm the moment it was about to make contact with his body. He slid back on the back of his feet, and shook his arm of the lingering pain that remained trapped in it. Switching his grip into a reverse he used his teleportation ability to move behind Salem, he swung his blade into her back, but her armour proved difficult to penetrate and before he could activate the energy of destruction again, Salem was already fighting back against him. Jumping back he allowed himself to twirl on his foot before teleporting again, this time having more momentum that stayed with him as he teleported to Salem's side, catching her on the side where her armour didn't protect her as well and drawing blood. Strangely enough, for a witch woman like Salem, her blood wasn't black, but a dark red, just like anyone else's blood color would be. He ignored that minor detail, and teleported away again before Salem could counter him.

He didn't expect her to be fast enough to catch up to him however, once he reappeared a dozen feet away from her, she turned and reacted fast enough to catch him off guard. An elbow caught him in the face and he flipped with the force that Salem had behind that attack, he landed roughly on his side, and rolled based off of instinct right as a spear stabbed into the ground where he once laid before.

"I don't understand, how is it this close?" Yang asked as she watched the fight from a safe distance along with the other maidens. "Hector should be stronger than her…"

"That bastard!" Summer exclaimed, slamming a fist into the ground.

"What is it?" Rhea asked, worried.

"The bastard is still holding back! That's what it is!" Natsuki shouted to the younger maiden, slamming a fist of her own down to the ground in frustrated anger.

Yang looked shocked for a moment, but as she looked back to the fight she began to understand how her mother and the Summer Maiden were able to tell that something was wrong. Hector and Salem were meeting each other blow for blow, it was almost impossible to keep up with their speed and strength. Every time their weapons clashed a shockwave blew around the area, every time they appeared something was destroyed. In fact, the entire area was shaking as they fought. Trees were falling down and even the Grimm were having trouble keeping their balance, she noticed as she looked around and back to the battlefield, there seemed to be a momentary pause in the action. Looking back to the fight, Hector looked like he was actively keeping something within himself. He had the Relic of Destruction, and now all four relics to use in his disposal, he could use them and win this fight much more quickly. The Relic of Choice itself might be used to coerce Salem into stopping this fight, but she snuffed out that thought quickly. If it was truly that easy, he would have done it already. But now that she focused on the way he fought, and that overly tensed expression he had on his face, it was clear to see that he was definitely holding something back.

"Dammit… what kind of plan does he have then?" She asked out loud.

"Whatever it is, it better work." Natsuki groaned painfully as she tried to active her powers again, to no avail. "I'm all out of power, he needs to win here before the Grimm get their heads out of their asses and attack us."

Hector spat out blood as Salem drove her elbow into his midsection, but he grabbed onto that arm and watched for a moment as the witches eyes went wide. He picked her up and slammed her into the ground by her arm, and then picked her up again and slammed her down again, he picked her up one more time and threw her away from him, throwing the sword of destruction as soon as she left his hands. The sword activated it's destructive energy in mid flight, and Salem noticed this and used what Dark magic she had to blast an energy attack blindly to the side. The intention of this attack was not to hurt her enemy, but to propel herself out of the way of the sword. She didn't know what would happen when infinite life met infinite death, but she didn't want to test out just how immortal she was at the moment.

Hector sprinted toward her as the sword returned to his grip, his eyes were wild, with the clear intent of murder within them. She noticed however that the Relic of Creation was not there with him this time around…

"Creare, now!" Hector shouted.

Salem acted on instinct and prepared to defend herself, but when nothing happened at first she looked up, confused.

A bright flash of yellow went off behind her, and she felt some unnatural force begin to pull her in. She dug her heels into the ground and looked back to what it was pulling her back. Salem wasn't afraid of many things, but the sight of a dimensional portal terrified her as a million possibilities ran through her mind at the same time. Then she looked back to Hector, running with the force of the pull with the very clear intention of tackling her through the portal. That in itself told her that she wouldn't be trapped forever, since Hector was clearly content on being in there with her. But she would rather not see what he could have planned for her.

She pushed her foot into the ground and used her Dark magic to create a Grimm pool before her. Hector was moving too fast and couldn't stop himself in time. His foot entered the black ooze and he tripped over, the sword in his hands spiraling away from him. The ooze acted like quicksand and started pulling him deeper, but he held on tight to edge of the puddle and didn't allow himself to be pulled down to further than his knees.

Slowly, the unnatural force pulling her backward started to get weaker, and chancing a glance behind her, she could see that whatever dimensional portal that Hector had the Relic of Creation create was getting smaller. She smirked as she looked back to Hector, struggling to get his feet out of the puddle of Grimm. She wasn't going to fall to a trick like this.

"Hector!" A high pitched voice screamed out over the polarizing wind pressure flowing around them both. She turned to her other side and saw that damned red hooded girl sprinting toward her with that nuisance of a semblance that she has.

No…

"Ruby! Quick, use your eyes!"

"No… no. NO. NO. NO-"

Ruby nodded her head at Hector and used her speed semblance to get around the portal, but was careful not to get caught in the winds herself. To Salem's horror, those damned silver eyes of hers shone white, and she felt every inch of her body burn impossibly hot. Not only that, but the Grimm puddle that she created to halt Hector in his tracks was also burned away, and he regained use of his leg. The white light was burning away at his body too, but to much less of a degree than it was hurting Salem. She lost her footing and nearly fell backward, only keeping herself standing by just managing to regain her balance in time. But Hector fixed that by spearing her in the body with his, and picked her up by the legs. With Salem effectively on his shoulder, he kept on sprinting with the force of the pulling and they both screamed their defiance as he pushed both of their bodies through the portal.

As soon as their bodies went completely through the created portal it disappeared, and only the Relic of Creation was left behind. Ruby shut off her eyes and immediately panicked, thinking the worse had just happened.

 _What… what did I just do!?_ She thought to herself as she placed her hands around her mouth.

Hector and Salem were just… gone? Just like that? No, it couldn't end like this, would he really sacrifice himself just to get rid of Salem for good. Of course he would, she felt stupid for thinking otherwise.

"What just happened!?" She heard Yang shout somewhere behind her. "Where did they go!?"

"What was that he created?" Natsuki asked next. "Some kind of portal for sure, but where does it lead to?"

"I don't know..." Summer said, she didn't show it but she was equally as panicked as her daughter was at the moment. "I don't know…"

"The Grimm are still fighting…" Rhea hesitantly pointed out. "If Salem is dead, wouldn't the Grimm have no one to tell them what to do?"

"You… may be right." Summer said. "If Salem is still breathing, and it has been mere moments since she and Hector disappeared through that portal, then perhaps they both still alive, and fighting. Just in a different area…"

"That means there's still a chance, right?" Ruby asked her as soon as she ran up to her.

"I believe so." Summer said, sighing. "We'll just have to have faith in him, in the meantime, we'll just have to hold back until he gets back."

"I hope that's soon." Yang said as she spat to the side. "Because I think the Grimm noticed us again…"

True to her words, as they all looked into the distance, there was a bastion of Grimm headed towards them. Easily a few hundred strong. Ruby readied Crescent Rose, and all of the maidens got into battle stances. They didn't have any magic left, but their auras were still up and they would make do with that they had.

And hoped that whatever was going on in there, Hector was winning.

* * *

Hector fell and dropped the taller woman to the ground once they made it through the portal, the ground didn't look like it was there at all, instead it looked like they were standing above a void of white with nothing in their way. In fact, the entire area he had the Relic of Creation create was just a simple white void. It was said that the Relic of Creation could create _anything_ , and a portal to a different dimension was never explicitly said to _not_ be on that list of things that it could create.

"Where have you taken me!?" Salem screamed at him and made to grab for the collar of his shirt. Hector leaned back and smacked her hand away, spin kicking her in the chest and forcing her back from him.

"Oh, you know, a little place I had in the back of my mind I thought we could have a little chat in." Hector said, smirking victoriously at the witch. "A place where even if you kill me, you'll never have a way to escape."

"You lie, surely." Salem accused him. "You wouldn't separate yourself from those you love, you're too soft for that."

"You're right." Hector said as he stood up straighter, the Relic of Destruction in his right hand flaring up with a flame of red and black. "I am soft, I do love my friends, and I would love to live a long life alongside all of them. But, if locking you away from them meant that I was the key forced to keep you here, then so be it." His aura exploded, the golden flames returning as he got into a combat stance. "I must warn you though, in this dimension the only living beings are ourselves… which means I have nothing to hold back!"

"You will never be able to kill me!" Salem declared angrily, unleashing a full magical release for a second time. "I am immortal, you will never be able to-"

"FUCK YOUR IMMORTALITY!" Hector cut her off, his aura exploding with even more power. "You'll be the first to experience this level of power from me, a power that even an immortal will never be able to fight back against!"

Salem was blown back by the sheer force of Hector powering up even further. Salem blocked her face with her forearms and peeked through them. Her eyes widened as she saw the extent of which Hector was pushing himself. He was going far beyond time ninety of his Kaioken power, so much so that even she could hardly believe just how far the gap was between the two.

"KAIOKEN TIMES ONE HUNDRED!" Hector said with a scream so powerful that it immediately destroyed his vocal cords. Salem's eyes bulged from her face as a sword was stabbed into her body at speeds _she_ had no hope of keeping up with, she looking down and gripped the hilt of the sword that was stabbed all the way through her, and screamed in pain as he activated the energy of destruction from within her.

The purple energy tore a hole in her abdomen, and she fell to one knee holding her rapidly bleeding side. It was healing, just as she expected it too, but she felt weaker and more tired out. Energy of destruction was a dangerous thing to be up against, even for someone like herself. Growling in defiance, Salem lunged back up and tackled Hector to what could be assumed to be the ground, but as soon as her arms wrapped around his body, one of her arms was slashed clean off. She screamed in pain and held that arm, and watched as it painfully stitched itself back together and regrow in a heap of golden magic, the very magic that the God of Light cursed her with that kept her alive all these years. She had the sense to actually dodge the next attack that would have cleaved her head clean off of her shoulders, and managed to sweep his legs out from under him as she dodged.

Hector flipped off of his left hand and landed back on his feet, a shockwave blew out behind him as he kicked off his back foot, the entire dimension shook as he slammed his shoulder into her chest. She grimaced as she felt every rib in her body crack or break, and the back of them bruise as she flew back into the ground and rolled over herself. She really didn't stand a chance against how he was now. Was this how he felt when she attacked him and his allies back in Vacuo? No… she wouldn't be reduced to the fear of a mere mortal, not again! She swore off the very emotion after the Gods cursed her with infinite life.

Her arm re-grew itself within seconds, and she summoned a sword to barely deflect Hector's next attack. His eyes were pure gold as she stared into them with her dark evil red ones. She pushed back in defiance and drew up strength she didn't know she had, and for the first time he allowed himself to be pushed back and make some distance between themselves.

The fight went on for hours it felt like, Hector must have killed Salem over a dozen times, and still she was coming at him with reckless abandon. She gave up on defense a long time ago in their battle, her immortality was the only defense that she needed, and as their battle dragged out Hector was ever so slightly slowing down. His attacks weren't as strong or fast, his footwork got more sloppy, and even the Relic of Destruction was running low on power.

During the battle, other Salem's and Hector's came from other timelines to battle in the same dimension they were fighting in. At first, Salem thought that she could use this to her advantage and team up with a different version of herself, but while she could see them, they could not interact with each other. Hector tried the same thing with a blonde version of himself, but all to no avail. Other versions of themselves tried the same thing, but yielded the same results. Like shadows unto themselves, they all found their own counterpart, and continued their battle in near perfect synchronization. It was like when you put two mirrors across from each other and saw an infinite reflection of yourself over and over, that was what this battle looked like as Hector and Salem fought each other with the very clear intention to kill.

More hours passed by, or was it just half of one? Less than a minute? Neither of them knew, and neither could figure it out. All they knew was that the person ahead of them needed to be killed, and that they were the only ones capable of killing them.

Suddenly, something bad happened to Hector's body, his golden power suddenly started attacking his own body. His aura went orange and his skin red. He clutched his chest where his heart was located in his chest, and went down on one knee. The other Hector's in this dimension also went down to one knee at the same time, all in a variety of different colors and shapes, and Salem saw her opportunity to strike the final blow while he was recovering.

"Now you die!" Salem screamed as she thrust her hand toward him in what was perceived to her as slow motion, and while she was in this slow motion like state, she could see the grave error she had just made.

Hector looked up at her with a grin on his face, and the Relic of Choice shone it's orange magic along with his eyes. She felt pain in her heart, and looked down to see his hand stabbed into her chest, and the arm she was intending to use to stab into his was draped over his shoulder, and lying there limply as she coughed out blood from her mouth. Looking around her, she could see all the other different versions of herself in the same state, and one by one, they all disappeared from view. All the way until it was just her and her Hector, the one with his hand in her chest. She fell down to her knees, and would have fallen forward flat on her face if Hector wasn't holding her up with his hand. He looked her straight into the eyes, and _laughed_ at her.

"H-how?" Salem choked out to him.

"I used the Relic of Choice to make you _choose_ to see what you wanted to see. Me down on my knees, vulnerable." His glare turned nothing less than malicious as he twisted his hand within her. " You fell for it, like I knew you would. Now you will get to know the feeling of being powerless. It is much less than what you deserve." Hector said as he drained her of her Dark magic.

Salem screamed in pain as she felt her Dark magic that she has had within her body for thousands of years begin to get stolen away, just like she did to the king of the kingdom of darkness all those years ago, all those people that tried to slay her, and even Hector who found himself suffering by her hand in the same way. Now, it was happening to her.

Hector watched as Salem's pale white hair finally had some color added to them in the form of platinum blonde. Her eyes lost their black color, and the red of her irises went to a pretty blue. Next, her snow white skin finally gained some pigment within it. It turned back to the peachy skin tone that she had all those years ago. All the while, she had to watch as Hector's eyes became the same black and red that she had been corrupted with all that time ago, and his own skin to turn a pale white color and his own hair to turn snow white. The violet veins in her face was the last to fade away, and she watched as those very same veins popped out of Hector's face. He now looked like the male version of herself, and by the time he ripped his hand out of her chest, she had no magic, or even aura for that matter, and she fell to her hands and knees taking in deep raspy breaths.

Hector staggered back and deactivated his Kaioken. He felt the overwhelming amount of Dark magic he had just stolen away from Salem flowing through his blood, it was almost too much for him to bear. But, he felt something within himself, something that could win the battle out on the other side with just some concentrated thinking.

The feeling of being in control of the Grimm.

* * *

The Grimm that were attacking the army that they have all gathered to invade the Grimmlands suddenly stopped fighting and turned tail. Ruby and the exhausted Maidens who were just getting ready to fight back against the Grimm watched as they stopped in their tracks, and ran away into the forest. They then watched in shocked away as _all_ the Grimm that went out for miles also turned around, and ran away from their forces.

"What the hell are they doing now?" Natsuki asked, no less confused than everybody else there.

"The Grimm are all retreating." Penny explaining simply as she landed beside them all. "All the Grimm, from the ones in the oceans, to the ones in the skies, and the ones that you see here on the land. They are all retreating."

"Why?" Yang asked. "They were winning, and Salem wouldn't ever give an order like that to them."

"Maybe it wasn't Salem who gave the order…" Summer pondered out loud.

"Oh…" Yang widened her eyes at the realization. " _Oh_ shit… he really did it." She remembered the plan that he had all told them back in Vacuo, and then not that long ago here in Atlas. He stole Salem's Dark magic, rendering her powerless, but at the risk of corrupting himself with the power stolen from her. "Fuck…"

"He won us the battle!" Ruby exclaimed, not seeing the even more dire situation that they might just find themselves in if Hector comes back through that portal looking like Grimm human. "We won!"

"Yes…" Summer said, hugging her daughter. She didn't have the heart to tell her that the battle may have been won, but the war may have not. But she had the same hopes as she did. Hector wouldn't let the power corrupt him… right?

* * *

Hector could barely control the snarling feeling he felt within him. He was hissing and snarling much like a Grimm would as he tried to control himself. Salem fell back onto her back, and snickered to the skies of this dimension. "Now you have lived long enough to become the villain." She said, raising her head to look at him, her voice was much more human and feminine now. "How does victory taste, Hector Rivers?"

"Well enough, I suppose." Hector said as a dark red aura flamed around his body. He made himself sound less in pain then he really was. This was the same feeling he had when Salem nearly took over his mind back in Haven, except amplified to be so much worse. His Light magic was overwhelmed and could not do anything to help him through this. His hand inched toward the Relic of Destruction, which he dropped to steal Salem's power. But he fell to his knees as he did so. He needed to expel this energy, just like he planned.

Salem managed to prop herself up on the back of her elbows, and smiled triumphantly as she watched him struggle with his own power, despite her own clear defeat. "If I knew that you'd fall under the influence of Dark magic, I would have given some to you back in Vacuo instead of taking it away, or when you called for my aid to dispel Ozma from control." She laughed. "Even in defeat, I've still won."

"Shut up!" Hector said as he grabbed the hilt of his sword. His vision was going red, his eyes were glowing, he realized. Not in the same way as he was used to, it didn't feel good at all, it was like there was something trying to claw its way out of him. "Unlike you, I have allies that I have to help me with this." He said with a strained toothy smile.

Deus appeared outside of the Relic of Destruction, the red divine being smirked at the powerless and shocked Salem as he placed a hand on his shoulder. " _ **As the Relic of Destruction, my source of power is Dark magic, and I have used quite a lot in this battle. I am hungry for more."**_ He said as Hector's flaming red aura suddenly flowed into his arm. Salem's glance went wild, but narrowed as she watched that not _all_ of the Dark magic that Hector had within him was taken, and the Relic of Destruction was struggling.

"What are you doing?" Hector hissed through his teeth. "You didn't take enough of it."

" _I am afraid that my brother cannot take any more, master."_ Jinn told him, flowing out of the ring she turned herself into a dark weaker version of herself as the result of her giving up some of her life force to save him months ago. " _Even Relics have their limits, and my brother is very tired after being used so many times in such quick succession."_

Hector's eyes went wide with panic, and he looked back to Deus for confirmation. " _ **I am afraid that my sister is right…"**_ He confirmed his horrors. " _ **I myself did not even know I had a limit, I am sorry master, but I cannot destroy any more of your magic until I recover."**_

"Is there any way to speed that process up!?" Hector exclaimed, his voice was darker and deeper, a sign of the corruption beginning to spread to his mind. It was a quick process at first, and now it was simply slower, and looking down to his hands, he could see the snow white skin still corrupting his body.

"I'll enjoy watching you suffer-"

"And can _someone_ shut her up?" He added, cutting Salem off and felt satisfied despite himself when Deus reached over with one of his arms and knocked Salem out after punching her in the face.

" _There is one way that you can overcome this."_ Jinn told him. " _You have defeated Salem, and stolen her power. This power is slowly corrupting you, and will make you no better than she was until you send it away."_

"But where? How? I don't understand how I can do this." Hector said as he slammed his head into the ground in a desperate attempt to stop the aching in his head. Not only was his mind going rampant, but he had just defeated Salem! Where were the Gods!? Why weren't they returning to give him the reward?

Wait… Hector growled as he realized. The Gods said that they wouldn't return to Remnant if he won the battle. He did indeed win the battle, but if they meant what the said literally? Then they won't come, they won't come and he'll be cursed to live the rest of his days with this magic corrupting him. Damn them, damn the Gods!

" _Hector, consider where you are."_ Ozma's voice somehow managed to drown out all of the other sounds in his mind. Hector acknowledged him with a tearful whimper. " _You are in a dimension between dimensions, and you had just seen other versions of yourself from different timelines and dimensions… Perhaps you could find a younger version of yourself, and give away the power you stole from Hell to that younger version, so that you may yet control yourself?"_

"H-How can I do that?" Hector asked, clutching his head with both hands painfully.

" _All you need to do, is look for them."_ The Relics told him.

Hector forced his eyes open, and focused the best that he could. Besides Salem's unconscious body, there was nothing else to distract him as he flowed what Light magic he could through his mind so that he could keep control over what he decides to do. As he turned to his right, a gate was there to greet him, a gate with no doors. In this gate was an entirely different world, he thought he recognized it from somewhere. He was thinking of Vale at the moment, and the last time he was in Vale he went to a clothing store… he remembered, and now this gate lead to the same clothing store.

The 'Wearhouse', that was the name. He was also thinking about someone, it didn't even have to be himself, but someone that he could give the magic he stole from Hell too. Widening his eyes with shock, he found who he was looking for. The Wearhouse?!

He looked deeper and saw a version of himself looked different. He had longer hair, he was younger, and he was talking to one of the owners of The Wearhouse with a nervous and fearful expression on his face. What was that he was wearing too? A shirt that said Team… and then four letters he couldn't make out from where he was. Pushing himself to his feet, he started moving toward this gate, this younger version of himself from a different timeline.

" _No, not him."_ One of the relics said before he could enter through the gate. Or was it Ozma? He couldn't tell anymore, he could barely hear himself think as it is. " _Focus."_

Focus he did, and when he focused he felt something dark already within this version of himself. He realized that this Hector already had Dark magic within him, and he didn't want to give up his power only to corrupt a different version of himself and doom that timeline. So he clenched his eyes shut, and looked over to a different gate that had just appeared. This time it was a different world entirely, he didn't recognize anyone from there, struggling to walk closer to the gate, he started to make out faces that he still didn't know. But what he did know was that the man he was looking at had dark skin and silver eyes, talking with a friend of his over a fire. Could he…? No, he couldn't be a version of himself, he looked much too different, the only similarity they had was the same dark black hair.

Something attacked the silver eyed man, but his friend pushed him out of the way and got punished for it. Before Hector could react, the gate slammed shut on him and faded way. The opportunity leaving him.

" _You're not focusing hard enough Hector, find your younger self, a version of yourself that doesn't have dark magic, focus on that feeling, and find IT!"_

Hector growled and thought about the one he saw from the first gate, but his mind was a mess, and dozens of gates appeared before him. The same first gate he saw with himself buying clothes, then the same one with the silver eyed man fighting against… Tyrian!? No, he couldn't think about that too much. But then there was a gate which showed a man in a purple suit, looking at himself in the mirror. The horned man smiled and seemed to look at him with those deep purple eyes of his.

"Hello there, who might you be?" The man asked. Hector thought that gate shut right away, whoever that man was, he had even more Dark magic than he did, and he sensed a divine presence from him. "Was it something I said?" Not him. _Definitely_ not him.

He looked to a different gate, one that was below him. Looking into it, he saw himself again, but not the right person he was looking for. In fact the one he was looking at was himself back in Vacuo fighting Salem. Too recent, and the wrong timeline. Finally, with a labored grunt Hector snuffed out all of the other gates he saw of different worlds and dimensions, ignoring the one where Marcus Black himself was somehow still alive, and focused on one simple feeling. A memory.

Out of nowhere, all of the infinite number of gates ceased to exist, and he looked at himself in a memory he didn't know was really real. This version of himself was sleeping in the middle of class, he was younger, unfit, but fit all the other criteria. This one would do, and he smiled as he saw that in this timeline, Earth was in fact a real place.

Entering through the Gate, he became a spectral ghost, just like he did when he went back in time in a vision and lived alongside Summer for the better half of her life. He staggered as he fell about one foot as he saw Earth,and began to be pulled back at a space between the gate, a non existent place... the gate itself.

"This… this." He said with a face of pure shock, the place was full of dark and light magic, it was like an ocean, it was way too much, this place existed and had much more energy and magic that there had been in the entire fight, far more, way too much. With effort to keep himself stable on this ocean of magic he suddenly realized what he had to do, he just felt it.

"I… I guess I have a gift for you?" He said as he placed a hand on the current of magic. The current started to look like a whirlpool and started draining more and more magic, getting rid of the excess. The whirlpool took it and Hector saw the darkness flow through it. Then, as Hector felt a tremendous weight jump off his shoulders, he saw how multiple doors where there, some exchanging magic, some people… and there he also saw that other version himself, going through that sea of light and darkness, mostly through the sea of darkness however. Apparently he did give his magic to another version of himself in some way, but far less… he could live with that. He went flying through the door and portals and shifted through them, and saw his body float through another door to another world… maybe another Remnant.

"Have fun in Beacon." Hector said as he sighed out of relief and jumped back through the rift that closed the moment he went through it. Now that Hell's power was gone, he only had Salem's Dark magic, which was still much more than the Light magic that he had but it was manageable. Manageable enough that he felt the veins popping out of his face recede back in, and he'd like to think that they were no longer a dark violet in color. He was exhausted however, even more so now that he had less magic in his body to fuel his body. He fell to his knees, but laughed despite how he felt.

He continued to laugh as his emotions began to settle in. He won. He beat the corruption, he beat Salem, and while he had the power to control the Grimm he ordered their retreat. The battle was won, everybody that lost their lives on this day were not in vain. So he laughed, and cried tears of joy at the same time. The shock of the realization of an infinite number of other dimensions existing all at the same time, especially the ones with other versions of himself, was all nothing to him as he balled his eyes out.

It was finally over.

There was only one thing left to do, he had a feeling that even though the Gods didn't come right away, he wasn't not going to see them again. He stood back up and wiped his face of the tears that fell from his eyes, and walked over to where Salem still laid, stirring back into consciousness.

"All of you," He spoke to the Relics. "Give Salem and I some privacy."

Jinn, Deus, Amphelia, and Creare all did as he said. Creare created an exit to back to his original timeline, right around the time where he left. Each of the Relics floated off of his body, and exited through the portal. Leaving Hector and Salem alone in the created dimension between dimensions.

Salem sat up, and blinked her eyes open. Her vision was blurry, but she was just able to make out the body of the one who had defeated her. Her eyes were full of pure hatred as she noticed that his body was no longer corrupted with magic. "What will you do now?" She asked, the will to fight lost upon her.

"I don't know." Ozma answered her, Hector's hair went silver again, and his eyes turned to a dark brown. After the transformation was complete, it was Ozma who stood before her, and not Hector. "If the Gods are kind, I won't have to figure out what to do with my final life, but if I must, I shall lock myself away within Hector's mind. My task is complete."

"How can you be so sure Ozma?" Salem asked, snickering. She wasn't even surprised that it was going to be Ozma was going to be the person to bring her in to justice. "Do you really the Gods are just going to let you go? Just like that? If you truly believe that, you're an even bigger fool than I was."

"Perhaps." Ozma said, nodding his head softly. "But unlike you, I have someone who I can rely on. Unlike you, I am no longer alone. You will be alone for the rest of eternity, and you will never be able to harm anyone ever again. Whether it is the Gods that get rid of you, or myself, you have lost."

"So what? You're going to lock me away in some prison? Hah, one day I'll break free, your curse has been broken Ozma, and when you die your final death, there will be nothing in my way. I may be powerless now, but I will find a way to get it back. Of that, I promise you."

"Of that, I have no doubt. But…" Ozma sighed, but chuckled to himself. Salem narrowed her eyes at him. "Who said anything about locking you away in a _cell_?" He asked rhetorically as he slowly backed up closer to the exit portal.

Salem immediately understood what Ozma could have meant. She lunged up to her feet with what strength she had, and try to desperate make a pass by him to get through the portal back to the real world. But Ozma blew her back with the palm of her hand, she slid back and rolled over herself until she was flat on her face. With scared wide eyes, she extended her hands out to Ozma as he backed up into the portal.

"Farewell Salem, this will be the last time you see anyone." Ozma said with a wink, disappearing through the portal.

The sounds of Salem screaming at Ozma to come back the moments before the portal shut behind him was music to his ears. The old man smiled and resigned control back to Hector, and decided that now, his time to rest has finally come. His task has been completed, his story ended, and an era to be left to memories soon to be forgotten.

* * *

Ruby hugged Hector tightly the moment he gained control over his body again. He hugged her back and laughed as Rhea jumped into the group hug. From the corner of his eye, he could see the other maidens, Yang, Natsuki, and Summer, even Penny getting ready to join in on the hug. Natsuki was never one for what she would refer as 'Gushy shit' but the knowledge that the immortal Salem will never be able to harm them again, and the Grimm were no longer a threat, she was the first to join the group hug. Yang followed quickly after, then Summer, and they all laughed as they all fell to the ground as they lost their balance, forgetting that they were all still so very exhausted.

When the broke apart, Hector looking into the distance and saw the remains of his army all celebrating their victory. They were shooting their guns into the air and shouting happily. Others cried by the bodies of their comrades, but were just as relieved to hear the news. The battle was won, humanity was free, and the Grimm were gone. All left somewhere, they didn't know where, but they weren't about to go chasing after a losing battle.

Up above in the skies, Ironwood stood in the middle of the control center, his hands still tightly gripped around the handrails so hard that his knuckles were white. He had a confused expression on his face, the kind of look of disbelief only a man like him could have at a time like this.

"We… won?" He asked out loud, chuckling.

"I certainly hope so." Winter said, treating one of her injured comrades for burns. It was all over his legs, but relatively mild and wouldn't mean the end of his life. He would live. "It seems like your _hunch_ proved itself," The Specialist smiled a rare smile. "We won."

Winter has seen a lot of things, but General Ironwood _fainting_ had to become one of her most treasured memories that she would hold dear for the rest of her life.

Qrow and Mercury sat back to back with each other, with Taiyang lying down beside them passed out with Zwei, who was now missing an ear and a patch of fur, sleeping on his chest. The older Huntsman rested his head against the back of Mercury's, and said, "So, wanna share a drink now?"

Mercury laughed weakly. "Thought you'd never ask."

Ruby kept on hugging Hector, pushing her cheek into his chest as he rocked her back and forth and giggled along with her. They could hardly believe it themselves, they won. That phrase kept on repeating itself through their minds. They won, they won, they won!

"I… there's one more thing left to do." Hector said as he noticed things around him begin to slow down considerably, and an unnatural chill running down his spine.

"What?" Ruby asked him, looking up at him with those bright silver eyes of hers.

"The Gods, they are coming back to me, I can feel them." Hector told her, a vulnerable sign of him showed when he pressed his forehead against hers, and he croaked, "I don't want to see them again, I just want this to be over."

"You can do this." Ruby told him, holding his face in her hands. Though the more she spoke, the slower she started to become. "You have to, we already won the battle. Those two _have_ to follow up on their promise, they… have… too…" Her voice sounded slower and slower as time slowly came to a stop, but Hector was barely able to catch the final words that came out of her mouth before time completely came to a stop, with him and two others able to perceive what was happening.

"I love you too." He whispered back to Ruby, and forced himself out of her hands. He turned around, all of the relics flying back to his side, and he stood up against the Gods of Light and Darkness once again.

" **You won, I see."** The God of Darkness said in a way that sounded vaguely positive.

" _He did indeed…"_ The God of Light added, much more darkly than his brother, ironically.

"I completed my side of the deal." Hector said, forcing the fear he felt down so that he may be brave. "You two will follow up on your side, right?"

" **Ah, little Rivers, if only things could be that easy."** The God of Darkness replied, and to his credit, he did seem to sound sorry for it.

" _You won this battle, yes, but there is a cost to us leaving this world indefinitely."_ The God of Light started. " _Once we leave this world, all the magic that we have allowed to still reside here, will be brought along with us. The people will no longer be able to wield magic for anything, and creatures created from said magic,"_ Scornfully, the God of Light looked to his brother. " _Will cease to exist."_

"That just means that Grimm will all die, whatever, take your magic away. It has done nothing but take lives anyway." Hector said, crossing his arms defiantly.

" **I am afraid that it is** _ **still**_ **not that easy for you little Rivers, you don't understand."** The God of Darkness continued. " **When we say** _ **all**_ **magic, we mean** _ **all**_ **magic, and who among us was created solely** _ **by**_ **magic?"**

Hector's eyes went wide, and for a few moments he could hear anything but a ringing sound in his ears. Him. He was created by magic, and if the Gods leave this planet and took all the magic with them, the Grimm would all die, the maidens would exist anymore and they would be free from their curse. But… he would die as well.

"You're… going to kill me?" Hector asked once he regained control of his wild emotions. "After everything I've done, everything I did for the future of this world. I did what you two couldn't!" Hector shouted at them, not even trying to hold back the tears that fell down from his eyes. "I united humanity, and I put an end to Salem. I locked her away in a dimension she will _never_ be able to escape from, and my award is you _murdering_ me? Why!? Because I did what you couldn't!?"

" _Hold that tongue Rivers,"_ The God of Light warned. " _While I still dain to allow you to use it."_

"Fuck. You." Hector growled to the God. "This isn't fair, I held up on my side of the deal, and you are too much of a _child_ to accept your own defeat, no, you just _have_ to get the last laugh. I _know_ you can allow me to live while also taking away my powers, you're Gods! You can do literally anything, you're just spiteful that _I beat you_ , and now you're throwing a temper tantrum and not only killing me, and Ozma, but you're taking the relics away from Humanity as well."

" _You dare insult me?"_ The God of Light shouted back at him, his voice was so loud and bellowing that it knocked Hector down onto his butt. But even still, he looked at the deity with defiance in his eyes. " _You are fortunate that I even allowed my brother to convince me to allow you to do this. Understand this Rivers, you were always meant to be our pawn, and you were always meant to die at the end. You only still exist now because of the respect I have for you. Because despite your many faults, you did do what we couldn't thousands of years ago, and for that, I am allowing you to say your final goodbyes to your loved ones. Or would you rather I erase you where you stand now?"_

" **Brother, come now, I must say that I agree with Little Rivers here. You are being a child about this."** The God of Darkness said, he sounded bored and downright frustrated with his brother. " **Would it** _ **really**_ **be too much for you to just make the man human and allow him to live on for the rest of his days?"**

" _I will not hear any more of your rebellion."_ The God of Light spat to his brother. " _Do not forget who let you continue your existence after your little attempt on my life years ago, I can just as easily rid you from this world as I could back then."_

The God of Darkness tilted his head curiously. " **Is that so? Would you care to prove to me how much more powerful you are?"**

" _Bah, I shall deal with you later."_ The God of Light declared, and held out a hand toward Hector. " _You have taken away what patience I had for you, I will end you where you sit."_

"I swear…" Hector growled at the golden God. "One day, I will find a way to come back, and when that happens I will find a way to rid _you_ from this world."

" _Hmph, we shall see."_ The God of Light said, and Hector felt himself get lightheaded. He looked down to his body, and saw golden flakes of energy breaking apart his body. He was being erased at this very moment… everything he did… and this is how it ends?

" _ **No!"**_ A burst of red magic exploded the Relic of Destruction, destroying the sword that Deus was trapped in, and he held a hand back toward his fellow deity and ceased the erasure of his master. Hector fell forward and caught himself with his hands, and felt himself stitch back together as the golden energy reattached themselves to his body.

" _Dues, as your creator I order you to step aside."_ The God of Light demanded. " _You are a deity, your place is not here with the likes of him."_

" _I am afraid creator,"_ Jinn said as she broke free from her relic as well, and stood beside her brother. " _That you yourself have instilled rules for us relics to follow. Once we claim a master, we do whatever he asks of us, and defend him with our lives."_ She explained, and extended a hand out to defend her master. " _Hector Rivers is our master, and we will not let you destroy him, or take us away from him."_

Creare formed beside her, and joined in the effort to save his master. Amphelia broke out next, the crown of choice breaking apart and falling to the ground in pieces. All of the relics that the God of Light created with the help of his brother were now standing against him, all four of them had the powers of a God, but none of them were as powerful as him. Not even when they were all together.

"You guys…" Hector said as he raised his head to look at them. "Thank you…"

" _ **I am obligated to defend you with my life, and stay by your side."**_ Amphelia said as she extended her hand upward, glowing orange energy crackling at the palm of her hand.

" _ **What my sister means is that she likes you enough to risk her life for you."**_ Deus added.

Amphelia groaned in annoyance, but didn't deny it. Hector laughed and stood back up, still holding his side where he first began to get erased earlier. He stared at the God of Light, whose vague expression appeared to be filled with anger as he looked at them.

" _To think that I would have to snuff out a second rebellion…"_ The God said with barely concealed anger. " _I really have been too lenient with what I allowed to roam on this world. If you all wish to die beside your master, so be it."_

" **Brother, now you are going too far."** The God of Darkness said, grabbing hold of his brothers extended arm. " **We put in much effort in creating these beings, and now you want to erase them? Perhaps I should wield the powers of Light, and you the Dark."**

" _Hah! You wouldn't be able to bare the power of Light, don't perceive that you can handle my responsibility. Look at you, you are barely fit to even call yourself a God."_

" **No, but I am more one than you are."** The God of Darkness said as he pulled his brothers arm away from Hector and the relics. " **I have had time to think in these past few thousand years, and I have grown to understand that no, we are not perfect. We are not all powerful and just because we can create and destroy anything does not mean we are worthy to rule over them. I Certainly know now that you are not, threatening the erasure of five of our most powerful creations just because they are speaking out against you."**

" _You would rebel against me a second time?"_ The God of Light asked, his voice quiet and threatening.

" **If it means that at last** _ **one**_ **of our planets we have created together actually are able to live their full cycle, then yes."** The God of Darkness prepared for a battle. " **I am rebelling against you. As the God of Darkness, it is my duty to destroy what needs to be destroyed, and brother, these beings do** _ **not**_ **need to be destroyed. Now… if you wish to do battle, go right ahead and throw the first punch. I'm sure the relics will be more than happy to join my side."**

The God of Light very nearly did, but he took one look toward his brother, and the relics that they created defending the person he sought to destroy, and reluctantly backed down. His powerful aura disappeared, and he spared one last glance toward Hector.

" _You are fortunate that my brother seems to have a soft spot for you. You will have the ending you desire."_

Hector nearly fainted at the news, his smile went ear to ear and he watched as his relics celebrated quite verbally. With no more words, the God of Light faded away, and left them. He had nothing else to say to them and would rather not have his defeat rubbed into his face. The God of Darkness however, landed on the ground and walked toward him. The Relics stood in his way, prepared to defend their master, but the God of Darkness simply waved his hand softly and assured them that he was not going to try anything.

" **Have no fear relics, I will not harm your master."**

"Let him through." Hector said, and the relics did as he said, but stayed at his side as he walked up to the God of Darkness himself. "Thank you, for doing this. But I have to ask, why did you go that far for me?"

The God of Darkness shrugged his shoulders. " **I found you and this world to be quite interesting, it would have been a shame if I let my brother get his way."** The God said, and slowly extended out a hand to him. " **Once you shake my hand, the magic within you will cease to exist, but you will live on the rest of your days as a mortal man. Do not worry about the age, you will not be turned into a toddler."**

Hector laughed as he thought about that happening at the same time as the God saying it wouldn't. Without even hesitating, he reached his hand forward and clasped it around the Gods. His hand was felt warm, and radiant. Not at all what he thought the literally God of Darkness' hands would feel like. In an instant, he felt all of his magic drain from his body, he felt much weaker, but he was still strong and able to stand. Hector looked up into the Gods face, and had to ask one more question.

"The maidens, Yang, Rhea, Summer, and Natsuki, are they all going to have their curse lifted from them as well? Will they be able to live full lives?"

" **Well, all magic wouldn't be gone if their curse remained. You have Ozma to thank for that after all."**

Ignoring Ozma's indignant protest, Hector let go of the Gods hand, and stepped back from him. "Do I have anything else to worry about?"

" **Eh… I think no. It depends on how well my brother takes this."** The God of Darkness shrugged. " **Enjoy the rest of your life Little Rivers, and do make sure that humanity doesn't destroy itself. At least not in your generation."**

"Trust me," Hector looked to his relics. "If anything happens, I'll stop it."

" **Good."** The God began to fade away from his vision, the time flow around him began to go back to normal as the final God departed. " **Farewell."** The God of Darkness disappears as soon as those words were spoken. A burst of wind followed, and the Gods that created Remnant were gone, forever.

"Farewell, friend." Hector said with a sigh as another tremendous weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He never felt so tired before in his life. He looked to each of the relics, time around them was still coming back to normal speed. But before they could be revealed, Hector told them that they were free to do as they wished now, he wasn't going to force them to stay with him.

" _We appreciate your setting us free, but I believe I speak for all of us when I say that you are not going to be getting rid of us any time soon."_ Jinn said to him. The rest of the relics nodded their heads and responded accordingly. Deus flexed his arms and declared that he would stand by his side until his dying day, Amphelia huffed and said that she would stick around, she _guessed_ , and Creare gave his answer by creating new relics for the beings to reside in. But inside of Deus being in a sword, Jinn in a ring, Amphelia in a crown and himself in a staff, he created four rings. Each jeweled with the color of their bodies.

Hector held the rings as the relics entered them, and put each of them on slowly. Two on each hand. He looked down at them, and grinned. "Thank you all." He whispered to them.

Looking around as time began to flow again, he could already see Ruby sprinting toward him to squeeze him in another hug, however her silver eyes were no longer silver. Hector wondered if that was because of the Gods taking away all the magic with them, but whatever the case, they were now a light blue now, like her father.

Next, he looked to the former Maidens, each of them wondering where their powers meant, but Summer gave him a knowing look. She knew what had happened, and she started to mouth the words "Thank you." In his direction. Rhea was also running up to him in slow motion alongside Ruby, her eyes brimmed with tears of joy. In his mind, he can hear Ozma sigh out of relief, and resting within his head. The other ancient beings were quiet, and for the first time since he was born. He felt at peace.

Then, he looked toward the battlefield, where everyone was still celebrating their victory. He thought about his friends, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Blake, Weiss, Qrow, Mercury, and even Neo and everyone else he now had a chance to speak with, and not about plans to save the world. They were all going to live now, full happy lives to do as they wished. The Grimm were gone. They won.

When Ruby and Rhea crashed into him, he thought to himself,

 _Being a hero, doesn't feel so unlikely anymore…_

* * *

 _Fifteen years later…_

* * *

A young boy runs at the age of thirteen years old throughout a house with his big stepsister chasing after him, and his younger sister struggling to keep up behind her. This boy has a light blue eyes, tan skin, and black hair, and the grown woman behind him has sharp orange eyes, and a beautiful look to her face.

"You can't catch me! I have super speed!" The young boy shouted as he activated his mothers inherited semblance.

"Hector Rivers The Third, get your ass back here!" A now thirty year old Rhea shouted at him as she sprinted even harder to catch up. "Damn it… if only I still had my powers." She huffed, ever since she lost her Fall Maiden powers, she was forced to live as a _regular_ human as her husband Oscar Pine jokingly referred to it as. She had a child on her own now, a young boy she had named Coal, after her biological father who was murdered by her mother. She was going to name him Hector, but Ruby already beat her to it when their firstborn came into this world just nine months after Hector, the older Hector, proposed to her and asked her to marry him.

The sight she saw when she walked in on… _that_. Still shook her to her very core to this day.

"Wait for me!" Little Summer Rivers exclaimed as she struggled to catch up, unlike her older brother, she didn't have her aura or semblance unlocked. She was obviously named after Summer Rose, her grandmother. Grandma Rose, as her and her step-siblings all referred to her as, was now well into her mid sixties. After the battle for humanity, she got back together with Taiyang Xiao Long, and took up the position as the new headmistress of Beacon after Glynda Goodwitch stepped down for her and retired. She was now living happily with James Ironwood as her husband and the last time Rhea heard, they were going to have a child. Taiyang took the combat professor after some time, and always boasted that even though he was old, he could still kick ass. The other Maiden she knew, Natsuki, is still the headmistress of Shade to this day. Even without her magic, she still declared herself the strongest woman on the planet. Nothing would ever otherwise, and her spar with Summer _never happened_.

"Sorry sis, but I haven't seen Great-Drunckle Qrow is so long!" Hector The Third exclaimed as he rounded the corner, and slammed into a dusty old crows chest.

"'Ay!" Qrow complained as he spilled his drink all over his pants. "What are you doing kid? Where's your ma?" Like most of the adults that she knew, Qrow was now old and retired. He stopped being a Huntsman after the battle for humanity, and refused to participate in any of the competitive competitions that followed the result of the war to fill in the gaping hole that was the purpose of Huntsman after what happened. With no more Grimm left to hunt, Huntsman were given to choice to retire, or become bounty hunters for unlawful people who were still running around after the battle.

And oh, did Auntie Neo make her decision _real_ quick. She still held the record for most bounties claimed in a single given week.

"Sorry about that Qrow." Rhea said when she finally caught up to the little snot that was her little brother. "He used his semblance again, and he got faster… again."

"No fair!" The young Summer exclaimed as she finally caught up. "I wanna have my semblance unlocked too!"

"Hey now," Yang stepped up to her and picked up the little girl in her arms. "Give it some time kind, before you know it you'll be running circles around your big brother."

"Or, and hear me out." Mercury added as he stepped out from behind his wife. "You could just train to unlock it, like I don't know how your brother did it?"

"Mercury, stop being an asshole." Yang said as she elbowed him in the stomach with her bionic arm. That really shut him up quick.

"Swear word!" Summer cried out, and pointed to the swear jar.

"What? I was defending you!" Yang protested.

"No excuses, cough it up." Summer demanded, still pointing to the jar. As Mercury laughed his ass off, Yang begrudgingly threw a few lien into the jar.

Yang and Mercury got together after years of flirting and dancing around their feelings, it took Nora locking them in a room together and using _her own son_ Nicholas as a hostage to keep them in there, and by God, she was very serious when she said that she would feed her and Ren's child pancakes until he burst until they didn't talk about their feelings right then and there. Finally, after a full thirty seven hours, Mercury and Yang finally gave in, and started their relationship in the freezer of a kitchen they were baited into. Two years of dating, and they finally got married. With Mercury taking up the Xiao Long name and becoming Mercury Xiao Long. He proceeded to get teased for it for the years that followed, but his reasoning was understandable. He wanted the Black family line to die with his father, and with their child that was on the way, he would break the cycle of his family and raise his child to specifically _not_ be an assassin. It was all pretty confusing over a bottle of beer.

Blake and Sun got together, predictably. They had two children, two sons, one named Sage and the other Adam. Named after one of Sun's deceased teammates and the other after an old friend. After the battle, Natsuki and Ilia went back to Vacuo, since that was the place they were both born. Also, the old insult that Rhea used to call Natsuki about looking like a lesbian when they were much younger wasn't without a lack of truth. Natsuki refers to Ilia as 'Chameleon' and almost nothing else, much to her girlfriends dismay. As she thought of Blake, there was a certain man that came to mind. A man that just so happened to be graced with his name being passed down to a new generation. Adam's death was hard to recover from, surprisingly hard. But after some time, Blake was able to recover from it.

However, when they went into the Emerald Forest to search for Adam's body, or what remained of it. There was nothing there. At all. Not even bones. Grimm weren't known for scavenging, or eating at all really. So the fact that Adam's body could not be found, even after weeks and weeks of searching, it was rumored that he never died at all. Blake herself went to confirm this, with the presence of Hector along with her. Back to the village where the picked him up in the first place, to find Claire and maybe try to see if Adam might have returned to her. They found the village abandoned, but in the house that Hector spoke to Adam in for the first time to recruit him into the cause, was only a note nailed into the wall. What was on that note confirmed what they always knew, and they never went searching for the 'dead man' ever again.

"Damn kids and their kiddie logic." Yang grumbled as she put in another lien just for insurance purposes.

"Is Mom and Dad here too?" Hector The Third asked his blonde aunt after running up to his blonde aunt and slightly less cool silver haired uncle.

"Ruby's here, and someone has a daddy who's going to surprise his young little man." Yang said as she tickled her nephew with her robot arm. "Happy birthday kid." The young boy laughed and struggled to get away from her, but he didn't get very far. "Hey Rhea, where's Penny? Is she coming."

Rhea frowned and shook her head. "She is taking care of Doctor Polendina, he got sick recently and she is spending all the time she could with her."

"Awe, I'll be sure to take a trip to Atlas to say hi to her. Right babe?" Yang asked Mercury.

"Sure… but we could always just y'know… call her on the CCT." Mercury suggested.

"Nope."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Speaking of Atlas, Weiss was the new headmistress of the Huntsman school over there now, with the equally as confusing name Atlas. After years of vying after he once again, but in a much more mature way. Jaune got what he wanted finally after Weiss gave up on pushing him away and went on a date with him. They still weren't married yet, for the reason that Weiss wanted to keep _testing_ him to see if he was _the one_. But her being engaged to him said otherwise. Her brother Whiteley was still in a mental health facility, but making progress, and Willow, their mother passed away years ago of a sudden illness. Weiss promised to both herself and Winter that Whitley wasn't going to end up like their mother, and so they have both been visiting him every Friday and Sunday, and whenever they able to in their free time. Winter was a professor at Atlas now, and if the rumours were true she was finally warming up to Qrow, despite being seen with him doing... un-Schneely things, only time will tell what would happen with them in the future however. Neither of them wanted children, Qrow wanted the Branwen name to die out for good. After everything his family has done, and all the pain they've caused. He wouldn't allow their reign to continue, even if he had to die completely alone. Winter was hesitant to say the least, content with not ever becoming a mother. At least, not a biological one... Qrow gave in eventually at least she wouldn't technically be related to him.

"I'm here!" The sound of her barely older than her step-mother made Rhea snap out of her inner thoughts, and looked in her direction. Ruby Rose was now Ruby Rivers, and even though she was nearing her forties she still looked like she was in her twenties. At the sight of their mother, Hector The Third and Summer Rivers both ran up to pounce their mother with a surprise hug. The woman allowed herself to fall to the ground gently, laughing along with her children all the while. "Didja miss me? Huh?"

"Yup!" Hector and Summer exclaimed at the same time, and Ruby awed at them and kissed their foreheads. There was a noticeable lump on her belly as she made to stand up, a sign of her third child on it's way into this world. Ruby spent her childhood with just one father and one sister, now she wanted to surround herself with family, and luckily for her husband felt the same way.

"Did you think of a name for the third one?" Qrow asked her as he hugged his niece. "An actual _original_ name, I mean."

Ruby smacked him on the shoulder playfully. "We were thinking that if it was a boy, we'd name him Brandon, and if it's a girl, Larissa. After the sister he thought he had."

"Well then, color me impressed-"

" _Deus c'mon man, let me go through the door."_ A familiar voice sounded out through the front door. " _No Knolly, I am not being moody today, it's just that SOMEONE created a new door I didn't give the order of again. Creare, I'm looking at you."_

"Daddy!" Ruby's children exclaimed at the same time, waiting for him eagerly from behind the door.

" _Oops, Amphelia, hold that thought. And all of you get back in the rings! Not you Ozma, you're cool."_ Hector's children giggled as he over dramatically gave himself a pep talk from behind the door. Before finally, he cleared his throat, and opened the door to allow himself to get tackled by his son and daughter.

"Look at you two, getting so strong already like your Dad." He said as he wrestled with the two of them, and lifted them both with each of them sitting on either forearm.

Ruby walked up to him and pecked him on the cheek, earning a sound of disgust by their children as they gagged and looked away from them.

Hector walked into his home and enjoyed celebrating his son's fourteenth birthday party. As the time went by, he thought about the past. At this time, most of his friends were either criminals, or training to hunt Grimm. While he existed in an illusion of his own memories the Gods created for him. Now, it was a time of peace. With no Grimm around to harm people, and humanity united, war was a long forgotten thing of the past, and if there was ever any tensions, all he had to do was tell Amphelia to stop any conflict from happening with her powers of manipulation. He would keep the peace for as long as he could. Then when he died of old age, he would pass the relics on to Rhea, just as he claimed he would years ago, and after her, she would get to decide what she wanted to do. It was hard to accept that she was growing up, but after putting Oscar through the ringer in a test of virtue, he consented the two to get married. But he would never delete the video he had of Oscar Pine, a farm boy, asking a well known figure of peace like him, to marry his step-daughter. Not even if they begged him on their hands and knees to.

He looked on with a smile on his face, he made this possible, he and all of his allies. He even had the God of Darkness to thank for this. For he was the one who actually went along with their deal, and forced his brother to leave them alone. Living without magic was difficult to get used to, but he managed after a year or two. He couldn't care less about magic anymore, or the Kaioken, he got the ending he wanted. Even if there was still technically one more servant of Salem still out there, being Hazel Rainhart, he couldn't bring himself to go after him or send anyone after him. As long as the one armed man didn't do anything, he wouldn't have him harmed. All of this was out of respect for what he did for Mercury.

Now all he wanted was to raise his children, live a normal life, and keep the peace of the world.

Speaking of the world, when the council of the world got together to decide on a new name for their planet. Since they were no longer a remnant of what they once were, and united. Hector was more than happy to voice his own opinion on that, and he was just famous enough to have the final say.

Earth.

* * *

 **AAAAAAAAHHHHHH. There we go guys, fuck. What a story, what an ending, and what a damn battle chapter for me to write. This took me 4 DAYS! FOUR! Gah, I can't believe I am even still alive right now. I decided that this is going to be the final chapter of the story, there is nothing else to do but the epilogue, and I have decided that I will add that hear as well. So, I did. I am sorry if there is a lot of errors, this is over 40k words long, and it took days just to write it all. That's my only excuse to you all.**

 **This is the final AN of this story. Thank you, all of you who read this story since the very beginning. I can't thank you enough. I am honestly getting emotional about this, it's crazy. Writing out of all things, even if it's just fan fiction, was never something I thought I would be doing with my life. This story… and all of the stories to come, really was something great for me to get into.**

 **Some of you might be able to piece together that I have created a Multiverse between some of my stories with this chapter. I am here to confirm that yes, this story is multiversal with A Tale of Two Heroes, The Blind Huntsman, Detective Grimm, and my newest story, Destiny Fate Black. Not all of them will have multiversal breaks, but one or two of them will. I just thought it would be a cool idea to link my stories all together like this. If you want to see some of these changes, you're gonna have to go read my other stories! Wink wink.**

 **Thank you all for your support, and thank you all for your kind words.**

 **Edit 7/8/2019: I made a mistake that was only brought up to me by a reviewer, I forgot a certain character to have the epilogue on, and so I have went back into this doc to fix it. Hopefully you guys enjoy! God, I can't believe I forgot _That_.**

* * *

 **About the side stories that will come after. They are going to be quite a ways away. The two side stories that I can say are definitely happening, are An Unlikely Hero: Following The path, which is going to be a spin off of Hector replacing Oscar in the canon, but in the actual canon of RWBY now. That story will be coming out after Volume 7 is finished however, I want to have more to go off of, and I still haven't planned much of it.**

 **The next side story that I will be making this story is going to be Unlikely Hero: Guardian Angel, which is going to expand on the journey's that Hector and Summer went on together for the years up until Hector broke away from her and went back to his own time. That one will be happening, but I cannot say when I need to get some other things done first.**

 **The next story that will come out in a few weeks after this one is another idea I had in mind about one such as Marcus Black. You can read my little rough summary of the story in my profile.**

 **If you want to see more of Hector, I have another story called "A Tale of Two Heroes", he returns in that story, and he goes on a very different adventure.**

 **With me of course. -CrowSkull. (Co-writer)**

 **With all that out of the way, I have one final thing to say to you all for this story. Since there isn't going to be a chapter 82, I will respond to reviews in PM's after this point.**

 **What I am trying to say is… Thank you again, and I hope you stick around to read my other stories. And if you would like to follow me on my twitter:**

 **T w itter . com (slash) genatools**

 **This is Genatools, signing off of An Unlikely Hero for the final time.**


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